Tire Air Valve Replacement/Aftermarket Valve Installation
Valves are supposed to be replaced with each tire change. This is a precaution to ensure that the rubber is in good condition and the valve core is undamaged. If the valves are not changed every time tires are replaced, they should be changed every year or two, at least.

Metal aftermarket valves like the Bridgeports shown later on in this tutorial do not need to be changed. Perhaps the valve core, oring and grommet could be changed periodically.

Tools:
side cutters
silicone lube
small screwdriver
valve core tool

Valve Stem Removal
Remove the wheels (See Wheel Removal, steps 1-12 and steps 26-39).
Remove the tire from the rim (see Tire Removal, steps 1-13)

Press the valve stem over and you will see the portion that is inside the rim has a reduced diameter. There is an expanded portion on the outside and another expanded portion on the inside. This is all that holds a rubber valve in the rim.

1. Use a pair of side cutters to remove as much of the expanded portion of the valve stem on the exterior of the rim as possible. Cut as near as you can to the rim without scratching the finish. If you press the stem to the side, you can make a cut below the outer portion of the stem and pull it off for easy removal of the inner portion.

2. Use a bit of silicone lube on the expanded stopper of the valve located at the interior of the rim. Insert a small screwdriver to push the stopper through the rim hole. Push from the outside of the wheel where the valve was cut off to the inside where the stopper is. With the external portion of the valve stem cut off, the valve will pop through the hole.

Rubber Valve Installation
3. To install new rubber valves, lube the stopper with silicone lube. With your hand firmly grasping the stem, pop the stopper through the rim from the outside to the inside.

4. Balance the wheel (see Wheel Balance, steps 1-6).

Install the tires to the rims (see Tire Removal and Mount, steps 15-22 and steps 23-40).

Reinstall the wheels to the motorcycle (see Wheels Removal and Installation, steps 10 through 19 and steps 33 through 44).

Use a valve core tool to be sure the valve core is installed snug in the valve stem before the tire is inflated for use.

Installation of 90 Degree Valve Stems
Bridgeport valve stems are a little more complicated but they fit perfectly to the OEM rims.

Metal valves such as Bridgeport 90 degree valve stems have a threaded inner stem that inserts through the valve hole in the wheel. They are is fastened with a nut which tightens against the rim on the inside. There is a rubber gasket or oring between the adjoining surfaces of the valve body and the surface of the rim.

Metal tire valves are available in 8.3mm and 11.3mm sizes (that is the diameter of the valve hole in the wheel, the inner stem OD of the valve is a bit smaller). OEM ZX-14 rims use a valve stem for an 8.3 mm hole but measure to make sure.

The measurements labeled in the pic above are the O.D. of the inner stem below the valve housing. The Bridgeport B11 fits in an 8.3 mm hole, the correct size for OEM ZX-14 rims. The CZ valve is configured differently but it will also fit the ZX-14 rim or any other rim with an 8.3 mm hole. The B12 is for an 11.3 mm hole.

The two sizes of Bridgeport 90 degree valves stems, 11.3 mm on the left and 8.3 mm on the right. I think there is some disagreement on the correct size but 8.3 mm fit my ZX-14 OEM rim. Measure before you order.

There is an oring in the bottom of the valve base which seals against the rim.

I considered using a rubber gasket to seal from within in addition to the o-ring on the outside of the rim. A washer between the nut and the grommet would be one more step to take to ensure a tight seal. I decided the gasket was an unnecessary addition since the Bridgeports fit so well to the OEM rims. I installed the Brigeports as they were designed and the oring alone seals just fine.

Tools:
90 degree valves
nonpermanent locking agent
12mm socket

5. Place the inner stem of the 90 degree valve through the valve hole in the rim. Make sure the outer valve stem is pointing in the direction you want it. Usually it is preferred to have angled valve stems point to the right so that they will be accessible when the bike is on its side stand.

6. Apply nonpermanent locking agent to the threads of the inner stem. Thread the nut onto the stem.

There is a shoulder on the nut that seems like it may be meant to keep the valve centered in the hole. I chose to turn the shoulder away from the the rim and it still seals and functions well.

7. Use a 12mm socket to snug up the nut. As long as the nut is snug, the oring is compressed and the base is contacting the rim on the outside, there is no reason to tighten any more. DO NOT tighten it more than snug, aluminum threads will strip or stretch easily.

