90 degree tire valve direction?

[Rob20111]

On both of my bikes, ST1100 and GL1500, i have 90 degree valve stems front and rear.
On both bikes the rear valve faces right and front faces left. Just curious if there was a reason for this offset.
I would think that both facing right would be a better choice especially from a safety point of view (side of the road).

 

[st1300doug]

Uhh...both to the right.....as when the bike is on the kickstand....it leans to the LEFT.Thus, the right pointing stem, allows much easier reach and accessibilty to air the tires.

 

[DeanR]

Front to the left, rear to the right for me, just like yours Rob. Both due to being right handed.

 

[fnmag]

Both of mine are also to the right.
Much easier to add air when on the side stand.

 

[st11ray]

Yep, I'm with DeanR. Front to the left side of the bike and rear to the right. That's the easiest way to access them, being right handed. I would reverse them if I was a lefty.

 

[Jim C-G]

Both pointing right and I am right handed.

 

[SMSW]

I set mine to the right for one very specific reason. If I had to inflate a flat on the side of the road, I wanted my glute muscles to be as far from traffic as possible, especially since I would probably be squatting while attaching the compressor or checking tire pressure. And looking to the left seems more natural to me to scan for traffic. No other reason. Drivers of cars manage to hit police cars stopped with their flashers going. Imagine what a target a stranded motorcyclist would be for them.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

There's less access space if the rear 90 is pointed toward the disc.

 

[CYYJ]

Rob:

A "head's up" for you - if you ever want to fit Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors (TPMS) on your moto, you will need to go back to normal "straight" valve stems, made out of metal, not plastic, if you use the type of sensor that fits over the top of the valve stem - such as the Garmin sensors.

Fitting sensors on angled valve stems can cause several problems, one of which is an out-of-balance condition, and more seriously, the stress put on the base of the stem by centrifugal force when riding at high speeds can cause a failure (fracture) of the stem where the stem attaches to the wheel.

Michael

 

[STraymond]

Rob:

A "head's up" for you - if you ever want to fit Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors (TPMS) on your moto, you will need to go back to normal "straight" valve stems, made out of metal, not plastic, if you use the type of sensor that fits over the top of the valve stem - such as the Garmin sensors.

Fitting sensors on angled valve stems can cause several problems, one of which is an out-of-balance condition, and more seriously, the stress put on the base of the stem by centrifugal force when riding at high speeds can cause a failure (fracture) of the stem where the stem attaches to the wheel.

Michael

You can also use "T" valves with the TPMS sensor mounted on the vertical stem. The wheels, of course, would be balanced with the valves in place. After 10s of thousands of miles with this setup, I haven't experienced any stem failures at the wheel connection point.

 

[ibike2havefun]

Rob:

A "head's up" for you - if you ever want to fit Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors (TPMS) on your moto, you will need to go back to normal "straight" valve stems, made out of metal, not plastic, if you use the type of sensor that fits over the top of the valve stem - such as the Garmin sensors.

Fitting sensors on angled valve stems can cause several problems, one of which is an out-of-balance condition, and more seriously, the stress put on the base of the stem by centrifugal force when riding at high speeds can cause a failure (fracture) of the stem where the stem attaches to the wheel.

Michael

I seldom have cause to disagree with you Michael, but this time I want to at least put some boundaries around what you've written.

Let's start with the part where I agree: metal stems are the way to go.

Whether or not they must be straight is where I feel a need to say "well maybe, BUT...".

I have angled metal stems, knock-offs of the Ariete style (both point to the right, to stay within the topic of the thread), with FOBO Bluetooth sensors in place of the valve stem caps. The sensors are very light and do not cause any observable effect on the balance of the wheels. Thus far, after three-plus seasons of riding (about 25,000 miles, including thousands at highway speed) there's no indication that the stems are in distress.

In my case I got angled stems first, and added TPMS some time later.

If I had it to do over, I would get the "T" style of stem, not because of fear that the stem will fail under the added load of the TPMS but because T stems would provide the same benefit of easy access to the inflation port as my angled stems do (that was why I went to angled stems to start with) while simultaneously eliminating the need to remove the TMPS sensor in order to check and adjust the tire pressure. The side benefit of placing the TPMS directly along the line of the centrifugal force would simply be icing on the cake, but not the primary motivator.

