Goldwing Valve Stems

[tigerblade]

I've never paid much attention to GW's but my buddy's mother-in-law just died on one. Apparently the GW has a right-angled valve stem for convenience, but has a little plastic piece to hold up the end to combat centrifugal force? Well, my buddy's inlaws were riding in Washington state last month. Had a flat, and the dealer didn't get the valve stem right. The stem failed, causing an immediate flat. His father-in-law was thrown from the bike and the wife wasn't. Just thought I'd remind any of you who have one or know somebody who has one, be sure to check it. Sometimes something so simple can be gravely important.

[roadracer319]

That's terrible... I'm sorry to hear that. What happened, was the plastic piece just left off?

[tigerblade]

It's a really sad situation. I'm not familiar with the GW valve stem myself and I don't remember if he said that support was gone or just not connected right. The father-in-law actually checked pressures a couple times after the tire was mounted and apparently didn't notice anything out of place. Come to think of it, I hope he didn't accidentally do something wrong when checking pressures... Regardless, it's a tragedy.

[Serial Thriller]

That certainly is tragic. It's hard to believe that something so "minor" can have such a major effect.

[OSIRIS]

That's terrible
I think my dad just told me that same story he read on a GoldWing board somewhere. I remember him telling me something about the valve stems on the GW were different. I think it's kind of at a 90 degree angle and held in place by another clip over it.

[dingoRR]

this little clip.


although, i've never heard of it needing to be on there on account of "centrifugal force" i was told from a honda rep it was simply to keep the stem from being over-flexed backwards when putting air in. regardless, yes...a tragedy

[DUX]

Very sad news. Any idea if the Valk has the same system? I was trailering my VTX a few months ago and found a Valk rider stranded on the side of the highway. AAA had left him there to wait for 2hrs. When he called them back again, they said they didn't have any towing companies that could do bikes! Luckily I had extra tie downs, loaded him up and towed him home. His tire had suddenly gone flat at around 70mph. We couldn't find anything wrong with the tire itself, but the valve had ripped out. I didn't notice at the time if it had that black plastic piece. Something to check I

[CBR929RE]

Originally Posted by DUX AAA had left him there to wait for 2hrs. When he called them back again, they said they didn't have any towing companies that could do bikes!

any flat bed can tow a bike, what a bunch of morons. there's no such thing as a special motorcycle tow truck. go find them and punch them in thave, its the least you can do for them.

sorry to hear about the guys in law, that sucks. I don't see how it could be the clip as the clip doesn't seem to hold anything in place firmly, must have been the stem wasn't put in right.

[DUX]

Fact is that many companies won't tow bikes anymore due to liability. The thing that pissed us off about AAA is that they let him wait there without telling him that no one would be coming.