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Leaking Spoke

DanPez said:
kwn306 said:
I know the stuff (Slime) they sell in the US will eat away an aluminum rim over time, it also stays liquidified until a hole is present, only then does it become hard to stop the leak......so that wouldn't work.

Kurt,
Would you recommend (Slime) as part of your emergency kit?
For I always dread, when the time will come ....... your stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire. :(

Like Wayne said, plug and a small air compressor................but when it doesn't seal well, out comes a bottle of slime (small) to make sure I get home. Then I take care of it properly, I've never had slime in a wheel longer than a week.
 
OK, so I went up and saw Ian, and I think we have it fixed. Attached is a picture of the spoke nipple with the o-ring. As you can see, it had a little corrosion on it, which may or may not have caused the leak. As best as we could tell, there is no way to replace just the o-ring, so the whole part has to be replaced. Ian couldn't find a part # for just the o-ring.
 

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While we were in there, we went ahead and put RTF on all of the nipple ends. I don't know if this is going to help long term, but it certainly can't hurt. I suppose the real way to do it would be to RTF a rim strip in there and really seal it well, but I'll report back in a while and tell you how this did.
 

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Does anyone know if there is any periodic maintenance you are supposed to do to the wheels, like checking to make sure all the spokes are tight? I noticed there is a spoke nipple torque wrench you can buy, but it ain't cheap. Does anyone know what the correct torque is?
 
guzziben47 said:
Does anyone know if there is any periodic maintenance you are supposed to do to the wheels, like checking to make sure all the spokes are tight? I noticed there is a spoke nipple torque wrench you can buy, but it ain't cheap. Does anyone know what the correct torque is?

Anytime you change your tire you should check for loose spokes, I have never purchased a spoke torque wrench I have always gone by sound. Tap a known good tight spoke and listen to the sound and then adjust the loose one to sound the same. It's worked for me for over 40 yrs.
 
As meantioned, always check for loose spokes. If a nearby spoke is touching the one you are going to 'ring', you need to pull it away.
Spoke torque is not needed to seal the spoke. The oring seals it.
Jklotz, what the heck is RTF?
 
Wayne Orwig said:
As meantioned, always check for loose spokes. If a nearby spoke is touching the one you are going to 'ring', you need to pull it away.
Spoke torque is not needed to seal the spoke. The oring seals it.
Jklotz, what the heck is RTF?

I had never heard of it either. My Google search revealed the following:

RTF silicone sealants are instant cures you can use for filling gaps, sealing structures, and providing temporary or semi-permanent fixes for gaskets. Basically, this means that it’s designed to become effective in curing as soon as it comes into contact with air. To be more specific, it reacts to the air’s moisture.

Characteristics of RTF Silicone Sealant
Because of its RTF design, this type of silicone sealant works extremely fast, which requires you to work just as quickly if you do not want your sealant to finish curing when you are not yet through with your work.

It is also fluid and chemical resistant, hence making it applicable for various uses and with different types of surfaces and equipment. It can withstand extreme temperature as well and is very much flexible for easy use.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/what-i ... z0xWuIOrBy

Bruce
 
There is one Alpina trained service technician here in SoCal. Piaggio does not offer a service interval, as they only recommend wheel replacement should yours become damaged or otherwise. Spoke torque is 4~7 NM, 7 being max.
 
Is it tighty righty lefty loosey when tightening spokes? Sounds like they don't neet to be too tight, just snugged up....
 
RTF is available at any auto parts store, wallmart, etc. It's great stuff - use to to seal the speedo sensor, etc. It's just like silicone sealant, but it is designed to handle higher temps (from what I understand - I'm far from an expert). So far, so good with the fix. Seems to be holding. I'll report back in a few days.
 
jklotz said:
RTF is available at any auto parts store, wallmart, etc. It's great stuff - use to to seal the speedo sensor, etc. It's just like silicone sealant, but it is designed to handle higher temps (from what I understand - I'm far from an expert). So far, so good with the fix. Seems to be holding. I'll report back in a few days.


I think I will continue calling it RTV. I'm too old to change. :lol:
 
Just wondering whether the RTF sealant solution has worked as I have just found a leaking spoke on mine after fitting a new tyre and then doing a 1000miles on it last weekend. Got bike out of garage tonight to find a flat rear tyre and discovered the leaking spoke. I did have 'punturesafe' tyre sealant fitted in the last tyre but did not have it included this time and am wondering whether this prevented the spoke leaking previously. Machine is just over two years old so if this is going to be a problem with other spokes am looking for a solution once and for all. One of my pet hates is a tyre that loses pressure all the time. Any suggestions will be welcome for a once and for all fix.
 
WILLIAMS said:
Just wondering whether the RTF sealant solution has worked as I have just found a leaking spoke on mine after fitting a new tyre and then doing a 1000miles on it last weekend. Got bike out of garage tonight to find a flat rear tyre and discovered the leaking spoke. I did have 'punturesafe' tyre sealant fitted in the last tyre but did not have it included this time and am wondering whether this prevented the spoke leaking previously. Machine is just over two years old so if this is going to be a problem with other spokes am looking for a solution once and for all. One of my pet hates is a tyre that loses pressure all the time. Any suggestions will be welcome for a once and for all fix.
I got new spokenipples in the rear-rim and new spokes and nipples in the front-rim all on warranty but they were still leaking. My dealers solution at last was mounting a rim lint and tubes on both and problem was solved.

Louis
 
Now that you have tubes in your tyres, have you made any checks about higher running temperatures when going fast for prolonged times?
You may want to check it out systematically, to make shure & just in case, particularly when touring fast and two up fully loaded...

Anyone's opinion on this?
 
I’m reviving an old thread to ask if any of you did any maintenance on your rims.
I assume most of you have gone through a few set of tires and checked the spoke torque while doing so right?
Well it’s my first tire change (Scorpions) lasted 15,000km. I’m getting some Pilot 3 this week and since I have the tires apart I wanted to check the rims.

Like a guitar when flinging the spoke the sound pitch is more or less the same except for one or two that may need tightening.
The rims have no leaks …. Tire pressure drops 2-3 pounds a month? (More or less)

No issues just wondering if I should re-torque the spokes or remove them one at a time and oil / grease the o-ring and re-torque.
Some of you suggested RTF (silicone) …. I don’t know about this ….. seem to be more of a patch up job than doing the proper thing.
 
I have not done any maintenance on my wheels, which are now 3 years old and have 22,000 miles on them. If my spokes are leaking, they're leaking very slowly - I check them regularly and the topping off I do could be just due to the air I lose when I check the pressure ...

Lannis
 
I am wondering if it would be of any help to spray a bit of silicone from inside when changing tires and possibly squirt a bit if silicone from outside to each nipple. Silicone should preserve these O rings.
 
I'm on rear tire number 10. I change them myself. I occasionally tap the spokes to hear them ring and check for a loose one. So far I have not tightened any, and have not had any leaks.
 
While lubing the o-rings is a good idea, spraying silicon from the outside may cause problem such as attracting fine grits from the road, forming up grinding paste between the o-rings and the dimples.
 
In fact I was thinking of adding a drop of machine oil, from the inside, just to prevent from seizing.
Do you think the o-rings have been greased before they assembled the rim?
 
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