If ever my trusty faux-Ariete stems do fail, for whatever reason, then T stems will be the replacement.

 

[dohboy]

The BMW RT has a short metal valve stem on the right at the base of a spoke on the front. It is parallel to the axle. I added an angled valve stem pointed to the right on the rear. BMW thinks the front valve stem should be on the right.

 

[BakerBoy]

The BMW RT has a short metal valve stem on the right at the base of a spoke on the front. It is parallel to the axle. I added an angled valve stem pointed to the right on the rear. BMW thinks the front valve stem should be on the right.

And BMW is right. Except when they're not, but don't tell them.

I'm right handed. I'm can't see why *I* would need the front stem pointing left--I can easily reach down left or right hand and remove the cap, whether the stem pointed right or left. But whatever works for each person.

But to the OP's question, on my ST13, I had both front and rear pointing to the right side for 2 reasons: 1) easiest to check when the bike is leaning on the side stand, 2) easiest to check in my garage as the left side was always parked against a wall.

Rob, what works for you?

 

[ST Gui]

Just curious if there was a reason for this offset.
I would think that both facing right would be a better choice especially from a safety point of view (side of the road).

When I had 90º stems put on my ST I asked that they face the right (STBD) side. This was purely for access convenience. The safety aspect is a perk.

My Wing buddy's 2005/1800 has both factory 90º degree stems facing left (PORT) side. His GS1200R BMW has them facing right. This may be because the BMW has no center stand.

Japan drives on the left side of the road. With the bike on the center stand the rider would be filling the tire away from traffic. Maybe Honda didn't want to stock different rims for here and there? On the side stand filling the rear tire might be a chore. (Don't know never tried).

I don't know why being right-handed would make a difference between tires. My only concession to accessing the rear stem is to remove the right (STBD) saddlebag.

 

[dwalby]

I don't know why being right-handed would make a difference between tires.

If you align your body such that the tire is between both arms, then if you're right handed the rear tire will be most convenient to the right, and the front tire most convenient to the left. Not that it makes a huge difference, but that's the logic behind it.

I don't have a 90° stem on the front, but I usually apply the pressure gauge from the left side, using my right hand, so I get what they're saying. For adding air I use either hand with the air hose.

 

[ST Gui]

If you align your body such that the tire is between both arms

This is — if you're facing the front of the tire head on... Ok now I get it. I've always filled the tires while standing on the side of the bike.

 

[dduelin]

My Wing buddy's 2005/1800 has both factory 90º degree stems facing left (PORT) side. His GS1200R BMW has them facing right. This may be because the BMW has no center stand.

The rear brake disk on a late model wing is on the right side so it makes sense to point the valve stem to the left, the front would match. Myself I don't like the OEM rubber mounted 90 degree stems and mounted the Ariete-style 83 degree aluminum ones on my Wing.

 

[Kevcules]

The rear brake disk on a late model wing is on the right side so it makes sense to point the valve stem to the left, the front would match. Myself I don't like the OEM rubber mounted 90 degree stems and mounted the Ariete-style 83 degree aluminum ones on my Wing.

Dave......where did you get your Ariete valve stems from and what size are they?

Thanks

 

[Rob20111]

Wow, some great responses all, thanks.
Seems to me there are some very good points but no consistent opinion. So I gather that it boils down to personal (or manufacturer) preference rather than mechanical, engineering or other reason. Thanks for th input as I'll be mounting new tires and stems shortly. Bought the metal 90's with dual lock nuts for stability when filling.
As for TPMS I have a manual one (digital tire gauge) and use it daily when on road trips and at least weekly when at home (weekend riding) . Don't need a system that tells me when i reach 3,4,5 or more psi below normal, as that's already too late to prevent tire wear and handling issues. Nothing beats frequent hands on pressure checks in that regard.
Ride safe all.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Dave......where did you get your Ariete valve stems from and what size are they?

Thanks

The ST1300 takes the 11.3 mm valve stems.
You can purchase them from a vendor who is also a member of this site- 90 Degree Angled Valve Stems - Black, Red, Blue, Gold and Silver
He offers a two dollar discount if you are a member here. The discount code still works as I just received some valves from him two weeks ago. See post 129- Use discount code STOWNERS at checkout
His commercial website is here- MOTOMILLION