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Beaded edge tyres – are they safe?

Two readers have had recently fitted, new beaded edge tyres strip their bead and come off, while another asks is it better to have the wheels of his early 1920s V-twin rebuilt with rims to accept wired-on tyres, and three more have asked beaded edge tyre pressure advice.

There appears to be a batch, or perhaps even a container load, of what are probably rickshaw tyres dribbling onto the European market and the two examples which stripped their beads may be part of this batch. While they are of appropriate sizes for motorcycles, one stated it must not exceed 30mph (50kph) and both implied they were two ply covers. However, priced at £35 each when offered for sale two years ago, they were snapped up.

The only advice this column can give is don’t buy such ‘bargains’ – they are simply too cheap and no respected specialist would sell them. As a by-thumb rule, beaded edge tyres suitable for our veteran and early vintage motorcycles will cost in the order of £100 per cover, including tube and postage, and more for the larger sizes, with some imported from America costing in excess of £300.

The idea of swapping rims to accept wired-on tyres instead