Well this is embarrassing.....

[Serk]

So after reading Willow's recent thread about riding his Valk, I decided to take mine out tonight. I'd been meaning to put together a care package to send to Kali while she's deployed, so went to a few local places to pick up things I know she's missing, decided to make the run out to the nearest Buc-ee's to get some Texas/Beaver stuff I also know she likes.

Ride was pretty uneventful, other than I got a weird oscillation, not the "death wobble", the bars were staying straight, the whole bike was just oscillating left to right on me at high speeds (at or near triple digits). Slowing down and no further issues...I know the rear shocks are shot, I attributed it to that.



She still sure is purdy though, ain't she?

Bought said Texas and/or beaver related items I know Specialist Kali will appreciate, filled up with gas, and started heading home.

...that oscillation came back. Slowed down, it went away, then it came back again, slowed down again. Kept happening. Glanced at my TPMS monitor, it showed all a-okay but something definitely wasn't.

Saw a stretch of freeway with a double wide shoulder, and knew there was a construction zone coming up so I pulled over.



Rear tire was flat.

...guess who, through absolutely no fault of Willow's at all, is still running on OEM valve stems?
*Hanging head in shame*

Dug the ~20 year old CO2 rescue inflator out of my saddle bag, hooked it up and proceeded to spray CO2 everywhere but into the tire. (And to add insult to injury, while digging around in the saddle bag I found a set of metal valve stems floating around in there from some previous Inzane I'm sure.)

Called the spousal unit, asked her to get the tire inflator I keep on the Gold Wing that plugs into a battery tender pig tail, a flashlight and come to me.

She got there. She did not get the air compressor out of the Goldwing, she got a bag of bungee cords instead. Oops. Luckily I keep one in the car she was in as well so inflated the tire. Got it up to full pressure and rode straight home.



(Small miracle of the evening - the (OEM) valve stem ended up in the PERFECT place for inflation at least)



So two lessons learned:

-Having all the metal valve stems on Earth does you no good if they're sitting on a shelf at home and not installed on your bike.



-Test your TPMS system periodically, do NOT trust it emphatically! Mine still said the tire was fully inflated and great even after I'd taken the sending unit off and chucked it off the bridge I was stranded on in frustration (And continued to report the tire was hunky dory the entire time it was flat)

Oh well. The Valk, the spousal unit and myself are home safe. Can sort the rest out later. Guess I gotta take the Valk to the one place in the area I've found (That's still 30 miles away) that will do Dark Side stuff to get REAL valve stems installed once and for all...

...I was able to walk away, the bike will be rideable again, so it was, overall, a good ride!

[Jess from VA]

Are you sure pressure loss was the OE valve stem (usually cracked down by the rim), or a hole in the tire?

I got a nail in one car tire, and it got rubbed down flush with the tread.  I was only a bit low in pressure, not flat.  I sure didn't yank the nail out until I was ready to repair the hole (reamer and gluey stringy plugs held until the next tire).   

[Jersey mike]

It might be a little embarrassing but two things, you were close to home and nobody got hurt with the exception of an embarrassment.

[LadyDraco]

What JerseyMike  said

[Chrisj CMA]

It’s good to post these even embarrassing lessons. If someone else sees this and gets rid of the OEM stems and therefore avoids the same fate then it’s a Nobel effort 

[h13man]

Had my 1st. rear tire change and the installer neglected to install/lost the "tombstone" support or it wasn't there in the 1st. place. Loss of pressure two up on I65 at night. Fortunately we were very close to a on ramp. A local GW rider and his lady were heading to Wisconsin turned off the next ramp and came back to help us. Rode/walked slowly back down the ramp while he took my wife to the closed BP station. A county Sheriff came by and said he would monitor the bike thru night and my wife had a coworker that lived a 1/2 mi. away that took us home. The lady on the GW, my wife and friend all worked together at Subaru. A lot of Karma that late night. Got a good deal on tombstones on Fleabay if anyone be needing any give me hollar' I'll gift you one.

[Valkorado]

Glad you aren't writing this from a horse pistol!  

[carolinarider09]

It’s good to post these even embarrassing lessons. If someone else sees this and gets rid of the OEM stems and therefore avoids the same fate then it’s a Nobel effort 

 

[old2soon]

    Aint had my coffee yet But DAYUM! Definitely one them there duh moments you'd Really rather NOT Have. Purchase and USE a GOOD Digital tire pressure gauge. And YES batteries do crap out in digital type stuff. As yer well aware of ALREADY metal valve stems in a saddle bag or trunk or on the shelf help Exactly NOBODY!  On the flip side thogh glad yer phyisically oley dokey and I Will STOP right there!  Worse come to worse learn how to determine tire pressure with yer toe. Old truckers trick. Might be a tad rough on boots and toes til ya git the technique down pat.  RIDE SAFE.

