Kisan Tirealert?

More expensive than the smart tire option but looks to be easier to install. I'm thinking Wings and STs would need the TM-30 version with a special adapter.

http://www.kisantech.com/index.php?cat_id=6



Here's the instruction pdf:
http://www.kisantech.com/brochures/TA-v20-manual.pdf

Anyone got one? Any opinions?

I'm not sure I like the idea of something on my valve stems, I have read that another cheaper type of pressure sensor (not the Kisan) on the stems caused leaks.

hojo in sc said:

I'm not sure I like the idea of something on my valve stems, I have read that another cheaper type of pressure sensor (not the Kisan) on the stems caused leaks.

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The ones ON your stems are for bikes with metal stems... the version for STs and Wings replaces your stem completely AND would add a 90 degree angle to it.

One advantage to the SmarTire system over this one is that there's no need to install the receivers near each wheel. The SmarTire sensors broadcast their data directly to the dash mounted display/receiver. There are only two wires to connect on the display unit and that's it for the electrical.

The downside is that after 5-7 years, the SmarTire sensor needs to be replaced when the battery is exhausted.

wjbertrand said:

One advantage to the SmarTire system over this one is that there's no need to install the receivers near each wheel. The SmarTire sensors broadcast their data directly to the dash mounted display/receiver. There are only two wires to connect on the display unit and that's it for the electrical.

The downside is that after 5-7 years, the SmarTire sensor needs to be replaced when the battery is exhausted.

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And after 5 years this very well might be somebody else's problem (I did not have a bike that I kept for more then 4 years)

Kisan sensor weighs 10 gram, which would require re-balancing the wheel

Mellow said:

The ones ON your stems are for bikes with metal stems... the version for STs and Wings replaces your stem completely AND would add a 90 degree angle to it.

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Thanks for the info Joe, I was in too much of a hurry earlier today trying to catch up in my reading.

The draw back I had with the Smart Tire was that I (had) to wait until I needed a tire change before I got it installed; I didn't want to pop the bead if I didn't absolutely have to.

hojo in sc said:

Thanks for the info Joe, I was in too much of a hurry earlier today trying to catch up in my reading.

The draw back I had with the Smart Tire was that I (had) to wait until I needed a tire change before I got it installed; I didn't want to pop the bead if I didn't absolutely have to.

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With both systems, and with our rubber stems, the tma-30 version still requires you to break the tire bead... but, with the tirealert, you only need to get access to the valve stem area.

The tirealert is also supposed to give you tire temp.. not sure what you'd do with that.. guess, if the temp was out of whatever was normally shown it might be an indicator your bearings were going but that's a stretch..

Looks like it's got cool performance stats it can capture such as 0-60 times. Personally, I don't care about that stuff...

Having never broken the bead of one of our tires, is it as simple as the Kisan instructions say it is? Just to squeeze the tire with two C clamps to break the bead and then put it back together? Or would I be biting off more than I could chew possibly?

krivanj said:

Having never broken the bead of one of our tires, is it as simple as the Kisan instructions say it is? Just to squeeze the tire with two C clamps to break the bead and then put it back together? Or would I be biting off more than I could chew possibly?

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Personally, when something sounds simple.. it usually means it takes me all day and I end up bringing it to someone with the right tools.. LOL

It does 'sound' simple...

Hmmm, $300 or a minute before each ride???

Don't get me wrong.. I'm as cheap as they come..I'm just hoping the rest of you guys buy a bunch and they cut the price down the 49.99 so I can get one.

LOL

I think if this were something that was stock, like on the new Connie, that it would quickly be something you'd love...

It would help out if you got a nail in your tire and it was loosing pressure .. maybe even just by 5 lbs.. but enough to cause you to stop and check it and plug it if necessary.

Too much $$$ ? Yes, but it would be cool to have..

Mellow said:

Don't get me wrong.. I'm as cheap as they come..I'm just hoping the rest of you guys buy a bunch and they cut the price down the 49.99 so I can get one.

LOL

I think if this were something that was stock, like on the new Connie, that it would quickly be something you'd love...

It would help out if you got a nail in your tire and it was loosing pressure .. maybe even just by 5 lbs.. but enough to cause you to stop and check it and plug it if necessary.

Too much $$$ ? Yes, but it would be cool to have..

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I'd love to have one on a new bike, but there is no way I'd pay more then $50 for a tire pressure monitor!

Phil

The advantage of a remote sensor, of either brand, is that they'll warn you of a slow leak WHILE you're riding, before it becomes seriously low. Checking you tires before a ride won't do that.

As for Kisan, I had absolutely nothing but trouble with their Charge-X system. It was an overpriced, unreliable, unmitigated piece of crap. I'll never give them another penny.

wjbertrand said:

One advantage to the SmarTire system over this one is that there's no need to install the receivers near each wheel. The SmarTire sensors broadcast their data directly to the dash mounted display/receiver. There are only two wires to connect on the display unit and that's it for the electrical.

The downside is that after 5-7 years, the SmarTire sensor needs to be replaced when the battery is exhausted.

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And the other problem with the SmarTire system is, from the information on their website anyway, they appear to be getting out of the motorcycle tire pressure business.

Hate to get one, then find out you can't get parts for it...unless the sensor packs are the same, anyone know?

I have the SmartTire system on my ST and love it. I also wonder if the external sensors of the Kisan system can give an accurate temperature reading. The SmartTire system does this and then calculates how much over/under the set pressure your tire is. This is not a trivial matter, since as we ride, the tire temp increases, thereby increasing the pressure. Knowing the pressure alone won't help at all unless you know whether the tire is hot, cold, or somewhere in between. And when you air up during a ride, you have to guess at how much to put in, since the tires are no longer cold.