8. Balance the wheel (see Wheel Balance, steps 1 through 4)and install the wheels to the bike (see Wheel Removal steps 13-25 and steps 40-53).

Weights

Switching to Bridgeport 90 degree valve stems on both the front and rear wheel results in a weight gain of .05 oz.

Bridgeport 90 Degree Valve Stems Installed to Carrazzeria Wheels
Tools:
All tools listed above plus:
17/64”x5/8” grommets
razor knife
fine sandpaper
Sculpy, firm
Dremmel
Dremmel drill press
2” x 5/8” x 20” strip of wood
two C clamps
tape
carbide Dremmel bit with parallel sides.

This was a bit tricky. The Bridgeport valves install the same to my Carrazzeria rims as they do to my OEM rims but the Carrazzerias have two ribs around the center of the rim where the valve goes. The ribs raise the base of the valve off of the surface of the rim which would probably not permit the oring to compress and seal the valve.

You can see the raised rib to either side of the valve hole. The Bridgeport valve base cannot be tightened against a flat space so it would probably leak.

Here’s the email response I got from CZ USA concerning my question about how to fit Bridgeport valves to my CZ rims.

Hello Daron, Our valve stems are 8.3mm, same as most aftermarket wheels - the ones you list as B11. Our wheels have a channel on the outside of the wheel that usually does not allow 90 deg stems to sit flush on the outside where they seal. As you can see our valve stems seal on the inside (air is pushing to seal not pushing out to un-seal) so what you can do to make the 90deg work properly is to remove the rubber grommet of our supplied valve stem and install it on the B11 so it is sealing from the inside. You can leave the grommet that comes with the B11 installed.
Let me know if you have any more question.
Thanks
 
CARROZZERIA USA INC
950 Dovlen pl. suite C
Carson, Ca 90746
(310) 719-2271 - FAX (310) 719-2272
www.forged-wheel.com

This picture shows the CZ valve grommet and the CZ valve next to the Bridgeport inner valve stem.

Using the grommet from the valve that comes on the Carrazzeria wheel would seal the Bridgeport valve from the inside however, the base of the bridgeport valve would still be sitting atop the two ribs on the CZ rim. It bothered me that the Bridgeport valves did not quite fit. The solution was to machine a flat spot on each rim or machine the base of the Bridgeport valves. I chose to mod the valves.

9. These 17/64”x5/8” grommets are available at Home Depot.

Chop one grommet in half with a razor knife. Then sand the middle diameter as flat as possible with fine sandpaper.

10. Make a slide to hold the Bridgeport valve securely. A good product to use for making the slide is an art sculpting material called Sculpy. Sculpy molds like plastiline clay and cures to a hard plastic substance in a conventional oven. The firmest grade of Sculpy works well for forming precise, small, geometric shapes like this.

11. Remove the nut and oring from the Bridgeport valve before it is ground with the Dremmel.

Tape the hole in the inner valve stem to prevent dust from entering the valve.

Set up the Dremmel in a Dremmel drill press and use a fence made of a 2” x 5/8” x 20” strip of wood and two C clamps. Use a carbide bit with parallel sides.

It’s hard to adjust the bit to the right hight initially. I went for a shallow cut to test the depth and then adjusted the slide UP by applying masking tape on the underside, one thickness at a time until the cut was the right depth to match up with the ribs on the CZ rim.

12. The fence is used to slide the valve at a constant distance from the bit. Slide the valve over the bit. Be very careful the first pass. You cannot take off much at a time. You are removing much less than the thickness of a paper with each pass. You should aim to just barely touch the valve to the bit. Mark where the fence is set with a pencil and move the fence in just a hair (literally, almost imperceptible) when needed.

All you need to do is hear the tone of the high speed grinding as the piece passes the bit. If you can feel the bit grinding, you are taking off to much. When using a high speed tool like a Dremmel the piece will probably fly out of you fingers if you cut too deep.

The valve base needed to be ground on only one side to fit against the rear wheel.

The front valve base required grinding on both sides of the base and actually needed to be ground right through the base to fit over the double ribs on the rim. I was not sure if the oring would still seal without the entire inner circumference of the base to compress against it.

13. Install each Bridgeport valve with a rubber grommet on the inside to be certain the valves seal. Use blue locktite and tightened the nut snug against the grommet.

