sue went down

[Sue-n-Joe]

we were over 4000 miles into our vacation spending time in the badlands, blackhill,devils tower, little big horn,riding the bear tooth, 4 days in yellowstone/tetons, rocky mountian park, and only 400 away from home when the front valve stem on her scoot failed at 65 mph. I was right behind her on mine when i saw her scoot start to shimmy and asked her if something was wrong (via cardo's) she answered ya my front tire then she went into a down hill slide rolling like log off the road. The time between me asking if something was wrong and her going down was less than 30 seconds. As i came to as stop I could hear her moaning as she laid in the grass. when I got to her she was flat on her back, I stood there in shock and panic after seeing and hearing her hit the pavement to 50+ mph. As I took a knee beside her I was asking her are you ok, where does it hurt, dont move just lay there, can you move your fingers and toes, she could and answered my leg hurts. I looked up and two cars had stopped, and a woman was asking me do you need help? Yes call 911 I need an amblance and a wrecker, I took a few step to sues scoot and looked at her front tire and seen the valve stem was torn at the rim now rage is added to the mix, this is a new stem. In total 6 cars stopped that morning with one nurse and two EMTs and by the time the amblance showed up I knew my wife and best friend was going to be ok. She was taken to Universy hopsital in Columbia MO 30 miles away. I stayed to tell the MO state police what happen and get the accident report. All the way to the hospital all that was going through my mind was "this should not of happened". When I walked into her room she looked up and smiled, she was ok just alittle brused and had a two inch scrape on her left knee, they kept her for a couple hours, most of that was waiting for x-rays to come back and let her go. ATGATT saved her life. The only mark on her helmet is on the visor right side in the eye/temple area wher her head impacted the pavement, her venture air pants and flex jacket are both trash now. We loaded both scoots in a u-haul and returned home the next day

[Buffalo]

Sorry to hear about the crash but glad she came out of it without any major injuries.

[SteveE]

Sorry to hear about her accident but glad to hear that she was not hurt badly; luckily she didn't break anything. Having gone down myself back in November, I'm sure she'll ache for awhile. I have to ask, was the tire valve one of those 90 degree ones that has a rubber base and can flex, or was it a straight one?

[NormanB]

Glad to hear Sue came out of this relatively unscathed.

Who fitted your tyre and valve stem?

[paula4u]

Oh no I am so sorry to read this glad Sue is ok. What a fright you must have had, both.. as soon as she is well get her back on the scoot.. as sometimes people wont ride after an incident like this.

Who fitted the valve is the next problem. Hope she feels better soon.. Hugs.

[paulcbrowne]

A very good argument for metal valve stems. I have a couple of quality Anchor 45 deg. stems that will go in when I replace the front tire. I have done this on my first tire change on any bike that did not have them. I just don't like the potential of that rubber stem getting damaged.

I know how you must have felt. Though nowhere as life threatening, my wife fell off of her bicycle right in front of me. Actually, she might have done better as your wide did. She only had a bike helmet, shorts, shot sleeves, etc. Broken arm, broken teeth, black eyes -- you can imagine the stares I got when I walked her to our pew in church the next Sunday!

I'm very glad she's okay.

[Sue-n-Joe]

The stems were 90 degree metal pull in.s installed by our local authurized dealer.

[Buffalo]

If they are the metal stems with a rubber base that just pulls through the rim I would recommend that you have them all replaced. I've seen those fail on a couple of peoples bikes and have read of them failing on even more. If you want to use metal 90 degree stems use the type that bolt into the rim with a nut like the ones that come standard on the back of the 650 exec.

[Godzilla Bobber]

Glad to hear she is OK. That's what good gear is for.

[RandyT]

Glad to hear your wife is fine~! Hopefully it was just a fluke and something struck the valve stem. Good luck~!

[azrider]

Any time I change a tire I will use the Ariete 90 degree stems from now on. Have them on the 650 and like them very much. Lightweight, low profile, and bolt on. Those 90 degree half rubber half metal stems scare me just looking at them.

Very glad Sue is ok. Can only imagine what you must have been feeling.

[Chet_Benson]

Looks like the good one is lower priced.

[Felix the cat]

Where can these bolt on valve stems be purchased?

Felix the cat
Aka Steve

[Daboo]

I'm sorry to hear about Sue going down, but glad to hear she'll do all right.

