Can't reach your Rear Tire Valve Stem?? DO NOT DO THIS!!
OK, I know you all might be sick of me carrying on about tires and tire pressures, but when this rear tire rolled up my drive a little while ago, I decided that now, I REALLY HAVE seen it all when it comes to dodgy tire jobs!!
The background (short-ish version ) to it all goes like this - a newbie with tire problems was sent to me to see if I could help - turns out, this newbie has a 2023 RT that he purchased new less than 12 months ago. The issue he was concerned about was the AWFUL vibration issues he'd had with his Spyder ever since it had its first service done; vibrations that the tech/s who'd done the job claimed they couldn't replicate, find, &/or fix. (Yeah, right!! ) So this relative newbie to Spyders asked me to look at his Spyder & its tires to see if I could sort the vibration....
He's not a young guy (like so many of us.. ) and he found it very difficult to check the air pressure in his rear tire, which he mentioned when he took his Spyder back for its first service.... He also mentioned that he'd read on this Forum (he reads the threads, but he's not a member - yet! ) that some members here had drilled a hole into the opposite side of the rim to the OEM valve & installed another valve stem that was easier to get at, so he asked if maybe they'd do that for him while they had his bike - and the pic below shows what they did (taken some time after I'd removed the tire & cut it up to check out some other damage it had & what caused the bulge in the upper left where the tread joins the sidewall... ) Anyhow, I reckon that this has gotta mean that I now truly have seen it all when it comes to dodgy tire jobs!!
I've seen all sorts of dodgy things: like tires held together & onto the rim with fencing wire; punctured tires stuffed with sand &/or grass to 'inflate' them enough to ride out to safety on; I've seen tec-screws drilled into the tread to act as 'studs' when riding in snow, on ice, or in mud; and now I've seen a bloody valve put directly into the sidewall of a tire!! . Surely this is the be all & end all of dodgy tire jobs... SURELY??
Check it out... Only please, DO NOT DO THIS to your tires!
Can't reach your Rear Tire Valve Stem?? DO NOT DO THIS!!
) to it all goes like this - a newbie with tire problems was sent to me to see if I could help - turns out, this newbie has a 2023 RT that he purchased new less than 12 months ago. The issue he was concerned about was the AWFUL vibration issues he'd had with his Spyder ever since it had its first service done; vibrations that the tech/s who'd done the job claimed they couldn't replicate, find, &/or fix. (Yeah, right!!
) So this relative newbie to Spyders asked me to look at his Spyder & its tires to see if I could sort the vibration....
) that some members here had drilled a hole into the opposite side of the rim to the OEM valve & installed another valve stem that was easier to get at, so he asked if maybe they'd do that for him while they had his bike - and the pic below shows what they did (taken some time after I'd removed the tire & cut it up to check out some other damage it had & what caused the bulge in the upper left where the tread joins the sidewall...
. Surely this is the be all & end all of dodgy tire jobs... SURELY??
