| Author | Message | ||
     Tootal |
In my efforts to prepare for my trip to "Buell's in the Alps" I was going to ride to my storage facility and swap the Harley for the Uly. When I reached the garage the Uly battery was dead. I had tools on the Hog so I removed it and took it home to the charger. This morning it was all charged up so I threw it in the Harley and decided to ride to breakfast then go swap the bikes. As I was passing a semi at 75 MPH I hit my blinker and started to go back to the right lane when I realized I was having a hard time steering the bike. Aww CRAP! I kept on the throttle until I reached the shoulder and then touched the front brakes which was not good. Damn! Front flat tire. I eased on the rear brake and slowed it down gently. The bike stayed upright and I made it to a stop. I couldn't find anything in the tire so I suspected the valve stem. I called a friend and he came by and took me home and I hooked up my trailer and went back to get the bike. I was able to get the Harley on the trailer and lashed down. I took it home and just left in on the trailer for now. My brother came home from work and a couple of hours later we went out for dinner. I had brought the Uly battery so we stopped by the storage unit and I put the battery in but the bike wouldn't start. I turned the steering back and forth and wiggled wires but nothing. Then I pulled the seat and wiggled the ecm wires, still nothing. I took the fuse wire box lid off and the fuel pump fired up. Aha! So one of the relays went bad. I got it to run and it made it home. Just ordered all four relays from amazon. So one problem solved. Now to order a new front tire and valve stem for the Hardley Dangerous! | ||
| Sagehawk |
You certainly living right, Tootal! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Jeeze man. I seem to be unable to keep more than two working at a time. This makes me nervouse about working on my '79 XLH. I don't want to jeopardize my two currently functional Buells  I mean, what if I accidentally make the stupid old thing run, right? | ||
| Etennuly |
Sounds like the games I play with my stuff. Congrats on getting the couch stopped upright. Got my side stand on rode a few local trips and come to the realization my rear tire is not going to complete the BITA mission. Least miles ever on a rear. 2,900 or so. Flat centered the thing on a couple road trips. Continental Conti 3. Never again. | ||
| Rick_a |
Amazon has gone the way of ebay. I ordered a used movie and it looks like a knock off that shipped from the Czech Republic. I ordered a butt pad for a shotgun and it came from Romania with cyrillic writing all over everything. Maybe I'm unlucky. Last time I ordered something off Ebay I spent 45 minutes looking at detailed pictures to weed out the Chicom fakes. It's gettin' to where nearly everything on Ebay and Amazon is suspect and questionable. | ||
| 86129squids |
Back OT: Rode out yesterday morning for Nashvegas, to visit my elderly aunt, cousin, and his wifey. Rode back today. Took as many secondary roads as time would allow, and avoided the murderous traffic in city and on the highway. My old '77 Beemer seems happy at 85-90ish all day long, although my carcass doesn't, just got out of the hot tub. Yay! I've enjoyed, loved many MC's over the years, but just like my woman, this old motorcycle is my true love. Ran some twisties, some old familiar roads, and then rode like heyull down I40, not a hiccup. | ||
| Barraspalding |
Any unlimited sections of roads in the US? we had open speed limits in the Northern Territory for a brief period but a change of government backflipped. The statistics didn't stack up for changing it back, nanny state! | ||
| Tootal |
I haven't had any problems with amazon yet. I usually check the country of origin in the details although sometimes it's not listed. I always read the reviews though. The first review on the relays was from a Buell rider! The front tire did end up being the valve stem. I had a local shop install a couple of tires last year and since the bike had over 100,000 miles I had them change out the valve stems. Well they must have put the cheapest crap they could find on there. After riding on a trip a few days later the rear stem cracked but I was able to get to an exit and to a gas station before it was totally flat. I had to be rescued by the local Harley dealer who was awesome. Later that day the front tire got low and while I was making a left turn on the ramp to I-40 off of the Briley Parkway in Nashville, I found the front very low and went across the lanes fighting it. I slowed way down in the corners as I only had a couple of miles to a friends house. After getting there I checked the valve core and found the core loose and only 5 pounds of pressure left! I tightened the core and filled the tire and it's been fine since, until yesterday! It cracked just like the rear did. Why a business would use such junk in a place that could get somebody killed is beyond me. Had I not been in such a hurry I would have done it myself using the proper parts. | ||
| Airbozo |
I smiled at Nate's comment about not being able to keep more than 2 bikes running. I am in a similar situation, but now all 3 are down for the count. XB is getting the stator changed (and VR), S3T is showing cords on the rear tire (have new tires, but no time to swap them. Maybe tonight) and the Sportster is still being assembled after a complete tear down. On topic: While getting the new tires on the Sportster, the mechanic had to wait a couple of days to get some new valve stems. The first batch that came in were already cracked before use and he sent them back. the next batch that came in looked OK, but when he went to install them, one cracked, so he sent them back. My Sportster now rocks metal valve stems, made in the USA. It rolls:  | ||
| Rick_a |
Most valve stems that I've seen commonly sold in cycle shops are garbage. I've had to go through quickly cracked valve stems as well. It's dangerous as hell, especially with a quickly deflated front tire. The generic Bikemaster brand everyone seems to have are junk. The auto tire changing places tend to have decent ones...the short stems seem to do better due to thicker walls and less flex. My Buell currently needs a crankcase repair, and the DR has enough miles on it that it is always in need of something. I intend to add a third bike to the stable as a more mileage friendly option to take the bulk of the use. | ||
