Easy Tubeless Tire Conversion 🇬🇧 Royal Enfield 650 Continental GT Interceptor motorcycle w/ 3M 4412

Welcome back to our channel. Today we're replacing the stock 2021 Continental GT 650 tires and we're doing a tubeless conversion using 3m Extreme Sealing tape 4412. This is the 2mm thick tape as opposed to the 3M 4411 Extreme sealing tape which is 1mm thick. This video is the most comprehensive and detailed video currently available. If you have any question please leave them below, we read every comment and try our best to answer them as best we can.
The entire process took 4 days maybe a couple of hours each day, I took my time and made sure everything was extremely clean. Total cost was around $50. I'm happy to report that it's been over 6 months and the tires have not lost any air at all!! Take your time and your tube type tires will now be tubeless!!
A quick review on the Shinko 712 and 741; these tires are great! They handle way better than the stock Pirelli Phantoms, the bike seems to corner with much less effort. A great alternative tire for your Enfield. I considered Bridgestone BT46 tires but Shinkos were available and better priced.
Links to the 3M sealing tape available on Amazom.com
2.5" -- amzn.to/43RUFie
2" -- amzn.to/3Ko5ce9
1" -- amzn.to/3qjFRLx
Permatex Green Penetrating Threadlocker --
amzn.to/3Ylq77o
Tire are Shinko: SR 712 100/90/18 front
SR 741 140/70/18 rear
Valve Stems -- www.aliexpress...
Thanks again for watching, keep The Rubber Side Down!!!

[@Kathikas1]

Your planning, performance and perseverance was proverbial!😊 just a couple of ill-informed comments. If the tape overlap is on top of the valve hole then the additional patch is probably not needed. Warming the tyres (I’m a Brit) in the sun can be further enhanced by putting them in a black rubbish bag. When remounting the tyres I put a couple of zip ties around the tyre AND rim. This forces the beads up into the drop well for slightly easier installation. Use the reusable type zip ties (for further savings!) The approved Model T Ford technique when mounting a tyre is to lay a black rubbish bag over the wheel - this means that your beads are using very slippery plastic to slide over very slippery plastic (a saving of soapy water and possibly tyre levers!) Finally, and in spite of all the above, I could not bring myself to invest in the 3M tape, valves, alcohol, and cleaning rags etc so went down the ‘split tube’ or ‘ghetto’ method of tubeless conversion. It took about 45 minutes per tyre Essentially I scissored around the outside circumference of the tube and spread it out in place like a filleted kipper on the wheel. The tyre then went on top so the tube remains were trapped between the tyre bead and upstand of the wheel rim. Before riding off I trimmed off the excess butyl rubber ‘skirt’ and two years on the tyres are still holding full pressure This is a video of it being done out on an Australian lawn … kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGHFmmSoZ72pmNE Enjoyed the video, thank you very much - have subscribed

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks for the tips and thanks for watching, I've never heard of making a tubeless set up like that, I'd be constantly worried about the seal between the tire and rim leaking but you've gone 2 years leak free that's great!

[@Bavenbushcraft]

Absolutely beautiful and precise job! Fantastic!

[@losttogether4ever]

Thank you so much 😀

[@user-cp3zj5oc7q]

Love ur work! You’re braver than I am tackling the bike!

[@fiamun]

Good vid! Well done, I have the outex kit in the shed waiting for me to do. After this I would be confident using 3m. I'm getting a shop to remove refit tyres but again, after watching you, it's not too hard!

[@losttogether4ever]

Glad it was helpful! You'll love the tubeless setup!

[@atomiccheerio3349]

So Clean.

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks!! Thanks for watching!

[@13ahab]

Great video and well executed keep up the good work

[@losttogether4ever]

Thank you very much!

[@ChipLohman]

Another excellent video. Thanks for all the effort that went into it. Please consider a follow-up in the future of "If I had it to do over again." Take care, Virginia, USA

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks Chip, will do! And thanks afor watching and subscribing we really appreciate it.

[@ChipLohman]

@@losttogether4ever Perhaps one combined video labelled: "If I had it to do over again" with video clips from previous sessions and reflections after having lived with them for a while. I suspect your methods were sound to begin with and so "reflections" might include lessons learned and comments from readers. Take care...

[@jtfoto1]

Well described and executed mate. Thanks.

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks JT !!! Hope it helps you!

[@user-cp3zj5oc7q]

I don’t know whether you’ve done it yet but I reckon you should do a vid on accelerating the GT so we can hear that sweet twin sound!

[@losttogether4ever]

Check out our video on the installation of the TEC bike 2-1 Stinger exhaust.

[@esrider7765]

I plan to do the same on my Himalayan when tyres wear out. Though I will probably use the 3M marine silicon.

[@losttogether4ever]

I've seen some good results with that as well, patience is the key to either of these techniques!! good luck and thanks for watching!

[@RideEventually]

Edit: I'm Vlad from Bulgaria... Just changed my channel name. :) Great video and very well executed mod. I was looking at this option a while ago and one thing i've read made me not want to go with it - someone wrote that tubeless tyres and tubed tyres have a little bit different beads. So as he explained it the tubeless tyres will not fit with tubed rims as well as tubed tyres would. And vice versa. I dont know if it's true or not. I'm just sharing what i've read.

[@losttogether4ever]

Hey Vlad, Good to hear from you. I've heard that too, one thing I can confirm is that our rims have a safety bead for tubeless tires so the beads of tubeless tires should mount correctly. One other thing to note is that the stock Phantoms are a Tubeless tyre, they state on the sidewall to use a tube if used on a tube type rim.