[Challenger]

Your chain of events sounds similar to mine. At one ride in in Wisconsin my Slime pump and string plugs resued two different riders that weekend. Got home and unpacked and cleaned bike. Friend called and wanted to go to lunch. 30 miles from home,run over scrap metal and punctured new rear tire. Opened saddle bags and (crap) empty.  Phone calls started and finally rescued three hours later.

[Serk]

Are you sure pressure loss was the OE valve stem (usually cracked down by the rim), or a hole in the tire?

Was 90% positive last night due to symptoms, am now 99.9%. Overnight tire held most of its' pressure, if I push on the valve stem I can hear air hissing, so.....

It might be a little embarrassing but two things, you were close to home and nobody got hurt with the exception of an embarrassment.

Definitely, and happy to share some egg on my face if it helps convince someone else to take care of things...

Got a good deal on tombstones on Fleabay if anyone be needing any give me hollar' I'll gift you one.

Switch to all metal valve stems and you can toss the tombstones entirely...  (Do appreciate the offer regardless of course!)

Worse come to worse learn how to determine tire pressure with yer toe. Old truckers trick. Might be a tad rough on boots and toes til ya git the technique down pat.  RIDE SAFE.

Yup, son of a trucker I'm decent enough at the kick it technique. In this case I was overly trusting of my TPMS. I have good analog and digital pressure gauges galore I just wasn't using them...

And unless I'd stopped to check tire pressure at Buc-ee's it likely wouldn't have made a difference, I think the majority of the pressure loss occurred after I'd left the super-gas station and was headed home... (Although evidently there was enough to have effected the ride on the way to the store.)

Opened saddle bags and (crap) empty.  Phone calls started and finally rescued three hours later.

Since I travel on the 'Wing cross country with a kiddo, it's been given priority on the good kit and more strict maint (It does NOT have OEM valve stems).

To add insult to injury, this is NOT the first time an OEM valve stem has left me on the side of the road. On a Colorado trip back in 2007 I had the front one fail in the middle of nowhere far west Texas. I limped it into Amarillo stopping every few miles to air the tire back up and found a dealer open on a Monday to replace it to get me home. Made a note of it happening, and totally forgot to replace it for reals...

Also Da Prez (I think it was him, apologies if I've got the wrong person) sent me a tool he'd made to slide the tire to the side so one can replace the stems in situ. I used it to replace the stems on our at the time Silverwing and one of my Interstates, but broke the tool while trying to do it on my Standard/Tourer, thus why it still hasn't been done. Guess I've got to revisit how to do that now...

[Willow]

LOL!  Seems I remember giving Kali a pair of valve stems for that bike.

OEM stems work fine so long as the support is in place and they are replaced at alternating tire changes as recommended.  Normally OEM stems cost about $11 each.  The metal stems cost about $2.50 each and will last until the rubber washer rots out which should be several decades.  The metal stem, of course, needs no separate support and won't be broken by pressing too hard against it.

Friends don't let friends ride on OEM vale stems.   

[Serk]

So, decided it was past time to get this issue put to bed... Did some googling, found this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8CcVgATEno

Decided I'd either get this taken care of, or break the tire trying...

Went to Harbor freight to pick up some big enough C-Clamps. No joy. Did some searching in the parking lot with my phone, was about to order some from Amazon when I saw Tractor Supply carries 8" clamps, so headed there and picked up 3 of 'em...

Grabbed an appropriate cigar to set the mood...



Set up the rig and started clamping... (After removing the valve stem core of course)


(Pic was from the front tire, didn't get a good pic of the rear, but ya' get the idea)

Just as I was about to give up got the blessed "POP" of the bead giving way, ripped the old OEM valve stem out easily, and got the metal one in...



(And yes, I put the 2nd nut on after this pic was taken)

Moved on and did the same for the front tire...



...should have done that years ago. But it's now done at least.

Also - I'll necro the thread but the T-Valve metal stems I'd mentioned for TPMS receivers do NOT fit on Valkyrie rims, there's just not enough clearance for them...

Now to order fresh TPMS units, prolly should at least test, if not replace, those every few years, and a motorcycle sized air compressor to leave on the Valk, hoping I never need it...

[Jess from VA]

My only question is..... is the garage air conditioned?   

[Serk]

My only question is..... is the garage air conditioned?   

Heh, no...

I do have a portable AC unit I've tried using to cool the garage enough to work in but it's just so drafty and too large to cool off, better to open the garage doors and have a fan blowing on ya'.....

I sweat. A LOT. And was reminded how much I hate wrenching, especially in the heat, but needed to get done, so...