Both front and rear valves will fit nicely and hold air.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/19/2018 @ 2:29 PM *

Rook,i just learned the 8.3 angled stems just as you shown will not fit my stock wheels of my 2010.Looks as I need to now find some quick ship 10mm as the opening was much larger than the bridgeports I have.When I tried to tighten,then would actually wobble in the wheel.Is there a possibility later year wheels were different and had larger opennings.I tried doing a couple of pics to show some details

* Last updated by: HoltFF1074 on 4/25/2016 @ 2:08 AM *

.Looks as I need to now find some quick ship 10mm as the opening was much larger than the bridgeports I have.When I tried to tighten,then would actually wobble in the wheel.

Is there a possibility later year wheels were different and had larger opennings.

Motomummy listed the B12 (10.34mm) as fitting the ZX-14. I had to send them back in exchange for the B11 because the B12 was too big for my wheel. Long time ago but I seem to recall the threaded part did not even go through and then you have the rubber sleeve on the B12 that is supposed to getr stuffed in there as well.

I actually think the B12 has a safer seal with the sleeve that seals in the hole and the gasket part that seals outside the rim. Hope thos work for you but if you have not returned the B11s yet, I'd hang on to them and try as I suggested. JUST BE SURE THAT ORING ON THE B11 CANNOT SLIP ACROSS THE EDGE OF THAT HOLE OR YOUR ONLY SEAL IS GONE!!

I'm very curious to know if you get your B12 in that hole. Please let us know so I can update the text in the tutorial. Also, if you have more questions, I'll be watching the thread.

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/25/2016 @ 5:36 PM *

yes, looking at the picture now, I remember the shoulder on the nut was smaller than the hole in my wheel. The flats of the nut are beveled on that side which allowed the nut to drop in even deeper. The base of the stem was not getting pulled tight to the outside of the rim--no oring seal.

The B11 thread fit my Carrazzeria holes closer than my OEM rims but my OEM rims are still holding air after years of sitting in storage.

I'm still betting those B12s will be too big. I could tell as soon as I looked at them they were not gonna fit. If this is the case, you could ream the hole out a bit and sand it nice and smooth...if you want. Crossed my mind but I could't bare to irreversibly alter the OEM. Rubber valves may no longer fit safely if you ream??

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/25/2016 @ 6:42 PM *

Holt, everything I'm coming up with in the searches seems to varify that B11 is the one to go with. Hope you still have those B11s. Try the nut with flat side to rim/shoulder to inside of tire.

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=049F9E05-D56B-84E2-15C18822CEE37A9C&page=2

 http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=049F9E05-D56B-84E2-15C18822CEE37A9C

appreciate your review & input Rook.I still have the B11's and actually I've got some 10mm and 11.3's coming.Below are a couple of more pics of some angled chrome stems I bought some years ago I meant to use with my ZZR,but they're so large and ugly I just kept them.In the one pic is a T-handle allen that the handle measure closer to 11mm. The handle fits through both sides easily.Not sure the wheels were ever modded as the bike had jus over 5k miles and still all stock when I bought it.But it's a possibility till I do actual measurement.These ugly stems fit very nice,matter of fact as I loosen the one I trial fit,i had to gently bump it loose.Close inspection of the rubber showed no damage.I may try reversing the B11's tomorrow as I wait to check the other stems to arrive tues & weds.I'll keep the thread updated with results.Thanks,DeWayne

* Last updated by: HoltFF1074 on 4/25/2016 @ 10:24 PM *

Update Rook,seems if I had maybe felt comfortable of turning the nut over as you had pointed out,then maybe I would've felt a little better.But I'm sure I would've second guessed myself as far as trusting such a decision.Well maybe hearing how your wheels have held air since stored might have made some influence.As you see in a couple photos,i managed to install the valve with the nut turned over and it done well just with a socket hand snuged. I removed and inspected for O-ring damage and found none.I also just laid the valve against the wheel and using a light I felt the O-ring seemed to fit the opening well.I will try the other stems to see how they work.I was pretty hyped of just how well my stand work removing the tire since I done even more modification by raising the rim clamps.I done so in case I wish to try and change tires without disc removal.So heres my updated efforts and I suppose I'm just gonna have to try all options before re-mounting the tires.Oh,a quick check of the threads/O-ring looked great.

