Tire pressure monitoring system

So I believe AFTER I returned the product that the sensors were not working because the bike was not rolling. But no where in the documentation do they mention that. Not only that, they do not explain how to get to the battery, I had to watch a video online to realize I had to remove a cover. And as I stated the front sensor was found but had the ID for the back sensor, at that point I returned the product because if the quality assurance is so bad in documenting and a sensor was not being found why would I risk their product. They could very well have the best product on the market but since they fail in all other aspects of their business they are not worth it in my book.
 
Understood, the documentation isn't very good, but I managed to get mine to work, probably because I had experience with a similar system before hand and was familiar with the sensors and how they function. Sykik and others have Bluetooth systems that work with your phone and transmit even when not rolling.
 
I’m using this system, though availability of new sensors seems variable. It’s not cheap but works well. Sensors last 2-3 years.

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Orange Motorcycle TPMS M207 (Advanced Type) Wheels 8.3-11.5mm with L-Shape valve | eBay

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Here is a little anecdote that illustrates why TPMS is not a toy, nor a device to allow people to be lazy, if it is used as it is intended.
The motorcycle in the below anecdote had brand new tires that were inflated exactly to specification, so definitely not a matter of delinquent maintenance.

Last Thursday my Brother-in-law and I were returning from a trip. We had just got on to a major divided limited access highway for the final leg to home. This is an extremely busy highway with lots of very high speed traffic and non stop 18 wheeler truck traffic. The volume is so high that if you are stopped on the shoulder, most of the traffic will not have the ability to move over in to the other lane to put space between you and them, simply because there is always another vehicle beside them occupying the other lane. This is definitely not a place that you want to stop on the side of the road on a motorcycle, unless you have a death wish.

My Brother-in-law's motorcycle is equipped with factory TPMS. In preparation for this trip, this motorcycle had brand new tires installed only three weeks before we left on this trip. As we were riding along, the TPMS warning light started to flash on the dash. We have intercom systems and he advised me that he was getting off at the next exit, which was about a mile away, where luckily there was a truck stop. The leak was significant enough that he made it to the exit and off of the highway, but by the time that he made it in to the truck stop parking lot and parked the tire was completely flat. The tire had picked up a very heavy gauge U-shaped staple that penetrated the tire at a 45° angle, as opposed to going straight in, and tore the carcass rather than puncturing it. After plugging it the best that we could with a tire plug, it still leaked so badly that my Slime portable compressor could not inflate it. The air was still leaking out faster than the compressor could pump it in. The damage to the tire was significant enough that it could not be repaired so, this new tire had to be replaced again.

We were traveling around 120 to 130 Km/h, 75 to 80 MPH, when he advised me that he had to get off at the next exit. At this speed, if it was not for the TPMS, we most likely would have made it past that exit before the pressure was low enough for the rider to become aware that there was a problem. By then it would have been to late for us to make it to anywhere safe on the highway. Just being stuck on the side of that highway with the 18 wheeler trucks whizzing by inches away from us is more than dangerous enough in my opinion, let alone if the tire had deflated to a critical point while he was in the middle of a maneuver where he was committed and could not do anything. This is a good recipe for becoming the hood ornament of a truck.

No amount of pre-ride inspection could have prevented this. The TPMS could not have prevented it either. However, what it did do was provide enough advance warning to allow him to get to somewhere safe before the motorcycle had become immobile with a completely flat tire. This is what TPMS is for, and what the benefit of it is. It is not there to eliminate routine checks or to alleviate the rider of his responsibility to do them. It is there to alert the rider of a developing problem and hopefully provide enough extra time to be able to do something before it becomes a critical and dangerous situation. I don't see TPMS as being any different than the flashing FI light when the ECM has detected a problem. I would rather know that something is wrong while I can do something about it, than not know and only find out when the motorcycle stops without warning.

Is TPMS needed? No. Is it beneficial, and can it provide an additional safety margin? My brother-in-law certainly would answer yes to that question.
 
Good story Andrew. I had a similar incident, but not nearly that exciting, and my TPMS gave me plenty of time to find a safe place to pull over, diagnose and repair. I've said this in the past... a TPMS is the first, and most important farkle I put on my motorcycle.
 
I had a sudden 'deflate' of my front tire on the way back from Moonshine.
I did not have a TPMS at the time but if I had I would have known trouble was coming.
The tire was losing air to the point of the bead breaking.
For the time and money it cost to have someone come and get me with a trailer (the front tire was toast and I was a long way from the Holler) I could have bought 4 TPMS systems.
So I did when I got back to the house!

One year at OHSToc, a previous plugged rear started leaking and couldn't get it to seal.
I decided I would head back to the Holler and with the TPMS, I could tell when I needed to pull over to put some air in (had a compressor on board).
I would not have tried to travel that distance in that condition without a TPMS.

No, not necessary, but one of those things that you don't need until you need it! :biggrin:
 
Andrew Shadow said:
Here is a little anecdote that illustrates why TPMS is not a toy, nor a device to allow people to be lazy, if it is used as it is intended.
The motorcycle in the below anecdote had brand new tires that were inflated exactly to specification, so definitely not a matter of delinquent maintenance.
Click to expand...

100% agree and this story is almost identical to mine. I was moving about 75MPH southbound on the 405 Freeway in SoCal between the area where the 605 merges on and the 22 diverts off. It was a weekday afternoon, so needless to say heavy commuter and commercial traffic. I was in the far left hand carpool lane when I noticed the TPMS alert (since defunct SmarTire system). The warning allowed me to reach a legal exit point from the CP lane, work my way across 6-lanes of above described traffic and exit at the next ramp. I was lucky in that there was a service station with a functioning air hose about a block north of the freeway and my tire held long enough for me to reach it without drama. I was secondarily lucky that it was a simple puncture straight through the center of the tire. I quickly plugged the tire, re-inflated and proceeded on my way. Pretty much a non-event. The gas station and air hose made for a relatively easy repair but I carry a small compressor too, just in case.