When I had a flat recently, the SmartTire alert came on before my tire pressure had fallen to 42. Even if I had stopped and put a gauge on it at that point, I would not have realized that the tire was going flat because of that (though the hissing sound was a giveaway when I heard it. That said, if I were convinced that the Kisan did this as well as the SmartTire, and if it had been available when I got the SmartTire, I'd have gone that route because Kisan is in the motorcycle business and as someone else noted, SmartTire is getting out of the motorcycle business.

meyerweb said:

The advantage of a remote sensor, of either brand, is that they'll warn you of a slow leak WHILE you're riding, before it becomes seriously low. Checking you tires before a ride won't do that.

As for Kisan, I had absolutely nothing but trouble with their Charge-X system. It was an overpriced, unreliable, unmitigated piece of crap. I'll never give them another penny.

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This exactly why I installed the system. I try to check my tires before each ride anyway (though I admit to becoming a little lazier about that since installing the SmarTire set up) but that does you no good at all if you suffer a puncture 5 minutes later.

Returning from WeSTOC in Moscow, I had a flat on a remote section of 395 in northern California in the rain. I had just left my comfy motel room a couple of hours previous. Of course this particular day, I did not check my tires before leaving, because I had just done it the previous morning. The day before however, I did notice an unusual drop in fuel mileage but I didn't connect that with a low tire pressure problem until the flat was evident. Mileage returned to normal after the repair (20/20 hindsight).

I'm pretty sure if I had a tire pressure monitoring system installed at the time, I would have had a much earlier warning and I would have been able to make the repairs in a less remote area instead of lying on the wet shoulder in the rain trying to do it. Luckily my gummy worms and CO2 cartridges worked perfectly the first time, had they not worked or failed later I'd have been SOL. In town, I could have found a tire or MC shop if my repair efforts had failed.

Someone asked about what information the SmarTire provides. Obviously pressure, but also temperature and then displays +/- what the PSI deviation from the target pressure you set up is. The temperature correction feature, means that even if the tire is quite warm and pressure has risen several PSI, but you are only off 1 PSI cold, that's what it will show.

The temperature feature is a back up safety warning system too. The alert will come on if either temp gets too high or the pressure too low. With an overloaded bike, or a tire that's beginning to fail internally, you'll see an abnormal temperature rise even if pressures are correct.

'Real time' pressure monitoring is the only type system I would like, but man, that price! I would cringe if the price was $100. For $300, it needs to be able to monitor AND maintain a set pressure. $99 group buy??

I figure the only things between me and some serious pain are the two tires that connect me to the road.

Ordered the Smartire and received today, $199 at RiderWearhouse. Timing is right as I'm getting ready to have new Pilot Road 2 tires put on, so tires are coming off anyway.

What I like about the SmarTire sensors are that once installed, they're inside the tire and batteries will last longer than the tires. Manual says battery life estimate is "7 years approx." but even if only 5 it should be longer than a pair of tires last. If not, who cares since the bike is just sitting gathering dust anyway.

Anther plus: the Temp reading, as noted earlier, is essential for the system to compute the temperature compensation pressure which displays as the Pressure Deviation, the amount of air pressure you need to add AT ANY TIME, even after riding for 2 hours on some lovely twisties. Another good point, after you pick up a friend, the system can be put in "pressure adjust mode" and it will compute the pressure compensation and adjust warnings accordingly.

What I don't like about the SmarTire system, the Display only shows one value at a time but evidently will cycle through them and has designated warnings for both pressure and temp which when activated brings up the problem number on the display showing why your being warned.

Note: Readings are only obtained when you are traveling 6mph or higher. To check a stationary bike is still a manual process.

Just found out about the TireAlert system today when I received a Kisan Cat. along with some other items I ordered. Researched online. No first hand information other than those two sources.

The main attraction of it for me is having a display that shows numbers for both tires at once. The display also looks thinner and easier to mount than the SmartTire display. Another plus is that is uses "Passive wheel Transducers," i.e. no batteries required. I wonder what their "life expectancy" is?

What I don't like about the TireAlert system is having the sensors on the outside of the wheel. However, a plus for the external mounting is that if something goes wrong, you don't need to get inside the tire to fix it.

Note: Another plus for the external stems/sensors of the TireAlert system is getting the 90 deg. turn, but I'm installing some Ariete stems to do that. Easier to fill means more likely to fill.

Last point, and one of concern is the status of support expected in the future if SmarTire is no longer around. I guess for now, I'll go ahead with what I've got and something better and cheaper will come along in the next 5 years!

I have the TireAlert and it works great. It reports the ACTUAL pressure, then the difference in pounds to correct to the cold temperture pressure, then the ACTUAL temperature.

Install is easy if done during a tire change. Extra long hose clamps go around the inside of the wheel to hold the sensor in place. Batteries are supposed to last up to 5 years and I expect to change tires several times before then. Display mounts anywhere you want with power wires running as you like. Mine run from front of bike to under back pillion where my Centrix power distribution is mounted.

Whatever kind you prefer, I recommend them. My tires haven't been off more than 2 pounds on pressure since I installed and surprisingly I don't need to adjust pressure very often at all. With the readout, which I verified several times as being accurate, you don't lose air from checking. I think checking is the biggest tire leak I've had!

Have fun.

Orange Power said:

Sounds like you are describing SmarTire, not TireAlert.
SmarTire uses a battery/sensor inside the rid.
TireAlert runs on bike power, no battery, the value stem sensor is an inducer.
At least that is what I understand.

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Correcto