• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

valve stem failed

R

ReserveBum

Training Wheels
Just had my new rear tire (Avon Azaro) installed w/ a 90 degree valve stem. With less than 500 miles, the valve stem broke apart with me in lane 3 of 4 on I-95 doing about 75 coming back from Rolling Thunder. Serious pucker moment. I got her off the side of the highway without getting pancaked then managed to drop her on the shoulder. Anyhow....has anyone seen this happen? First time for me. I am wondering if it was possibly the tire itself building up too much pressure and the valve stem was the weakest link???? I have put about 150 miles on her since (after purchasing repair parts from Murph) without issue. But today it was warm and I was on the slab....after 20 minutes or so she started moving in ways I was not comfortable with. Not sure if it was dirty air from the 18 wheelers or it was the tire again. I just drove to the shop and the owner agreed to replace the tire along with a few other small repairs.
 
Was this a rubber-based stem or an all-metal stem?  I had a 90 degree stem fail on a front tire that was metal sheathed back to where it attached to the rim.  The rubber portion split from the centrifugal force of the 90 degree section.  I was able to pull off without much drama, but it could have been worse.  After looking at the design, it was a failure waiting to happen.  Hard to believe they are actually being sold that way.  Needless to say, I won't make that mistake again.  I don't know if yours was the same design, but I can testify that it does happen. 
 
I don't like 90' stems for just that reason.
TR-412 rubber snap in valves or short straight metal ones for me.
I had a rubber snap in valve crack on our minivan, not catastrophic but it leaked real good if you bent it a bit on the rim, first time I've had one fail.
Glad you got her to the side, sorry about its final resting spot though.  :'(
 
Centrifugal force kills the dam things because the weight is not centered on the stem.
 
Murph use to sell some 45 degree ones, all medal and very strong looking.  I took them to my tire guy when I needed new tires and he would not install them because of the history of failure as he said.  I am sure he meant the cheap ones but the parts are still in my drawer.  I have also heard of the good ones being installed wrong and failed at the base.  Makes for a bad day if you loose pressure in the tire all at once.
 
I had the same failure between El Paso and Pecos on I-20 on a Sunday evening hundreds of miles from home attempting a SS1000 and I was alone  :mad:  It is a long story as to how I got out of that jam.  Those things should be outlawed.  Don't anyone trust those things they are dangerous!  When I picked up my mounted tire from the shop I knew it was a mistake but I was too sheepish to tell them to put back in my stock stem.  I thought it would last more than a few hundred miles.  Then I bought a 90 degree like my 91 had from Kawasaki only to find out the hole size is different than on my 05.  Got a nice sturdy metal 90 degree online from curvygirl.com or something along that line.  Google Kurvygirl or Curveygirl and it should come up.  She has a lot of valve stem options.         
 
This is what I'm using ... http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/tire_valves/index.htm  put them in with a new set of Pilot GT's and Dyna beads about 7000 miles ... so far so good.
 
:iagree:
That's like the one I have on my rear wheel. Been there for over 20K miles with no issue. The only rubber is a seal and the stem is secured with a nut on the inside of the rim.

Eddie
 
I have a 2010 Connie and it is definitly the nicest bike I have ever owned (bike number 14 for me)  I like almost everything about it, but there is one thing that I can't figure out what the engineers at Kawasaki were thinking.  The stock air stems  are a joke and the configuration of the bike makes it difficult in the extreme to check air pressure and add air at at gas station.  You have to be a yoga master to add air to the rear tire!  I was thinking of adding the right angle stems from Murphs on my next tire change, but as the previous posts show, there are some concerns.  I have found what I think will be an acceptable alternative at  www.getagauge.com; check out the Chek-A-Spare product.  It is simply an extension hose that attaches to the existing air stem.
 
I use these 85 degree Enkei Metal Valve Stems from KurveyGirl.  I just replaced them after about 35k miles because the rubber seals were looking a little aged.  Well, the little bit of the rubber seals I could see from the outside looked aged anyway.  After taking them off, and actually getting a good look at the seals, I could have left them alone.  It was just the very outside surface that was looking bad.  But for $10, I figured it was worth it anyway for peace of mind.
 
I only use the OEM style stem and change them out every 50K, along with the wheel bearings, which for me works out to 4 years or so.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top