Felix (Steve), check out this thread for the valve stems. I looked at it and bought some for my next tire change. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=56504&hilit=Ariete#p520591

Chris

[Dave_J]

Sue and Joe, I am sorry Sue went down and the cause was a $5 part. I had the same type fail on me twice and both times I almost crashed. I am wanting to start a campaign to see if we can get these pull through valve stems banned. I think you may have a good lawsuit on this accedent. I am not saying you should sue just to get $100,000's, but just to make a stand. Product libility should pay for her injurys and all items to include the bike and all gear.

viewtopic.php?f=1&p=535439#p535439 .

[Houndguy]

Jackets, stems, helmets and other things can all be replaced. Glad to hear she came out of it bruised but other wise OK. Thank God for small miracles.

[Scootereno]

+1 on those poorly designed valve stems!

They weigh too much for them to stay put with all the centripetal force generated from our small wheel rotating so fast!
Small wheels rotate faster than larger wheels do and it creates way to much force for the heavy metal valve stems with rubber seats to hold and they are unsafe and dangerous!
For the sake of all the other scooterist's out there as DaveJ says Sue should sue.

[Scotty1981]

Where can these bolt on valve stems be purchased?

Felix the cat
Aka Steve

THere are a few threads with links around, one is near the top in the classifieds section.

[Dave_J]

+1 on those poorly designed valve stems!

They weigh too much for them to stay put with all the centripetal force generated from our small wheel rotating so fast!
Small wheels rotate faster than larger wheels do and it creates way to much force for the heavy metal valve stems with rubber seats to hold and they are unsafe and dangerous!
For the sake of all the other scooterist's out there as DaveJ says Sue should sue.

I really think Sue should be compensated for all her injurys and equipment loss and it should not be her insurance company. The product libility is with her dealer and the manufacture of the valves. Hit them with a sute and then give the money won to a chairty. The only way to get these bad products off the shelfs is to make a big stink. Otherwise a few other riders will suffer the same or worse accedent.

[Buffalo]

+1 on those poorly designed valve stems!

They weigh too much for them to stay put with all the centripetal force generated from our small wheel rotating so fast!
Small wheels rotate faster than larger wheels do and it creates way to much force for the heavy metal valve stems with rubber seats to hold and they are unsafe and dangerous!

I don't think the size of the wheel has anything to do with it. A large wheel would be turning slower but at the rim the valve stem would be moving at about the same speed +/- a small variation for the size of the tire.

I think the bigger problem is every time you check the air you push against that rubber and flex it to the side. Over time that weakens it. On a straight stem you are pushing straight down against the rim not bending to the side like you would with a 90 degree stem. If you are going to run this type of stem at least support the back of the stem with one hand while you push on the other side with a tire gauge or air chuck. That way you are not bending it sideways where it goes into the rim.

[Scootereno]

I can't dispute your logic Buffalo and agree that is probably the number one cause of failures.

But that same uneven force you are referring to is being added to the angled stem while it is rotating at speed every mile rode as opposed to the straight valves which actually are seating themselves while rotating due to the centripetal force and NOT bending the angled stems toward the tire/rim as the wheel spins.
People that never ever checked the air pressure from the time of installation have had documented failures.
That is why I say the push-in 90 Degree valve stems are of poor design and the smaller your wheels are (and the more you check your air pressure) the more likely they are to fail.

Kind of the same problem just effected in different ways.

[Dave_J]

Well most inportenly, HOW is Sue doing? Sore as heck I bet. Rest and recover.

[Sue-n-Joe]

Thanks for all the good wishes, I'm doing better. The scrapes are healing, the bruises are pretty much gone, now it's just the aches, and not being able to ride my scoot for awhile that is bothering me most. We do have a call into a lawyer, just waiting for a call back. They are all out for the holiday week

[Sue-n-Joe]

Forgot to add the rear valve stem (same type ) failed 3 days earlier !! Should have had the guy replace all of them at that time!! Hind sight is 20/20!!! Sue

[NoDak Rider]

Sue, thank God you were not permanently injured and were ATGATT. Man, that had to have been some terror for you two.
About 2 years ago on Scootdawg forum the same problem came to light, with much the same results, people were crashing and getting hurt. Most of those tire valve stems are made in China, of course, and the rubber is not up to the proper standard. Dealers order them from wholesalers, who order them from suppliers, etc. No dealer wants to hurt his customers, but, like was said someone has to take these things off the market and warn riders to stop using them.
Very glad you are recovering from what could have been much worse. Take care.
Nodak Rider