[Jess from VA]

My bikes sit out in a 10 X 12 shed.  I have a good overhead fan, and two small movable ones.

But really, I just won't work out there in high heat.  And we're having the hottest summer in No VA in my 34 years out here.  I hate it.

I did my best short distance 3hr ride in mostly shade today.  But at 90 degrees I have to come home.   

[Serk]

Heh, the joys and brotherhood of modern social media... FIgured this episode was worth a post on the VRCC Facebook page:



Among the useful and friendly replies, this art critic chose to chime in... I laughed.

[h13man]

Glad you aren't writing this from a horse pistol!  

So only certain folk here are allowed to share experiences here?   

[Dirty Dave]

So do y'all think it's time for me to change my original 27 year old valve stems?

 

[Serk]

So do y'all think it's time for me to change my original 27 year old valve stems?

 

I'd be willing to bet (Not much, maybe $5) somewhere along the line those valve stems have been replaced during a tire change or two...

But regardless... YES! Replace 'em with metal stems... Yesterday!

[Valkorado]

So do y'all think it's time for me to change my original 27 year old valve stems?

 

Nah.  Just think of the experiences you could have and (possibly) share by leaving them on!  

[da prez]

  I just bought a 2000 Interstate Blue/Silver. New tires a few years ago. OEM stems. The tool I loaned Serk was used to replace the stems in about 20 minutes for both. When I pushed on the rear stem , it started leaking . I guess I should have sold the bike with the old stems ( ).
  Stems are on the to do list when I get a bike.  B T W , this is one of the cleanest bikes I have ever acquired. 

                                                  da prez

[cookiedough]

well at least no blowouts and made it home safely is the key.   

I too had a near flat tire drove home in May from work got a screw in near new tire rode home last 10 of the 30 miles felt squirrely wobbly for sure especially once got into town driving slowly around corners.  limped it home did not stop found about 10 psi tops in rear tire.  All that road construction in Madison WI pretty sure got it there and slowly lost air all the way home. 

New tires are not cheap anymore after looking for them online, pricing went up since last bought a new cycle/scooter tire

[Beer van Huet]

What kind of TPMS do you have Serk?
I have the Garmins with the OEM (metal) valves but I'm not satisfied with them.
The rear tire almost always shows a not connected sign.
I think it's because I ride with hardbags and the signal won't reach my Zumo 595 set.
Besides they show different values than the gauge at the gas station and my own pressure gauge.
i reported this and got new ones from Garmin but the issue remained unchanged.

[Serk]

I haven't done extensive testing on it, but so far I've been pretty happy with the new one I put on the Valk, especially for the price (Currently under $30):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B6G2L5QV/r

I have a similar (But visually a little different) one on my Goldwing, and it has no problem sending the signal to the reader on the handlebars through all the Tupperware on the Wing from the rear (Or front) tire...

[MAD6Gun]

 A few years ago (probably more like 12) Twila and I were out for a ride. we needed to get home faster so we hopped on hwy 69 and headed south to home at 70 mph. About 20 miles from home I got a bad vibration from the front end I had a hunch what was happening so I closed the throttle and slowed to a stop using the rear brake only. By the time we got of the bike the front tires was completely flat and so hot I couldn't touch it. I called my stepson to bring my trailer. I was able to slowly ride it to the next exit (about a mile) in the breakdown lane. I didn't want to load the bike on the trailer while on the side of a very busy highway. The tire was destroyed anyway and it protected the wheel from damage. We loaded the bike and got it home. I found the stock stem had failed completely. I posted my predicament on the board and Hayhauler sent me two new metal ones no charge.

 Bottom line I learned a valuable lesson that day and all it cost me was a new tire. Fortunately due to rider skill (lol) or shear luck I was able to keep it upright.

[LadyDraco]

A few years ago (probably more like 12) Twila and I were out for a ride. we needed to get home faster so we hopped on hwy 69 and headed south to home at 70 mph. About 20 miles from home I got a bad vibration from the front end I had a hunch what was happening so I closed the throttle and slowed to a stop using the rear brake only. By the time we got of the bike the front tires was completely flat and so hot I couldn't touch it. I called my stepson to bring my trailer. I was able to slowly ride it to the next exit (about a mile) in the breakdown lane. I didn't want to load the bike on the trailer while on the side of a very busy highway. The tire was destroyed anyway and it protected the wheel from damage. We loaded the bike and got it home. I found the stock stem had failed completely. I posted my predicament on the board and Hayhauler sent me two new metal ones no charge.

 Bottom line I learned a valuable lesson that day and all it cost me was a new tire. Fortunately due to rider skill (lol) or shear luck I was able to keep it upright.

I remember  that !