Nice little BS mishap today! Want to laugh?

[Indian MC]

I should have just left well enough alone and waited until Spring.
Yesterday, I worked with the B2601 for about four hours. ( 30 hrs on the ol-girl now ).
Afterwards, I gave her a good washing and Polish and put her in the garage to sleep until Spring.
Right next to my stored, polished and detailed Harley and Indian.
I'm looking her over, and decided to put her up on jack stands for storage. Last, check the tire pressure.
Front tires went well, until I started at the rear.
I proceed to unscrew the valve cap, and noticed it felt a little gummy coming off. It was turning fine and you can't usually cross thread while unscrewing.
All of a sudden I hear POP! The fluid loaded in the rear tire is gushing out of the tire for several feet across the garage. Of course I had the valve stem at the top of the rim which gave me the best shooting distance possible while drenching both bikes.
All afternoon to re wash and clean the bikes. Sweep the liquid out of the garage. Remove the wheel from the tractor.
Now a trip to the dealer in the morning.
Question?
What do dealers usually use to load the rear tires? It cleaned up well off the bikes. I just hope it isn't anything corrosive and both bikes melt this winter.
I dabbed some on my finger to taste it. Not salty or sweet, a little sticky. It looked somewhat clear.

 

[Henro]

Since you live where it gets cold, it is hopefully more than simply water...

Was there any color to it? Not salty seems to eliminate a water plus salt solution. Does beat juice taste sweet? Don't know but that would be my guess, maybe.

Mine are filled with windshield washer liquid. Never tasted it though...but cheap enough so maybe that is it.

I would call the dealer and ask what they use, then report back!

Bill

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!

 

[George2615]

The tires are probably filled with RimGuard which is non corrosive so the bikes should be fine. Rin Guard is a little sticky.

Rim Guard is nearly 30% heavier than water.
Rim Guard is non-corrosive.
Rim Guard is non-toxic and biodegradable.
Rim Guard is freeze-resistant down to -35ｰF.
Rim Guard is cost effective because inner tubes are not needed and tires are easier to repair.
Rim Guard is the one and only Beet Juice tire ballast!
Washer fluid is also used in tires and would be safe if cleaned off right away.
However, if they were filled with Calcium Chloride I'd be worried.

 

[Indian MC]

I guess I'll know for sure what they use in the morning. Do dealers have a tool that will tighten the guts inside the valve stem in? The whole insert attached to the cap removed right out of the valve stem.

 

[RoyJackson]

I guess I'll know for sure what they use in the morning. Do dealers have a tool that will tighten the guts inside the valve stem in? The whole insert attached to the cap removed right out of the valve stem.

I'm sure the dealer has a valve core tool since it's easier to fill the tires with it out (except for the last few gallons).
These tools are cheap and it's worth having one (plus a few spare valve cores...they do fail on occasion). Any car parts store will have them.

If you had those tires off the floor, I'm a bit surprised the fluid went as far as it did.

 

[Paul Thornton]

Buy a valve tool, they are very inexpensive and useful. If you had the valve at the top you might have had an overfilled tire. How much fluid did you loose?

 

[Indian MC]

I just went out to the garage and looked at the stem attached to the rim more closely.
The entire valve stem threads and seats into a nut that sits tight against the rim.
At the cap end, it is knurled below the cap threads where you should be able to tightenen with a pair of plyers. It couldn't have been very tight if the stem screwed out while only using my fingers removing the cap.
Maybe a rubber cap would be better here? Instead of a stainless steel cap threaded to metal threads.

 

[Indian MC]

Buy a valve tool, they are very inexpensive and useful. If you had the valve at the top you might have had an overfilled tire. How much fluid did you loose?

I'm not sure exactly how much fluid. It blew out at a good pressure for at least a minute or more. It Covered half the floor of a 28'x28' garage.

 

[Citydude]

The Rimguard is red in color and just a tad thinner than maple syrup in my tires.

 

[Indian MC]

Well this isn't very nice. I never had a chance to check the other rear tire. I was somewhat blaming the blowout on myself because I was in tight quarters and couldn't exactly see what I was doing while reaching around I had felt for the end of the cap, unscrewed and then she blew out. Maybe my fingers were around the valve stem and screwing the stem out as well?
Anyway, I just pulled down my drop light and lit up the area and put two fingers lightly around the cap to the other tire and began to unscrew. Here comes the entire valve stem screwing out of the rim on this wheel. I immediately stopped and turned the stem back in until she bottomed out. Held the stem while loosing the cap and the cap wasn't even very tight. Pretty much like any valve stem cap. I think maybe they should be using lock tight on the bottom of these valve stems. I put plyers on it and tried tightening it down further. She doesn't even seem to turn tighter. Basically the stem hits her bottom and just stops.

 

[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.