There is no shoulder area on this section of the 405 CP lane and you are nearly getting run over from behind, even at 75 MPH. Had I not received the alert from TPMS, I'd have for sure been stuck at the left edge of that lane, 7 lanes away from the right shoulder with cars whizzing past at 75+ MPH. No way would I have been able to navigate across 6 lanes of heavy traffic to the exit ramp. In my experience the ST11 and ST13 are pretty stable with underinflated rear tires when running straight. By the time the handling degrades noticeably, you're basically down to just a few PSI or even zero. This is why I installed the TPMS in the first place.

Those folks that brag they are covered because they religiously inspect their tire pressures before every ride (implying those using TMPS are somehow lazy) are not considering a puncture that occurs en route. No amount of inspection can account for or prevent that.

I also had two more, less dramatic experiences where TPMS may have saved me some skin. Once each leaving work and leaving home the warning came on just as I reached the first stop sign/light. In the case at home, there was no time to mess with it before work so returned to the garage and took the car instead. In the case leaving work, instead of getting on the 101 freeway for my 46 mile one-way commute I rode over to a local service station and performed a plug repair. Both cases kept me off the freeway with a leaking rear tire that I may otherwise have not noticed.

No, TPMS is not a toy or a gimmick.
 
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Uncle Phil said:
I decided I would head back to the Holler and with the TPMS, I could tell when I needed to pull over to put some air in (had a compressor on board).
I would not have tried to travel that distance in that condition without a TPMS.
Click to expand...
Same situation for us Phil.

Knowing what the air pressure in the tire was at any given moment was a secondary benefit of the TPMS during this escapade. We couldn't get the puncture to stop leaking- it was loosing pressure at the rate of about 3 P.S.I.G. every 2 minutes or so. At that leak rate, it would never be safe to get back on the highway. Since we were on home turf, we knew where there was a bike shop about 50 miles away. We pumped the tire up to 50 P.S.I.G. and took off like bats out of hell. The TPMS allowed my brother-in-law to monitor the tire pressure in real time. When we needed to pump it up, we needed a real compressor. The leak rate was so great that the Slime pump that we carry was useless. Having the TPMS allowed him the luxury of deciding when he wanted to pump it up again and, more importantly, giving him the option of exiting the highway at a time of his choosing and convenience where he knew that he was likely to find a compressor. We had to stop during the 50 mile run to the bike shop to pump it up again, but we made it safely, without any drama due to a dangerously low or completely flat tire, and without ever having to run on a dangerously underinflated tire. Without the TPMS giving him the ability to monitor the decaying tire pressure in real time, this would have been an expensive tow-truck journey that would cost more than a TPMS system.
 
Well, y'all have pretty much talked me into it. Ordered the Hawkshead T valves, when I put new sneakers on over the winter, the TPMS system will go on.

RT
 
Why T stems, as opposed to 90-degree valves?
I've done little research; it's not a tomorrow-kinda thing...
 
Sadlsor said:
Why T stems, as opposed to 90-degree valves?
I've done little research; it's not a tomorrow-kinda thing...
Click to expand...
T stems: because you are always going to have to add air at some point and you don't have to remove the sensors to do so. The other reason is some 90-degree stems will interfere with the braking system, (for example the front wheel on my GW, I have to turn it to about 45 degrees to be able to clear the brake gear). I will be changing the front stem to a T stem when I change the front tire. With T stems, you can install the sensor on the vertical port and add air from the side port.
 
Thanks for that. In my ignorance, I just figured the TPMS acted like a valve stem too, allowing air to flow past it into the tyre.
I haven't thought this through, haven't done much reading at all (other than threads here), and my remarks are illustrative of my nearly total lack of knowledge.
 
Sadlsor said:
Thanks for that. In my ignorance, I just figured the TPMS acted like a valve stem too, allowing air to flow past it into the tyre.
I haven't thought this through, haven't done much reading at all (other than threads here), and my remarks are illustrative of my nearly total lack of knowledge.
Click to expand...
Here is a link to what I use on my ST in combination with T stems. I have a Garmin unit on my GW and the bike has to be rolling to activate the sensors, the Fobo does not, so I can check my tire pressure from my cell phone before my ride.
 
Sadlsor said:
I just figured the TPMS acted like a valve stem too, allowing air to flow past it into the tyre.
Click to expand...

Understandable as that's how the automotive ones, with the internal sensors work, as does the Orange Electronics system. The sensor is more or less integrated into the stem, unlike the add-on type being discussed.
 
External Sensor models are always 'replacement' valve caps. I use the Hawskhead system and have been very pleased with it. The battery powered head lasts so long between charges that I can't remember when I charged them last. And the caps have button batteries so you can change them when they die. RUPSE use to sell a knockoff (same head, larger sensors) at quite a discount but they seem to have gotten out of the business. I do not use the locking nuts and have 75 degree stainless steel stems. Removing the cap to put air in is just not that big of a deal for me. You just turn the 'head' off and do what you need to do. The only caution about the 'caps' is don't over tighten them or you will ruin the seal. Don't ask me how I know that ... :doh1:
 
When I had new tires installed last year, I asked for metal stems. The shop forgot to install them and I got standard rubber stems. Annoying. So I didn't do the TPMS system. This winter I'll get new tires again, and since I'll provide the metal stems to make sure, might as well do the T-stems. For these cheapie Chinesium aftermarket systems it seems prudent to not have an integrated system. Throw away when it dies, easy upgrade when new tech arrives.

RT
 
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