[@RideEventually]

@@losttogether4ever woooow... i really didnt know that. BUT... my GT650 came with Ceat tires... i really hope that they didnt change the rims when they changed the stock tires at RE.

[@losttogether4ever]

I'm pretty sure the rims are the same.

[@yoni207]

Hi, an exhaustive and good video about the conversion process. I have a question: after the whole process of sealing the rim, is it mandatory to mount a tubeless tire on the rim? Or can you use a "normal" tire only without the inner tube?

[@losttogether4ever]

As I understand it you should, some will say you must use a tubeless compatible tire, tubeless tires have a lip by the bead that seals to the rim. Without this seal your tire may not seal proprerly if you are using a "normal" Tube type tire. That being said the vast majority of modern tires made are Tubeless compatible. The stock tyres on our Enfields are Tubeless type Tyres.

[@juanjogt6504]

My gt has 25.000 km i never punch 😂im a lucky men! The last 15000km im using slime ! Regards!

[@losttogether4ever]

Hi Juan, you are right 25,000km with no puncture is lucky!! I've heard slime works well inside a tube but you still have the dreaded tube!!

[@silverback3926]

Best method i have seen yet! How many miles and how is it holding up?

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks for the feedback, we really appreciate it! it's been 2000 kms and zero loss of pressure! This has been one of the best mods I've done to the Enfield, just make sure to take your time.

[@silverback3926]

Excellent news. I have an extra 19 inch rim and wheel for my classic. I think I will try this on that tire and test for reliability. It would be great to be able to convert these rims. I had purchased some nice aluminium rims for the classic. I could never get the front tire to take a bead. Now I never have tried a new tore on that rim. So that 250.00 expense is just sitting collecting dust. Having tubeless spoke rims would be great.

[@USARAY1947]

Why do you have to pay attention to the direction of wheel rotation when applying the tape? Have you noticed any difference in acceleration, braking and/or handling since removing the tubes? Great DIY video, thanks.

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks for watching and being a part of our channel. I haven't noticed any difference in acceleration or handling. The laying down of the tape in the right direction is similar to a roll of toilet paper! If you spin the TP on the holder and the end is laying opposit the direction of travel it has a tendancy to lay flat whereas if the tape/paper is laying facing the direction of travel it would unravel if it wasn't taped in place. Hope this makes sense it's more of a precaution as the tape is super sticky!!

[@USARAY1947]

@@losttogether4ever Yep, makes sense. It's the same reason there are directional arrows on motorcycle tires. So the line where the tread overlaps doesn't get pulled apart by braking (front) forces or acceleration (rear) forces.

[@andrewslagle1974]

What did you do for balance ? I have had great results using the ceramic balance beads .Great video .

[@losttogether4ever]

Hi Andrew, Thanks for watching and being a part of our channel. I was thinking of using beads but wasn't sure if they might get stuck to the tape I've used them in the past on other bikes with good results too. I just did a static balance on my axle stands with stick on weights, I know it's not the best but it seems to have worked ok, no wobbles or vibes, I'm going to invest in a better balancer seeing as how my local dealer charges $75.00 to mount and balance 1 tire if you bring in the rim.

[@dontiemann6264]

Do the Continental GT wire spoke wheels have a safety bead? The AT for example has a safety bead on the OEM rear wheel but not the front wheel.

[@losttogether4ever]

Yes they do have safety beads on both rims at least on my 2021 they are safety rims. Thanks for watching and asking a question we really appreciate it!!

[@ridinghightidesindia6847]

Nice video, how are they performing now? Did you true your rims before application of tape as later you won't get that chance. Dynamic balnacing wont be possible afterwards due to uneven weight of tape over rims.I have done similar mod back in 2021 with help of PU sealant but didn't like it so removed it after clocking 10000 kms on it Cheers 🥂

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks for watching and being a part of our channel! They are still performing great after sitting for 6 months over winter they only lost 5 lbs of pressure. I checked that the wheels were true before beginning the process and also applied thread locker to the spoke nipples to prevent loosening of the spokes. Balancing was fine the heavy spot on the rim may have changed due to the tape but the applied weight still balances the rim and tire.

[@ridinghightidesindia6847]

@@losttogether4ever That's nice, I am planning to do same mod in my Interceptor, I gone through spec sheet of 3 M 4412 N, temperature range is 5_38°C which is little worry for me as here in India summer heats up somewhere 38_46°C.

[@losttogether4ever]

I think the temperature range quoted is a working temperature range, my understanding is that is the ideal temperatures to apply and manipulate the tape. Once installed and cured the ambient temperature range must be higher I think. The internal temperature of the tires on a hot day must be getting close to 100C I would think.

[@mserrano9644]

Still good after some months?

[@losttogether4ever]

Yes, no leaks!! Thanks for asking!

[@ArkajyotiChoudhury]

The 3M 4412 tapes need a curing time. You should have left the rims for 72 hours before installing new tyres.

[@ArkajyotiChoudhury]

BTW, great video and super informative.

[@losttogether4ever]

Thanks for the comment and for watching, you are correct that the adhesive strength of the tape is 50% in 20 minutes, 90% in 24 hrs and 100% in 72 hrs. However I believe that the positive pressure against the tape by the air pressure of the inflated tire will only add to the adhesion of the tape to the rim by pressing the tape to the rim. If however there was any negative pressure or pulling of the tape from the rim you are correct that the adhesive would not have achieved it's full strength.

[@ArkajyotiChoudhury]

@@losttogether4ever Sounds good, wish you safe rides all along. Cheers

[@ArkajyotiChoudhury]

Hi, how is it holding up since you did this?@@losttogether4ever