Michelin Ultra Heavy-Duty Inner Tube Review

I installed these on my 2018 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports

After 3800 miles, no flats, no problems.

My experience with Michelin’s Ultra Heavy-Duty Enduro Tire Tubes

The Honda OEM Dunlop TrailMax tires that came on the 2016 – 2019 Honda Africa Twin (and Adventure Sports) were decidedly focused towards street riding with the promised potential that they could survive a mild trek down a dirt road without much fuss as long as the rider kept their speed and their expectations in check. The stock tire tubes that Honda spec’d for the Africa Twin also matched these design characteristics. They are round, made of black rubber, and they held air in the tire. They are also light weight, thin, and pack down small.

They did exactly what they were supposed to do for full-pressure street riding.

Honda spec’d a tire tube that matched the tire characteristics and the use-characteristics of the average Africa Twin-rider. If, you as the rider follow the common use expectations, be it that be you spend most of your time on the pavement and, if you keep your tires at recommended operating pressure, the stock tubes work fine.

Where the discussion of alternative tire tubes for the Africa Twin (and really for any of the large-displacement adventure-touring bikes) begins is from two distinct rider needs.

The first is the rider who plans to swap out the original rubber for more dirt-oriented tires and plans to run those tires at reduced tire pressures for maximum off-road grip. This was exactly my plan when I swapped the OEM tires for the Dunlop TrailMax Mission Tires.

The second consideration is for the rider preparing their kit for on-the-road and/or on-the-trail self-reliance and is going to carry spare tubes with them.

We will take these two topics separately because the nature of Michelin UHDs makes them great at one of these scenarios and less-than-great at the other.

Consideration 1: Hard-Core Off-Road Tires and Air-Down! (Yee Haw!)

The persistent demon that haunts off-road riders running tires with tubes in them is the dreaded pinch flat. For riders that reduce the air pressure in their tires sufficiently low to allow deformation of the sidewall (to gain traction), run the risk of this cursed annoyance. It is the event where the sidewall of the tire deforms sufficiently on impact with rocks and other obstacles to crush the inner tube between the inner-sidewall of the tire and the wheel rim. This crushing effect can cause ware spots and eventually holes in the tube resulting in a flat.

Enter stage right the Michelin Ultra Heavy Duty Inner Tubes. This is exactly what they were made for. These tubes are THICK, they are HEAVY, and they are durable. These tubes do exactly what the low-air-pressure rider wants them to do. They are extra resistant against internal tire abrasion, their added thickness resists pinch flats, and yes, they keep air in my 550+ Africa Twin tires too.

End of Story? Not Exactly…

There is one minor downside I will mention and one additional consideration to make.

These tubes are heavy. They are more than double the weight of the OEM tubes and when I combined them with a set of Dunlop TrailMax Mission Tires (a tire I really like but notoriously heavy in their own right), the total weight of the wheel set was noticeably heavier. Once I remounted the tires on my own bike, I immediately noticed an increase resistance to turn in at both ends of the bike. While I do not think this outcome would vary much with an alternative tube (unless you use a thinner one), it is worth mentioning. For the aggressive off-road rider, this is more or less something you will have to accept when running thicker (heavier) tubes.

The additional consideration I would propose to someone considering setting up their bike for aggressive off-road riding would be the use of rim locks. I did not follow through with this on my bike because I elected not to run my tires at extreme low pressures (I never went lower than 20 psi), but I was well aware of the potential risk of sheering the valve stem should I air-down the tubes too far (~<15 psi?). This is especially a risk on heavy, large-displacement adventure bikes on the rear tire.

For experienced dirt bike riders this is probably nothing new. But for other riders whom like me are coming to off-road riding from street bikes, this was a new concept for me to be aware of. The spoked wheels that came on the Africa Twin did not come pre-drilled for rim locks so that is something that would have to be drilled into the wheel. Other bikes may come prepped for this feature.

Consideration 2: The Self-Reliant rider who needs spare tubes for their kit. (Yes, you can fix this…)

This is where the Michelin UHDs fall short and I would not use them. As I said before, these tubes are thick, and they are heavy. Both characteristics that are counter-desirable to the priorities of most riders accessories kits on their bikes. The tubes are huge when you try to fold them up and fill small bike bags quickly.

But all is not lost!

The best surprise development that I experienced when installing these tubes was that the stock OEM tubes made for perfect back-up tubes. They were light weight, thin, and packed down small. Sound familiar? So, if you decide to install the Michelin UHD’s, keep the OEMs, they will be very useful.