Currently, there are two types of tyres fitted on motorcycles sold in India: Tube-type and Tubeless. Tubeless tyres are superior to tubeless tyres for three major reasons: They don’t blow out immediately in case of a puncture. A blow out often leads to an accident, and this is greatly avoided by tubeless tyres. If the tyre loses pressure gradually, it’s easier for the rider to maneuver to a safe spot before getting on with repair. In case of small punctures on tubeless tyres, the motorcycle can still be ridden to the nearest puncture repair shop to get it fixed. Fixing punctures is a lot easier as the tyre does not need to be removed for puncture fixing. This saves time, and is very convenient. Now that we know that tubeless tyres are better than tube-type tyres, let’s now understand a bit more about tube-type tyres and why they are not as good as tubeless tyres for most applications. As their name suggests, tube-type tyres have inner tubes that have to be filled with air. In such tyres, the tyre in itself acts as an outer layer while the tube is responsible for holding air. In case of punctures, the tube will need to be removed from the tyre. Secondly, in case of a puncture, pressure loss is immediate and, in many cases, causes a blowout. Blowouts lead to accidents. Thirdly, tubes get pinched if run at lower pressures on specific surfaces such as sand and rocks, which require lower pressure. Such pinching causes punctures.
TVS Community
08 Jul 2021