Kosei Wheels and their metal valves
 

Not sure if anyone has seen my other thread about my flat tyres but thought I would test the water about these valves in particular... I need ammunition for when I revisit protyre tomorrow.

Being the feisty cow I am I will not be told that it was a certain fault if it was just a BS get-out clause.

So, I got a set of Kosei RS wheels in 17. Delivered them to protyre with whom I had already pre-ordered some Toyo tyres.

After work at my day job they fit them I drive away.. feels spongy but hey - they are a new size and I wasn't sure what to expect.

Anyway, went to work a couple of hours later at my evening job and when I returned home after my 5 hour shift I thought, fek, something wrong here... verrrrry bad handling.

I rolled home slow and took a look. Back wheel flat - other back wheel nearly flat and fronts not looking good.

I rolled it to a garage to pump them up and three tyres were impossible to get either a reading or air in.... the really flat one read at 3psi and l managed to pump up to 32psi.

Got home, went to bed. Woke up, 3 flats and one at 28psi. (l have a digital pressure reader)..

Anyway... call protyre who blame porous wheels. f uck right off! They said, get air in your tyres and come to see us! Yeah right.. I got a f ucking air pump at my house. I was getting cross so put the phone down. I called back and suggested they send someone over to swap back my old wheels so I can at least get to work.

I get a call half hour later advising it was faulty valves. Yeah right... as soon as they saw the metal valves they winced.. is this normal? I remember when trying to attach the air thing to the front tyre I could feel a very small nut around the valve turn... that tells me it wasn't applied correctly.

It was dark, it was gone midnight at that point and I was more than disappointed.

I emailed Kosei and they said it was incorrect fitting. Am I right to argue this point with protyre tomorrow?

Anyone have experience with Kosei? They apparently have thinner/narrower valves than normal.

An update here. There are no other valves that fit this wheel. Performance Alloys told me to drill the valve hole bigger!!!!!! Having spoken to another wheel supplier in Christchurch they tell me that the Kosei wheels are notorious for their valves and they often shear off when the tyre is mounted and inflated onto the rim.

So beware if you are thinking about kosei.

I am not a happy bunny :(

:( Seems a bit drastic Karen, have you spoken to Kosei about this? They must have been told of this problem before

Yes, I emailed Kosei and they said they have never had this problem in the entire history of their Company. Of course.... why should I believe them over anyone else.... I don't know whether to laugh or cry... but seeing as I don't do crying, I had better start laughing huh :D

:D Hope you get it sorted

HI karen,
called round to see if you were at home earlier, guess what, you weren't, just wanted to see how the 'wheel' saga was going, sorted somehow hopefully.

Chow

That's coz I was over at Castle Wheels and ProTyre again.

Castle wheels say they are not the valves supplied by Kosei but ProTyre say they are.

I have requested an unopened packet of the valves to compare to what I have in my wheels and will start again from there. They are certainly not the same as I should have according to Castle Wheels.

Will have to wait for the postman now.

The plot thickens..

I sent an email to performance alloys and they said that the picutre below (photographed at Castle Wheels) are the CORRECT valves and the ones under that are not correct unyet they were the ones supposedly taken from the packet I received.

I have also shown a copy of the packet ... interestingly the logo is not the same that is shown on Koseis website! See bottom picture. Could they be counterfeit?

http://www.thesoulgirl.com/koseivalves/japvalves.jpg
http://www.thesoulgirl.com/koseivalves/PICT1901.jpg
http://www.thesoulgirl.com/koseivalves/PICT1900.jpg
http://www.thesoulgirl.com/koseivalves/PICT1894.jpg
http://www.koseieurope.com/fr/imagelogo/karacing.jpg

anyway, the guy at protyre said I owed them an apology for blaming them.. I pointed out at the moment I wasn't blaming anyone.

I emailed my picutres to performance alloys and they confirmed that the top picture was the valves I should have had.

I will keep you updated once I get the new packet of valves.

Doesn't anyone else have any views on this?

Well, you might not have but I bloody well do!

perfomance alloys 'supplied' my wheels through a 3rd party supplier - http://www.elite-design.co.uk/frameset3.html who annoyingly enough could have sold me these rims for £135 less than they did.... When performance alloys said they were contacting Kosei, they weren't.. they were bloody contacting elite. I know this because thats where my packages have come from and that is who castle wheels spoke to today who said they knew who I was!!! The plot is now definately thick and I ain't happy.

So if I read it right Karen, you were sent the wheels from someone other than the people you ordered from, they presumably sent the wrong valves, so surely it's up to the people you paid to sort the problem, can they not just send you another set of valves?? or is that too easy.....

Apparently another set is on the way. Until I see the pack unopened I cannot confirm whether or not they are the same as those I have already been supplied.

I have also emailed Kosei in Japan with the photos of the valves and packaging I have been supplied and asked them for their advice.

The valves I have been supplied, according to protyre, are definately the wrong ones although the packaging of them suggests they are the right ones. Not forgetting that South Coast Wheels also confirmed they were incorrect and not seated on the wheel correctly.

Someone is going to die Ron :D

So do I take it that no one else on this site has bought Kosei wheels?

Sorry to hear you're having probs with the wheels Karen - they look the DB's so I hope you get it sorted soon..!

Story here endeth... new valves arrived. Same as the bloody original ones. I find a shop in Bournemouth who had the correct valves and they pulled straight through the hole.

I called performance alloys and told them to collect the friggin wheels and refund my money. I am now the proud owner of 4 x toyo tyres that are rimless GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.