RPM Stem

[mxgirl]

I just want to say "THANKS!" to Jeremy at RPM for straightening my stem free of charge. I came up short on the 1st of a set of 2 doubles and got bucked out of the saddle. A lot of my weight was on my right side.... ok, all of it. As I was going airbourne off the 2nd set, I let go and hit the ground, my quad just kept rolling on all 4 tires until it died...... about 10 feet away. If I didn't have the kill switch who knows how far it would have rolled. I ended up with a broken femur. :(

A few weeks later when we rolled the quads out of the trailer we noticed the stem was bent pretty bad. We didn't want to have to pop for another stem, they can be so expensive. My husband suggested calling Jeremy at RPM and tell him what happened and see if they can do anything. The phone call went great! Jeremy asked for the stem back and said he would see if he could straigten it, at no charge. We shipped him the stem on Monday and he called us yesterday to say that it is once again, straight as an arrow. First, I was just glad they could straighten it and second I was surprised to see how quickly they got it done.

THANKS AGAIN, RPM!!! :) :) :)

[lil400exman]

wow u get a kookie for breakin parts! i know i feel manly when i break parts lol man u messed urself up good doing that jump:confused2

[mxgirl]

I didn't know I did any damage to my quad at 1st, but I knew my leg was broken right away. It didn't hurt bad, just felt like a huge charlie-horse. But now I have a 16" titanium rod in my leg. I'm healing pretty quickly and can sit on my quad no problem.... just cant shift my weight to the right side for cornering. I'm hoping to get back in the saddle sometime in early summer.

[Sparks425Ex]

Is that pic before or after it was straightened?

I was assuming before but just in case I wanted to check cause it deff not straight in that pic.

O yeah.. And when you bought your RPM stem did the Clamp come with it?

[mxgirl]

Yeah, the pic is of the stem before it was straightened. RPM did a one day turn on it, I'm impressed. UPS will probably be dropping it off today or tomorrow. Not that I can ride, but I can put it back on my quad.
Yes, when I bought it Jeremy included the dogbone clamp with it. They have great customer service and even though they're not open on Saturday's, we've been able to meet Jeremy up there on Saturday's to get our quads taken care of. We've been given tours of their shop and told about the a-arms that RPM will be coming out with soon. As well as some of there other products in work.

[JOEX]

Get well soon!:) I haven't broken anything major, I can only imagine what a broken femur feels like:confused2

Did RPM say anything about the effects of straightening metal has on it's strength and integrety?
Also, what can you tell us on thier a-arms and other products?

Joe

[Fast400exRacer]

When you bend metal, the part that becomes bent is now much stronger than the rest of the metal. You can verify this by trying to bend a paperclip in the same spot twice. It is much harder, of course, up until a certain number of bends.

[mxgirl]

No, RPM didn't say anything about the strength. I probably should have asked, DOLT! :)
We have RPM swingarms, carriers, dominator axles, and the stem. We like all their products. And they have all performed great on the track.... especially the axles. Who would have thought that a girl would actually like to have a wide rear end :D
They're mentioned that they were looking into making some a-arms that will have a linkage in them, kind of like the honda swingarm set up. They're supposed to give you something like 12-16 inches of travel. This is something we would like to see in use before we look into buying them....... not to mention how much they may cost. RPM also makes hubs and subframes.

[QuadTrix6]

ouch, get better soon

[Dirt]

I hope that new design you mentioned is not supposed to be a secret! You never know what is supposed to be public knowledge and what is still company R&D for future unveiling to the masses. :eek: If you are uncertain you may want to edit it. I wouldn't worry about the strenght of the straightened stem, if it bends again it most likely would be enough of an impact to bend a new "unworked" stem.

[norrisboat]

Yeh, Thanks to rpm I got a stock stem real cheap and fast. Cause I got mxgirls stock stem on my quad now.

[Derek]

Originally posted by Fast400exRacer
When you bend metal, the part that becomes bent is now much stronger than the rest of the metal. You can verify this by trying to bend a paperclip in the same spot twice. It is much harder, of course, up until a certain number of bends.

Yes but this also puts more pressure on other points on the stem.