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I was intrigued by Scott's discussion of tire balls last night as I've never heard about them before...how great would that be to have equal performance but not have to worry about flats! Has anybody ever use tire balls? If you are interested, listed below is a link that answers most all questions about tire balls.

http://www.tireballs.com/faq.php

Tire Balls are used in Off Road Vehicles only.

I've never considered them because until very recently, I've never owned a strictly off-road motorcycle. Now that I have the old 300 EXC, I suppose I could, but....

I only ride my off-road-only motorcycle in closed riding areas. This means, it's almost always a short, easy ride to get back to my truck. In this situation, I'm not worried about flats--I don't even carry anything to deal with it because my plan will be to limp back to my truck and put in a new tube using my tools in the comfort of basecamp. (I've ridden several miles with flat tires on multiple occasions.)

Therefore, I think the only smart application for Tire Balls is racing.

Also consider that a lot of guys I ride with seem to like to adjust their tire pressure frequently to match the terrain. You can't do that with Tire Balls without taking the tire off and individually setting pressure in the balls---nobody is going to do that except once during race prep.

Troy

I was interested, so I clicked the link in Randy's post. Good information, so I clicked on the "Order now" and now I'm not interested anymore! $200 to do just my rear tire! No thanks.

I can't speak for the bib mousse or tire balls from experience since I've never used them, but I have used Neutech Tubliss system on my KTM 200.

From my experience, all of the tube alternatives are at best a break-even with tubes when it comes down to it. They all address problems that we've all had with tubes, but none of them are perfect. Whether it be mounting hassles, how to fix them trailside, etc, etc they all have drawbacks. I liked the Tubliss system, but not enough to put it on my 350. My theory is that it would be a lot more effective to just get better at dealing with tubes. This includes using the correct tools and techniques, which does require some effort and expense, but I don't fear doing tire changes like I used to. I'm no pro by any means, but I feel pretty confident that I can handle it on the basis that I have to.

These alternatives are all good in their own ways and bad in others, but to me the bottom line is that tubes have worked for a LONG time and the other systems are not advantageous enough to justify their costs/hassles/etc.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I was thinking the tire balls would be good for colorado where we may be 70 miles from camp with nobody else anywhere around and in area that is not accessible by truck. But, at $200 each tire, times 4 tires for my bike and my son's...I can buy gold plated tire irons for the $800!

I'm also convinced the best solution is to get really good at changing tires ...think that I will get my son working at that .