* Last updated by: HoltFF1074 on 4/26/2016 @ 12:28 AM *

UPDATE AGAIN!
HEY ROOK I RECIEVED SOME OF THE LARGER STEMS TODAY. 10MM AND WHILE THEY FIT THE WHEEL THE PROB WAS TRYING TO INSTALL THE NUT.NOT MUCH ROOM TO FIT A 14MM SOCKET.so trying your method of reversing the nut on the 8mm as it then tightens.So that may be what option i will choose.Gonna try post couple more pics,but my laptop screen went black today and im posting from my phone!

Thanks for posting. I'm amazed that B12 (10mm) fit through the hole. Looks like it would work but you'd need a modded socket or use a ground down open end like a screwdriver. I did not tighten mine a whole lot. Just good and snug and a hair more. Use blue locktite. Aluminum strips easy as I'm sure you know. hard to say but that first pic you posted with the T-handle in the hole---that hole looks a lot bigger than the hole in my rims---at least from what I remember. It was so long ago. I seem to recall dropping the B12 nut in there and finding the same thing---- the proper socket would not fit in the recess. From the looks of it and from my sketchy memories, I'd say your recess is the same but the hole is bigger than what I have on my rims.

Please keep posting this is valuable info. I know this topic has come up several times over the years. We can iron this out once and for all....or at least inform everyone that the valve stem size may vary.

Thanks Rook.too bad my laptop crashed tues.i have a couple other pics of where i took a look at using some rubber grommets that came with the ugly stems i shared a pic of earlier.if i can i will post those pics mounted to the 8mm stems.i do have another set coming today and i will wait till i get those and try before i move forward.i am a lil curious of maybe adding a lil grease to the o rings on the stems.jus a thought!

Fingers Crossed. I used the 10mm,as you thought my opennings may b lil larger.Plus considering these were possibly the ones figured to fit stock 14 wheels.so i "slimfit" xtra 14mm 12point socket as thewalls r thinner than a 6point.1st i snug the valve to the rim.Removed nut and done clise inspection of stem.Convinced with what saw,i then added lil blue loctite and tighten by feel/personal judgement.So as i said,fingers crossed!Big ride next week in Ky with friends so hope all goes well.I will carry xtra parts&tools.so check the pics and i will follow up with results!

I think you have the best setup there, Holt. It looks like the shoulder on the nut is is not dropping in the hole but I doubt that will make any difference. IDK if that shoulder is there to keep the valve centered or what it's for. That B12 will fit the hole close enough to stay centered anyway. I believe you installed it as it should be because when you get the valvestems, they always have the nut on there with the shoulder against the bottom of the dome. Maybe that shoulder is meant to just act as a spacer so you don't scrape the paint at the bottom of the recess. All I know is that all 3 sets of wheels I have are fitted with this type of valve stem and i have never had a bit of trouble with air leaks. I'm sure you're all set. i guess it'd be a good idea to replace them some day because of the rubber parts but mine have lasted years.

I installed a Bikemaster 10mm valve stems (for 11.3mm hole) to my busa rims and decided to put the nut on with shoulder facing inside the tire like I did with the Bridgeports I have on the 14's rims. I did the same with the Carrazzeria rims but that was the only choice to go with because I placed that gasket between the rim and the nut for extra insurance.

Far as your earlier comment about greasing the rubber?---doubt it matters too much. I'd use silicone grease because it does not soften rubber but causes it to swell just a bit. It is often used to make O-rings seal tighter. I did not use silicone on any of mine and they don't leak. When you get those tires on and aired up, post another update if you don't mind. I should add this info to the tuorial above. Thanks for your diligence on this!

This gets very confusing with all the numbers. The Bridgeport B12 is for a 11.3mm hole but it is actually 10.3 mm in diameter. Couldn't they just call the 10mm valve stem the B10? That would be too easy, I guess.

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/27/2016 @ 5:30 PM *

Cleaned the wheel edges n inside good.50lbs and holding.Check again in mornning b4 i balance.i did however check rim balance,then wheel&tire without being aired up.If all good weds i will balance but without the rotors.

IDK if it is crucial to balance with rotors. I'd say bolt them on loosely and mark the holes/screws and whell for when you install to the bike. Might as well. However, I had mine balanced without rotors and sprocket once and it seemed fine to me.

done