Which TPMS to buy?

RedLdr1

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If your TPMS shows the tire temperature, as well as the PSI, an increasing temperature can warn you a tire is in trouble. A blow out due to road debris is a totally different story...nothing I've seen would give a significant warning before you know it anyway...:eek1:
 

Phil Tarman

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The Doran TPMS doesn't give temperatures, but you can watch the pressure rise as the tire heats up. My rear typically gains 5-6psi, the front 2-4psi. I noticed that when we got onto a shaded road, the front pressure went down a pound or two, but the rear stayed the same.

After my rear sensor quit connecting, the red light came on and stayed on. That was irritating and I disconnected the TPMS from the Fuzeblock so I wouldn't have that light on all the time.
 
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I'm planning a longer ride into British Columbia and had the tire pressure checked at Les Schwab. I have the valve stem covers that mark if you go under 36 psi. I'm mildly ashamed to admit it, but I just look at the 'green' showing that the psi is at 36 or above. The front tire was exactly at 38 psi after not actually checking by pressure gauges in the last year. The back tire, alas, was at 36 and I had them put it back to 42 psi. It seems like the psi has been fairly stable.

Terry
Their was a thread a while back, not on this forum can't remember which forum about the red/green valve stem pressure indicators suffered a catastrophic failure which resulted in sudden pressure loss.
 
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Thanks Roy for alerting me about the failure. I can't imagine what a failure would be as it just attaches to the valve stem like any other cap. If you know more, let me know.

Terry
 
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The tops of the valve stem pressure indicators can come away from the rest of the unit which then let's the air out too.

It is a known problem BUT I do not think it is an overly prevalent problem.

Seagrass
 

Phil Tarman

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Having had one rubber valve stem break at 75mph on my Concours, it wouldn't have to be a very prevalent problem to make me decide not to use those at all. It was the scariest thing I've ever had (including my wreck that totaled that same Connie -- the wreck happened so fast that I didn't have time to be scared!). It started with a twitch in the handlebars that turned into a full tank-slapper. A friend had had a wreck after a rear blowout and she said she'd tried to use the front brake to down. I had decided then that if I ever had a rear blowout, I'd pull in the clutch and try to just let the bike come to a stop. It worked -- after I got down to about 30mph, the bike became slightly more controllable. Of course, then I couldn't put down the side-stand or get the bike onto its center-stand. I finally managed to get it to stay on the side stand after taking off the panniers and topbox, but it was very shaky. I was on the side of the road for nearly two hours until the tow truck got there. Not one soul, including none of the fifty or sixty motorcyclists who rode by me, stopped to ask if I needed help.

I don't guess I did. What I needed was the tow truck.
 
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Reviving an old thread here........
Are there any more recent thoughts on TPMS? Practicality, usability, worthiness? I value the experience of users.

Phil, if I had ridden past you I would have at least slowed down and given you a questioning "thumbs-up" to see if you needed help.
I always do that and twice I have stopped to help someone when they returned with a "thumbs-down".
Another time was when I found a rider under an armco and stopped to pull him out. He was unhurt and we were able to make the bike rideable again with the help of a local farmer. I stayed with him for the next 50 miles until we reached the next town.
I always carry puncture repair gear and a pump and have never used it for myself but have used it to get others back on the road.
I got off the track a bit there, "sorry about that chief".

Macka
 

RedLdr1

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Phil, if I had ridden past you I would have at least slowed down and given you a questioning "thumbs-up" to see if you needed help.
The generally used "Help" sign here is to put your helmet on the ground on the left side of the bike. Now if your one of those folks who doesn't wear a helmet it gets more interesting....:wink:

Are there any more recent thoughts on TPMS? Practicality, usability, worthiness? I value the experience of users.
I'm a firm believer in TPMS units. I don't check my tires numerous times a day and rely on my TPMS to keep me informed. It is not a substituent for good maintenance practices but a tire problem can start as soon as you ride off after checking your tires. I'm starting a project now to put a TPMS system on a new motor home and it has the same issues as a bike...except three times as many wheels! :rolleyes1: Some of the valve stems need replaced, the dually tires in the rear have a cheap flexible inflation extender, blah, blah, blah... It is about a $400-$500 project rounding up the parts and getting everything installed....:eek1: But it is worth it to me....
 
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Reviving an old thread here........
Are there any more recent thoughts on TPMS? Practicality, usability, worthiness? I value the experience of users.

Phil, if I had ridden past you I would have at least slowed down and given you a questioning "thumbs-up" to see if you needed help.
I always do that and twice I have stopped to help someone when they returned with a "thumbs-down".
Another time was when I found a rider under an armco and stopped to pull him out. He was unhurt and we were able to make the bike rideable again with the help of a local farmer. I stayed with him for the next 50 miles until we reached the next town.
I always carry puncture repair gear and a pump and have never used it for myself but have used it to get others back on the road.
I got off the track a bit there, "sorry about that chief".

Macka
IMHO, a TPMS is a most worthy farkle.

I check tire pressures weekly, and when I'm on a long trip, I check them each morning. You could describe me as a bit of a nut case about tire pressures. I am much more aware of tire pressures on my bike than on my cars. Reason? I have only two relatively tiny contact patches of rubber-to-road on a bike.

