Garmin Zumo 390LM

bang

bang

0
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
31
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Bike
2011 Black NT700V
If anyone is thinking of buying a GPS and/or a tire pressure monitoring system, you may want to look at the new Zumo GPS..

Garmin have integrated a TPMS into it, with stem caps that transmit to it.

I don't have one, so I have no idea how accurate or reliable it is, but if they bring it to the 665 then I may pick it up and give it a try. If anyone has one I'd love to hear how well it works.

b.
 
Seems like a great idea but that means your Garmin needs to be mounted all the time. I only mount my Garmin during long trips but not for my daily commuting.
 
Scott,
That sounds like the hot set up, one less thing that needs to be wired in. I have a TPMS in the box, was going to put it on after my trip to NC next week, by then I will need tires and would put the stems on then. This TPMS kit comes with two differant metal stems, they recomend NOT putting stem caps on rubber stems. I will have to look into this new GPS. Like Warren, I only use my GPS on long trips, but that might change now, I do need a new GPS.
 
For $700 it is a bit steep. But I do like all the features. Would be nice to mount in the dash permanently.

Now, if they added a connection to the computer they could display RPM, oil pressure and water temp and replace the stock dashboard.
 
Maybe I am missing something, but why would it need to be mounted all the time? If the TPMS stems have batteries in them, they would transmit all the time. If you didn't have the Garmin mounted you simply wouldn't see the reading or have a way to see the TPMS data. I wouldn't worry about not seeing it on a short around town trip and I wouldn't try to permanently mount the GPS to my NT.
 
The point I was making is that you can't see your tire pressure unless the GPS is mounted. If you only mount up your GPS occassionally than whats the point of having the TPMS system. I thought the point of the TPMS system is that you could monitor your tire pressure all the time to see if it starts to get low. You might as well check you tires the old fashioned way if you are only going to install your GPS once a month like I do.
 
Okay, so I am not missing something. It just seemed odd the way it was worded above - As if it was mandatory to have the GPS mounted because of the TPMS.

I still prefer manually checking tire pressure so I am not sure why I even commented on the TPMS. My car has TPMS and I still check them manually occasionally since it has never alerted me (Probably because I check it manually and add air before it gets low enough to trigger a warning :D ).

A friend has a Chevy Suburban and hates his TPMS system. He says it has costs him a lot of money every two years. I didn't ask about the details, but he wishes he could disable it or take it off the vehicle.
 
I agree with you about the TPS on cars. On my Honda Fit it only warns you when the pressure in one of the tires is below a preset level. It does not tell you which tire or what the pressure is. It's basically worthless. I still check them with a gauge every couple off weeks. Perhaps other cars have more sophisticated systems but the one on my Fit is pretty basic.
 
I had a good laugh thanks to Chevy's TPMS on my 2003 Corvette. My wife had driven it to her high school and had to stay late for a parent night. When she got in the car to come home at about 10PM it was fairly cold, around 30˚F, and the car had been sitting for around 12 hours. When she started the Vette up the Drivers Information System (DIC) started displaying low tire pressure warnings for all the tires...flashing lights and alert chimes for days according to her... She called me and my first thought is some PITA had let the air out of the tires since it was all four. After talking a couple minutes I told her to just drive it home slowly and carefully as the Vette comes standard with run flat tires. By the time she had driven about five miles the tires had warmed up and all the alarms cleared. A quick boost of the suggested tire pressure by 4 PSI every fall kept that semi-false warning from happening again...
 
But, it really is not a false warning. When the weather turns cold your tires will be at a lower pressure and you should add air to keep them at the proper pressure. Before you say they will warm up to the proper pressure, that is not a good thing. They warm up because they start out under inflated which causes friction in the tire. Too much of that is damaging.

I like the TPMS on all my cars and would have one on the bike if I cared to spend the money for it. I would also like to have it for my trailer as well.

The TPMS is there to tell you there is a low tire. No, not which one, but, it makes you get out and check. Better than having a blowout or ruining a tire cause you didn't know a tire was getting low. They work and work well, according to the "complaints" here.

And before you chime in and say how you check your tire pressure every day, what happens when you get a leak in the middle of a ride? Is it OK cause you checked in the morning? Even if you get a nail in the middle of the day that leaks slowly?

TPMS is a good thing. No, don't rely on it to keep tires within a specific pressure range, but one day it might save your a--.
 
The TPMS in my Acura shows the current inflation for all four tires, and will alert on startup and during the drive if any get low. I know I pay. Lot more attention to tire pressure now than I did before I had that.

I liked the one I saw pictures of on here, but I wasn't sure about the cost or the installation. Now it's a no brainer when it comes time to upgrade my GPS.

b.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom