MarkAZ Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I'm planning on new tires soon and figured I should also replace the valve stems. Should I use metal stems? And what size is the hole in the wheel? It's a 2004 R1150RT. Thanks... Link to comment
Selden Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Consider a metal stem with a 45° or 90° bend for the front wheel; it makes using a tire pressure gauge much easier. See also this topic from 2010: metal valve stems. Link to comment
lkchris Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Valve stems should be changed with every tire change, metal stem or not. The metal stems seal to the wheel with rubber, too. The metal is just there for show. Link to comment
MarkAZ Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 Thanks for the link. Anyone know what size I need? Link to comment
MarkAZ Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 OK...I read thru the thread in the link that Selden posted and now I'm confused. I looked at several different valves mentioned in the link. I see various sizes...8mm, 10mm, 11mm, and several inch sizes. I looked at the fiche for the bike and the BMW part says D=15mm. So which is it? I didn't think it would be that confusing. Never had to worry about it with tube tires... Link to comment
dan cata Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 The metal stems do have a plastic on the inner side, but my guess is that it will loose it's flexing later in time than the regular rubber stems. Anyway, since I switched to metal stems, pressure stays pretty constant and I do not need to check that often... Dan. Link to comment
MarkAZ Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 Anyone know what size the hole in the rim is? I suppose I could measure it when I get the tire off but I'd like to have everything on hand before I start. Link to comment
greiffster Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Anyone know what size the hole in the rim is? I suppose I could measure it when I get the tire off but I'd like to have everything on hand before I start. I think the rim hole size is 11.5mm (0.453"). I get Bikemaster 15mm 03-37-2 valve stems for mine. Link to comment
mikeR1100R Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I bought a bag of 10 metal valve stems from http://patchboy.com years ago. They attach inside with a jam-nut and are indeed metal all the way through. There is a rubber grommet where the stem goes through the rim. I think I paid $1.10/valve stem. They are simple straight valves 0.453" in diameter. They fit my wife's Ninja too! I decided to get them after reading about a terrible accident someone from this board had due to catastrophic rubber valve stem failure. Link to comment
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