And, it paid off once. I will check tire pressures once in awhile while riding. (Mine are part of my GPS.) I was on a short trip, and I checked my tire pressures, and saw the rear tire had not risen in pressure after riding awhile as it normally does. It was a hot summer day, and the rear pressure should have been about 5-7 pounds greater than the cold inflation pressures. Hmmmm. I watched it closely. The next check indicated it had actually lost a couple of pounds of pressure. A stop and quick check indicated a had a very small object - thinner than a nail - embedded near the junction of the tread and side wall. Without the TPMS, the first I would have known about the leak was when the rear tire got dangerously soft.
 

mikesim

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I wouldn't be without my TPMS system. I started with the Orange Electronics system and it worked great. The batteries eventually discharged after 2 years and I ordered new sensors, but they soon failed due to age. I tried to get some help from Orange but they didn't respond so I switched to a Hawks Head system which I like also. No sooner than I switched, Orange contacted me wanting to make things right but I already installed the Hawks Head system.

Mike
 
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Thanks for the prompt replies.
I would like to do it but do not know which system to buy, that is why I asked.
It seems that some of them do not start to give a reading until the bike has reached a certain speed.
That seems useless to me!
I want a "stand-alone" system, rather than one that integrates with a phone or GPS.
Some also have temperature compensation which apparently means that as the tyre temperature increases the reading remains the same.
I cannot decide which is the better way, with or without compensation but I am leaning towards "without".
Another factor is that the PR4s on the NT don't seem to hold air very well and need regular top-ups whereas the Michelin Pilot Street Radials on my Suzuki almost never need a top-up. This would mean very frequent removal of the sensors.
Has anyone had any problems caused by regular removal/refitting of the sensors?

I appreciate the time taken for you input gents.

Macka
 

Phil Tarman

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Macka, I'm happy with my Doran TPMS. The sensors (which I've got mounted on the stems, but there's an internal system which may or may not use different sensor) have a non-replaceable battery, but are supposed to last a couple years or more. The one I bought had been owned by someone else on the Forum for a couple of years, but he had never mounted it. I had it for several months before I got around to mounting it and then a few months later the battery on one of the sensors failed while I was riding to Alamo, NV, for my Bun Burner Gold attempt.

I ended up disconnecting the monitor from the Fuseblock so I wouldn't have to watch the alert light blink red. I think I paid about $40-50 for another set of sensors and it's worked fine since then. You can leave the monitor hooked to a powered circuit and it will show pressure even before you start the bike. But the monitor dragged my battery down after 5-6 days, so I've got it wired to a switched circuit now. The sensors send a signal every six minutes, so they may start showing results almost instantly. I don't sit around waiting for them to show up, but when they connect, I check pressure.

The Doran system isn't temperature compensated, but I know what to look for after the tires have warmed up. I'm happy with it.

Link to manual covering installation and use: http://www.doranmfg.com/sites/default/files/360M manual (v2.1)--.pdf
 
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. . . It seems that some of them do not start to give a reading until the bike has reached a certain speed.
That seems useless to me!. . .
The purpose of that is to lessen the drain on the battery. If you don't have such a system, the batteries are being drained all the time as they are not connected to the ignition switch. On mine, the begin to work at about 5 mph.
 

Phil Tarman

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The Doran system sensors are always sending, and the monitor starts to work when it gets power and shows an indication as soon as it receives a message from the sensor. That's supposed to be within 6 minutes or less.
 

Warren

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I recently bought a 2016 Honda Fit. Unlike the TPS system in my 2010 Fit that had sensors in the wheels the 2016 uses the ABS sensor system to compare the rotational speed of each wheel to determine if a tire is low on air. Low pressure = smaller effective diameter= higher rotational speed. There are no sensors in the wheels. Whenever you adjust the airpressure you push a recalibration button on the dash. Other cars may also have this but it was new to me.
 
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I recently bought a 2016 Honda Fit. Unlike the TPS system in my 2010 Fit that had sensors in the wheels the 2016 uses the ABS sensor system to compare the rotational speed of each wheel to determine if a tire is low on air. Low pressure = smaller effective diameter= higher rotational speed. There are no sensors in the wheels. Whenever you adjust the airpressure you push a recalibration button on the dash. Other cars may also have this but it was new to me.
Have you found that this system works?
I would have thought that it might be open to too many variables such as road or load conditions.
If you have a very heavy load in the boot (trunk) does it tell you that the tyres are flat?
If you have a different brand of tyres on the front to the rear it could be a problem as different brands can and do have a different diameter/circumference even if they are nominally the same size.
I am not trying to be smart, I am very curious to find out if it works.

Macka
 
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Indirect systems have their limitations. Mazda uses a similar system. It thought I have a tire going down because I had a full car of people. I guess it got confused with the extra weight causing the tires to squish more and reduce the rotational speed. It is nice not to be bound to a specific air pressure or need to worry about internal sensors be damaged or needing replacement when the batteries die.

Indirect systems aren't nearly as accurate AND they can't really give you a pressure reading. They can only give you an alert that there MAY be an issue based on calculations that aren't adding up.

A direct system can give you specific pressures and are less likely to get confused.

Honda and Kawasaki's TPMS have wheel sensors that go into a "parked" mode after several minutes of no tire rotation. This is to save the life of the batteries. With their systems, the sensor doesn't wake up until a specific speed for a specific length of time has occurred.

Garmin's sensors are more sensitive. They go to sleep as well but they wake up with just the slightest of movements. Just rolling the bike a few inches is enough to wake those sensors up. As was indicated by others, the Doran sensors are always on IF they are attached to the wheel and under pressure. You need not move the bike to get a reading. You just need to wait for the sensor to send it's signal to the monitor unit (every 6 minutes). If you put the monitor on a switched circuit (either via the ignition or a separate switch) you just need to turn on the monitor and wait for the sensors to communicate and you'll have your pressure before you head out.
 
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