When riders ask us about running heavy-duty motorcycle inner tubes most are doing so because what they’re looking for is a puncture-proof or at least puncture-resistant motorcycle inner tube.
In the vast majority of cases, a heavy-duty inner tube is a bad idea.
If you are a pure road rider, they are completely inappropriate. Heavy duty motorcycle inner tubes are around 4mm thick, twice the thickness of a regular motorcycle inner tube. They are designed for off-road use and are of great benefit to off-road riders, especially those running low tyres pressures as the thick tube helps prevent pinch-flats (where the tube is squashed between a rock and the rim for example).
However at road speeds, these tubes will rapidly heat up past their recommended operating temperatures and this will cause, at best, overinflated tyres and dodgy handling but at worst a blow-out. Not to forget that heavy-duty tubes are heavy and this additional unsprung weight and gyroscopic force will severely affect a bike’s handling.
We appreciate the internet is full of forum threads where riders claim to have successfully run UHD tubes on road bikes for years on high-speed runs and the like, but do you want to put your life in the hands of an anonymous claim? It’s a gamble that’s not worth taking.
Not only are punctures rare on the roads, the ability of an ultra-heavy-duty inner tube to resist a screw or nail compared to a regular inner tube is a bit like saying you’ve got a better chance of stopping a bullet with a dustbin lid compared to an umbrella.
So as far as puncture-resistance on the road is concerned, a heavy duty tube is not the answer and is likely to cause more problems than it aims to solve.
Thanks for the advice. I too assumed that thicker tubes would be more puncture resistant.
“ a bit like saying you’ve got a better chance of stopping a bullet with a dustbin lid compared to an umbrella.”
Wonderful.