AVA death stem.
 

http://picasaweb.google.com/altinos/BrokenStem

Just had to show off pictures. :)

It was on my Paris Sport 500, which I have not ridden yet. My plan was to replace all the cables, touch up paint, replace bar tape, etc. I took off the stem and bars to clean them up and found that it was broken. No evidence of a crash.

I've got a replacement stem already, only the headset lock ring is 22.0, so I'll probably grind that out a little bit to fit a standard 22.2 stem.

wow, im glad you took it apart before you decided to go for a ride and found out the hard way.

Avoiding this very situation is a big part of why I bought a new stem for my PDG Series 5 restoration. Taking laps around my parking lot on it, I could feel the stem flexing. :eek:

I have done that particular modification for both the UO-8 and the PKN-10. It's quite easy to convert an English/ISO stem quill to hard metric.

Actually, they are called the "stem of death" because they tend to fracture at the handlebar clamp. Your experience exposes yet another hazard. I don't trust any heavily used aluminum stem.

It's such a shame, cause the fake lugs look so cool.

Does anybody know if all the old AVA's are prone to failure, or if it's just certain years/styles?