Do I need the rim locks?

I'm changing the rear tire today and want to know if I can ditch the rim locks, I can't see their purpose on a 650 used mainly for commuting. They are a pain to get in there, and if they are gone will the rim hole need to be taped over from the inside? My rubber strip has holes in them from the locks, so that will leave a straight opening to the tube.

Also, I know silicone is safe to use on rubber, but is it a good choice as a tire installing lube? I don't want to use soapy water, nor leave the house today to buy some tire lube across town.:blush:

unless youre running 8 lbs of air pressure and doing burnouts i wouldnt worry too much

You can grind down the head of 8x1.25 bolt to fit the recess. Rubberband it and your good to go.

Do what you think is best, but here's my experience. Years ago I owned a modified BSA; lots of fun but not as much power as my KZ650C1. It used tubes but had no rim locks. While driving in heavy traffic in Baltimore I shifted too third gear at maybe 40MPH and much to my surprise the rear wheel spun a little inside the tire. When this happened it sheared the valve stem clean off and PHOOOPH - ALL the air pressure left the tube in a nanosecond. The caused the rear of the bike to swing wildly form side to side in a huge arc that was extremely difficult for me to control. I didn't dare touch the rear brake so I just gradually slowed to a stop using the front brake. All the while some butthead in a car 2' from the back of the bike was blowing his horn at me. I believe he thought I was deliberately doing some kind of fancy motorcycle riding trick. When I replaced the tube I ran a couple dozen screws through the rim into the lip of the tire so it would never slip again. I wouldn't dream of riding the more powerful KZ650 without rimlocks. Ed

After more than 30 years of riding, I have never used the rim locks. They were initially intended to keep the tire on the rim if you got a flat. No tubeless tires use rim locks. The most important thing is to keep track of your tire pressure. If it goes too low it will do exactly as Ed stated in the previous post. There is a very important step though. Take a thin strip of rubber like off of an old inter tube and glue it over the hole with some good rubber cement than glue over that a tin piece of Aluminum, like from a soda can (Beer can will also do fine:P )also glue it in and place another piece of rubber over that. If you don't do this you will eventually blow the the existing hole. I do not and have not run rim locks on my GPz1100 (Built) and it has rim lock intended rims.

Otto

I always figured the reason tubeless rims don't use rimlocks is because there's no tube - therefore no risk of tearing the valve stem off the tube if the rim was to spin in the tire. I may be wrong; my opinion is based on the experience I mentioned above rather than an actual understanding of what the Kawasaki engineers were thinking when they decided to include rimlocks on the bikes. I agree that when the tire went flat it didn't come off the rim even though the BSA had no rimlocks. I thought rimlocks' main purpose was to prevent the wheel from spinning in the tube-type tire; much like the screws used by early racers. If I thought keeping the tire on the rim during a blowout was their sole puprose I might not struggle to put them in everytime I replaced the rear tire. Does the GPz1100 use tubes?

UPDATE:
From the Kawasaki KZ650 Motorcycle Service Manual “Bead protectors (rim locks) are provided on the rear wheel to keep the tire from slipping on the rim and damaging the tube when extreme braking or driving forces are applied.”

You don't need them if you don't want them. I'm strange and like the way they look on the wheel and always use them. Get used to using them and they are not hard to install. Of course with tubeless the tire will never break loose of the wheel. GPZ1100 was always tubeless type wheels from the factory. They don't use rimlocks on the front so to me being used on the drive wheel was so the tire definately cannot slip on the rim.

OK I think maybe I'll keep them.

I got the tire off and had to use Naval Jelly and a wire brush to clean out the rust. I washed it in the sink and even gave it a blow dry...

Now what about using silicone spray as a lube? Can I spray it on a rag and wipe the bead and rim? I don't want to use the water/soap combo again.

Hi Kent,

I like the water/soap lube pretty well. Always thought it gave slip when fresh and stick later on. Never thought that it might get wet again:woohoo:

I know the silicone won't attack the rubber but it might just maintain it's slippery properties much longer.

KZCSI

Later: My bet is that the rim locks are intended more for abnormal conditions such as little or no air pressure.

I use 1 inch 5/16 stove bolts in the holes and it looks like they are in there without the PIA hassle changing tires. They are the most aggravating SOBs in the world to get in there without pinching the tube, or maybe its just me.

"Now what about using silicone spray as a lube? Can I spray it on a rag and wipe the bead and rim? I don't want to use the water/soap combo again."

I took a jelly jar to a place that mounts car tires, told the worker I was changing my motorcycle tires, and asked if he could sell me a little tire lube. "No problem & no charge" says he as he filled the jar with the boss's lubricant. I don't know what that stuff is, but it works better than the soap & water I had been using. Ed

RonKZ650 wrote:

You don't need them if you don't want them. I'm strange and like the way they look on the wheel and always use them. Get used to using them and they are not hard to install.

I figured out how to make it easier: I punch holes in the rubber rim strips for the rim lock bolts so I can install the locks after the rim strip is already in. Running the rim strip over the locks was a royal pain.