| Dwardo |
When I was a boy, my favorite uncle always owned 3 cars (or more). Cars back then required pretty regular maintenance, and I would know since I have had many 50s-60s cars as daily drivers. His technique was to wait until all 3 of them were broken and then fix one (or 2, or even 3 if he felt ambitious). He was an ace mechanic but also a master procrastinator. I learned a lot from him. I tend to repeat the same mistakes | ||
| Tootal |
Thanks for the heads up about Bikemaster brand. I was looking at them and sent them a question about where they were made. Wasn't going to buy "made in china"! | ||
| Tootal |
Well Bikemaster returned my email and said their valve stems are made in Taiwan which I consider better than China but I'm still not going there. They are aluminum but I'd prefer steel or really good rubber ones. I'd also like 90 degree ones! The search continues. On a good note the new tire and the relays are all due to arrive today. I'll be brewing beer with my brewing/racing partner tomorrow so I need to go pull the front wheel off the barcalounger and take it with me tomorrow since the tire machine lives at his house. I discovered a 90 degree valve stem from a Yamaha a while back. It was in my tool box and I just remembered it being there. It's metal, thin and lightweight. Hopefully it's the right diameter. | ||
| Court |
See if these will work . . .  | ||
| Tootal |
Thanks Court but before I saw your suggestion I found this: https://www.nomartirechanger.com/85_Degree_Valve_S tem_p/ac-valve-85-chrome.htm Made in USA and steel. I ordered two. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Those look like a worthwhile addition. | ||
| Crusty |
Greg, if that doesn't fit, then let me know. Those fit a .453" (29/64") hole. I have a 90* stem that will fit a .344" (11/32") hole as well. I bought a set of two for the Roadster, but I only need one. You're welcome to the other one. | ||
| Tootal |
Thanks Crusty but this weekend, while brewing beer, I pulled the tire off and removed the cracked stem. The hole measured .450" and the calipers I was using were not mine so I'm thinking the .453's will fit, if not a rat tail file will fix it in short order! As I was removing the stem it all of a sudden dawned on me that when I first looked at the stem the stem cap, that you gave me, was missing the rubber cover and also had one of the tabs broke off the core tool! Right before the flat tire I was taking a three curve on ramp at a pretty good pace and the bike felt solid. Everything was fine till I passed the truck. I'm wondering if the truck spit a rock out and hit the stem knocking the rubber cover off and breaking the core tool? A bazillion to one chance of that happening but something broke that core tool and that ain't easy! Maybe I was being shot at! | ||
| Ourdee |
I blew an inside dual on a truck that took out the valve stem on the outside dual earlier this year. | ||
| Tootal |
BTW Airbozo, that sportster project looks like it's going to be pretty cool! I'm assuming that with that orange frame the sheet metal will be black? Love the gaitors too! | ||
| Airbozo |
Black indeed. Still on the fence about the details of the tank and fenders. Need some red or something to balance the orange. That's what the gators are for as well. Too many comments from friends that it looks like the giants colors... I am in the process of cleaning up the engine and cases for painting. | ||
| Tootal |
My neighbor has a 2006 Road Glide in orange. He converted all the chrome to black and calls it the pumpkin! It's the opposite of yours with black frame and orange metal. Looks good though! Be sure and throw up a finished picture when your done! | ||
| Airbozo |
Will do. It's been a slow process due to work and other emergency projects around the house. I am spending about an hour or two a night cleaning and stripping the engine for painting right now. I am also designing a new wire harness for the M-Unit I am going to be using. This whole process started when I was chasing down an electric issue and once I bought my S3T, it went full tear down. The SO is the one that pushed me to start working on it last year, because she misses riding on the back of my Milwaukee Vibrator. Plus it's the only bike I have she can ride herself. Her legs don't come close to touching the ground on my S3T or XB12R. | ||
| Tootal |
So I got my 85 degree valve stems today. Chrome is really nice. I put one in and it was no problem. The diameter issue was a non issue as the part that fits the hole is rubber. In fact it's rubber on both sides and double nutted. Here's some pics:   They didn't seem that heavy but to get it close to balance I had to use about 35 oz. I think I'll use some Devcon and glue the weights on the inside of the wheel to get close to balance and then just worry about the tire on the outside. | ||
| Hootowl |
I'd put some blue Loctite on those nuts, even though you double nutted. | ||
| Torquehd |
When I worked at the HD dealership, a customer came in with a flat. He had a non-HD shop in town install aftermarket valve stems which contacted the brake caliper, breaking the valve stem. Just make sure it clears with room to spare. | ||
| Tootal |
Yep, blue loctite was used and I will check caliper clearance but just looking at it there seems to be plenty. Thanks for the warning though! | ||
| Tootal |
So I balanced the wheel itself using Devcon and 35 grams of weights. It was slightly too much so I sanded off the excess Devcon until it balanced. Today I installed the tire and balanced again and it took 33 grams to balance the tire. The external weights were not far from the internal weights so if I hadn't balanced the wheel first I'd of had a ton of external weights! I think the guy that powdercoated the wheel was really heavy on one side. He really did a lousy job. He went out of business shortly after! I wonder why? So I have a short stack on both sides of the wheel instead of two strips 6" long like before. As far as clearance of the valve stem, lets just say there's a reason they made it 85 degrees instead of 90. 90 would have hit the caliper but these cleared by a 1/4"! | ||
| Tootal |
I thought I had thrown this away but I found it in the tour pack the other day. This is the valve stem cap tool that got hit by whatever the trucker threw at me. Whatever it was it was hard. Glad it didn't hit me in the leg!  |
