“If it’s leaking air through the spokes it’s simply because the valve is not seated properly on the inside of the rim. That causes air to seep through the hollow part of the rim and then through your spoke holes.

Seal Your Wheels. The idea is simple: make the area where the spokes come through the rim airtight. That means removing the tire, tube and rim strip, cleaning the wheel thoroughly to remove dirt, rust and grease, then sealing the “dish” of the rim (part under the rim strip where the spoke nipples come through).

So, what’s up with that? Spoked-wheels still hold a fairly large market share because they outperform cast wheels in one respect, and that is durability. Spoked-wheels have more flex and give so they are much more tolerant of rough and abusive terrain. Which is exactly why you put them on a bike that will see the dirt.

Because the section of the rim underneath the tire has no spoke holes that air can leak through, it’s possible to use tubeless tires. The spoke nipples in a tubeless spoked wheel are in the hub, and in your KLR they’re in the rim; the spokes are shaped differently too.

Tip: A roll of Stans No-Tubes tape is designed to fit standard-width rims perfectly and is a tried and true tubeless conversion. That said, a roll of Gorilla Tape costs about ten bucks US and will seal a lot of rims – and there is always Ghetto tubeless bragging rights to consider.

Spoked wheels are all but mandatory on off-road bikes — dirt bikes, enduros, scramblers and ADVS — for one simple reason: spoked wheels are more durable than single-piece cast wheels. Alloy wheels, because they’re more rigid, handle higher speeds and higher amounts of horsepower and torque with relative ease.

Spoke wheels require tubes unless the spokes have been sealed at the rims. That’s not really a “Do it Yourself” job.. A tube can’t be plugged, it’s impossible to plug a tube. You can put a patch on a tube but it’s not advisable on a motorcycle.

This is where spoked wheels come in: they are designed to bend, flex and handle impacts to a certain degree, letting you tackle rough terrains with ease. Spoked wheels are also easily repairable, as replacing individual parts is simple and inexpensive, unlike alloy wheels, which once cracked needs replacement.

The spoke wheels of those Superbikes cost you a premium, as the spoke nipples are sealed during the manufacturing process. The spoke nipples have a certain amount of gap in between the rim and spoke tensioner which would cause leaks if fitted with tubeless tyres.

Tubeless cons

• More expensive.
• Fitting is messier and more time consuming.
• Removal often requires good grip strength.
• Air and sealant can escape (‘burping’) if the tyre bead comes away from the rim due to a sudden impact or extreme cornering force.
• Sealants that coagulate need topping up every six months.

Bottom Line. Although duct tape proved capable, the clear winner was Gorilla Tape, which handily won all our tests.

Any wheel that has a porous spot large enough to leak air obviously isn’t as strong as one that’s properly cast. I’ve had wheels fail structurally at speed, and it’s pretty scary. Heated sideview mirrors are a great convenience.

And unlike steel rims, a fair number of these wheels leak air. It’s not a bead-seat surface leak, where air can creep out between the rim and rubber, but a leak through porosities in the cast-aluminum alloy.

New tubeless set ups which leak slowly. often seal better during their first few rides as the sealant is thrown around inside the tyre. Sealant does need topping up a little or changed every so often (3-6months for topping up). This will also be dependant on punctures it’s fixed and how much the bike is ridden.

Sealant does need topping up a little or changed every so often (3-6months for topping up). This will also be dependant on punctures it’s fixed and how much the bike is ridden. Good quality tubeless tape (of the correct width) on a properly cleaned and prepared (and tubeless ready) rim needs only one layer of tape.