Nice little BS mishap today! Want to laugh?

[Paul Thornton]

I recently had a rear valve stem break, couldn't screw the little valve back in. Bought a new one at Tractor Supply, easy replacement.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

You washed the bikes thoroughly right? CaCl should be cloudy white. Mildly corrosive but highly water soluble.

 

[Indian MC]

You washed the bikes thoroughly right? CaCl should be cloudy white. Mildly corrosive but highly water soluble.

It was raining at a good clip so I Immediately rolled the bikes out into the rain. Let them sit out for about fifteen minutes then took the hose to them in the rain. Back in the garage, I dried them off with a leaf blower then wiped them over with liquid detailer. I didn't notice any spots: The liquid coming out of the tire was somewhat cloudy. Similar water after you boil pasta.

 

[Indian MC]

Calcium Cloride? I use to set up forms and pour concrete foundations when I was younger. In the winter we would spread bags of that stuff on the ground after the excavator left so to stop the ground from freezing before we came back in to set up and pour the footings. In the cold, the concrete mixer drivers would climb up the drum of their mixers at delivery, and dump a few bags in their mixer to heat up and accelerate the concrete curing so the concrete wouldn't freeze before setting up. That stuff is nasty. It would burn your hands and eat at you leather boots. Odd that it doesn't affect the rubber compounds of tires.

 

[stuckmotor]

As an after though, Speaking of Indian motorcycles, I remember my long gone uncle telling me once about when he was working on his Indian motorcycle, the original one, and it fell over and pinned him to the ground. He could not lift it so he had to wait until someone came by to help him get out from under it...since you have an Indian...be careful...don't want that to be your next post!

My grandfather had an Indian probably around 1920 and told a similar story about getting pinned under it. I sometimes look at pictures of old Indians and wonder whether the one in the photo is the model Grandpa had.

 

[s219]

What I find odd is that you got more than a small squirt if the valve stem was at/near 12 o'clock. They shouldn't fill the tires more than about 3/4 full -- there needs to be an air gap at the top to absorb shock and let the tires flex. If filled too high, you run the risk of breaking stuff because there is no flex left in the tire. So I'd make sure the tires are not overfilled. They should be filled no higher than the valve stem itself. When you take the cap off and burp the valve, expect a small squirt and no more.

 

[Gary Fowler]

You should take a pair of pliers and snug that joint down on your filled tire so that mishap doesn't happen again. The dealer should have done that when he finished filling the tire but obviously he just hand tightened it.

As for the fluid, CaCl is salty so that isn't it. Windshield Washer fluid would be slightly bitter due to the alcohol. Beat Juice AKA Rimguard is sweet and sticky due to the sugar content but most folks say it is brown and not clear. Maybe they refined it a bit now and removed the burned residue OR the dealer may have watered it down a bit. I would be a little leery of him if he did for a couple of reasons. First you wont have the freeze protection and second you wont have the weight.

 

[motownbrowne]

Rimguard is certainly not clear. Not the stuff in my tires anyway. It's about the color of molasses and only a little thinner than maple syrup.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

You should take a pair of pliers and snug that joint down on your filled tire so that mishap doesn't happen again. The dealer should have done that when he finished filling the tire but obviously he just hand tightened it.

As for the fluid, CaCl is salty so that isn't it. Windshield Washer fluid would be slightly bitter due to the alcohol. Beat Juice AKA Rimguard is sweet and sticky due to the sugar content but most folks say it is brown and not clear. Maybe they refined it a bit now and removed the burned residue OR the dealer may have watered it down a bit. I would be a little leery of him if he did for a couple of reasons. First you wont have the freeze protection and second you wont have the weight.

Are you 100% sure CaCl TASTES salty like NaCl (table salt)?

 

[Indian MC]

I just dropped the wheel of at the dealer. They were pretty much confused when I said their was nothing wrong with the tire just load and fill with air. I loaded it on my truck this am by rolling it up my ATV ramps. The tech said unloading will be double the weight. I guess once I pick it up, standing it up right in the bed of my truck will be the hard part. Where my tractor is sitting, I can back my truck right up to the garage door directly in front of the back hoe. I'll strap the tire and grab it with the back hoe bucket. Lift her off the bed a few inches. Move the truck forward. Set her down to the ground vertical. With a helper, roll her inside and proceed to mount her up. The tech said about 500lbs once she's loaded. He said the metal valve stems only screw in snug. Keep alert to not spin the cap off the valve without also removing the stem. He didnt say what type of loading they are filled with for liquid. He said it was environmentally friendly and should not hurt the bikes. Hitting it with Water breaks it down to nothing.