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Question and Comment about tires and valve stem blow outs.


texasaggie97

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texasaggie97

Howdy Fellow Rides,

I wanted to ask a question and make a comment. I had motorcycle shop here in SoCal put my Metzelers on my 1150GS and I have had two blow outs at the valve stems. This has happened in the last three months and I have put 5000 miles on my tires and they still look good but I wanted to know if there is any structural issues with riding 50 to 100 yards on a flat tire. I pulled over as soon as I could and had to move the bike to a place were I could work on it.

 

First question is do you feel I should get new tires before I make my road trip to Oregon? I plan on making a 6 to 7 day trip riding all over nothern Cal and I was wondering if you think my tires are OK?

 

Second, what is a good membership to have for roadside assistance. I have Dairyland Motorcycle insurance do they have a good program? I like to take long ride by myself from time to time and it would be helpful to know I have a way home or at least to a shop.

 

Third, The valve stems that are in there are for car tires. Do you think that matters and do I need have new valves? It is also hard to add air because they are so long.

 

Comment:

Please Please, Do yourself and all your friends a favor and ask the person who is putting new tires on your bike to inspect and put new valve stems on your bike. This really sucks because you can not patch the tire. You have to remove the tire and find a tire shop that has the valve to fit your bike. Not all valves will fit is what I was told. I have also had the luck of having one blow out two hours from a town and the other was on a holiday weekend not fun times to be looking for valve stems. Both blew out while riding down the road at 50 plus miles an hour. Not fun as well. Well hope we all have learned from this post.

Blessings Todd dopeslap.gifdopeslap.gifdopeslap.gifdopeslap.gif

 

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ShovelStrokeEd

OK, the easy one first. Your tires, if they are Anakee or Touratecs are probably only 1/2 worn. Maybe a bit more if they are of the sport touring persuasion. You didn't say so I can only speculate.

 

Second, something is very wrong with the valves blowing out of your tires. Somebody is putting the wrong sized valves in there, in my opinion. That, or the guy who installed them had no idea of what he was doing and damaged them during the botched install attempt. There are actually tools for this and they should be used.

 

I have well over a million miles lifetime riding motorcycles and have never had that particular problem occur.

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texasaggie97

The tires are Tourances and they still look great tread wise and the front tire is not cupping. I was wondering if you feel the sides of the tires might have been damaged. They do not look to have been but just wanted another opinion before I set out on a 1500 mile ride.

Thanks for your responce. Do I need to take the tires in and have different valve stems put in. The ones that are in there are from car tire shops . That is all I could find open at the times of the blow outs.

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Hi Todd, wave.gif

 

If it was my bike and my trip I would replace tires and valves before making the trip. I find it hard to believe that your trip would only be 1500 miles, lots of neat roads up there so I would think at least 2000 to 2500. New tires mean one less thing to worry about and more roads to explore. Save the tires and slip them back on after you wear out the new set.

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ShovelStrokeEd

If the last two blew out on me and you used a similar size, I would certainly have them replaced. Take the wheels to a BMW dealer and have them done there. Chances are good he will have the proper valve stems. Chances are equally good he will have the proper tools.

 

As to damage to the tires, well, if you rode them for any distance with the tire fully flat you may have done internal damage to the cords, in particular those that comprise the side walls. I would change them as well. Pity, really, as my experience with Tourances show them to be good for a minimum of 12K miles on the rear and upwards of 15K on the front.

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Second, something is very wrong with the valves blowing out of your tires. Somebody is putting the wrong sized valves in there, in my opinion. That, or the guy who installed them had no idea of what he was doing and damaged them during the botched install attempt.
For sure. This should be a very rare problem.

 

In this and many other cases it is all to easy to have 'preventative maintenance' reduce reliability instead of enhancing it.

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texasaggie97

Sad thing is this guy is a BMW bike mechanic. He also forgot to put a part back on my rear wheel when he reinstalled the tire. He is a great guy and he works on a lot of peoples bikes and the shop was full of BMWs he must of had a bad day. I just hope that never happens again. I will stand over the mechanic next time. Where is a good place to go here in LA area that will install tires I buy from SW Tire. I will say that it could have been worse.

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I have well over a million miles lifetime riding motorcycles

 

Ed,

That's mind boggling... eek.gif

Do you ever sleep or have you ever had to dodge dinosaur poop? grin.gif

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ShovelStrokeEd

It's only an average of 20K per year for me.

As to dinosaur poo, well, maybe a coprolite or two. Hard to tell at speed. grin.gif

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Do yourself and all your friends a favor and ask the person who is putting new tires on your bike to inspect and put new valve stems on your bike.

I always take my K wheels to San Jose BMW to have them mounted and balanced for a reasonable fee, and their rule is to replace the valve stem as a part of the procedure. thumbsup.gif

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For roadside assistance, I have KOA (Kampgrounds of America) roadside assistance . They will take your bike if you break down and tow it to the nearest BMW dealer even if you are in the middle of nowhere (even if it's a 300 mile tow). Plus, you get a KOA card that gives you 10% off when you rent a campsite. The web site is http://www.koa.com/rvroadhelp Don't get confused b/c it's called RV Roadhelp. They consider motorcycles to be RV's and thus are covered. If you look at the home page, you will see a bike at the very end of the graphic. Call them and talk to a customer rep. Write out any questions you have in advance, leaving room underneath the question for the rep's response. Disclosure; My folks did run the Watkins Glen KOA in New York from '88 to '92, but besides that I have no more affiliation with them, yada,yada...

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California riders DISREGARD my previous endorsement of KOA roadside service. One gent states in "Alternatives to AAA", that the front of his card had a "California Only" stamped on the front of the card with a disclaimer in the paperwork with something about a $250 limit on towing. I am sure someone from CA will post on this new development as soon as they find out.

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