Tire Pressure Monitoring system?

[joel]

Looking for a way to monitor tire pressure? It may be here soon. I have been in contact with a supplier we use for pressure sensors in the automotive field and want your opinion on this. A system is in development for the Japanise bikes and with feed back from us here at HD Talking would give them an idea of how marketable the kit would be. So please let me know what you think.

 

[dangerdan]

Interesting concept.

Mount or screw a pressure sensor with a small transmitter on each valve stem or tire and monitor the pressure through a wireless connection.

At first I though EH !! , but on second thought , what if I puntured that tire with a nail. This might come in handy to detect slow air leaks while cruisine down the highway.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Honestly, I like technology but tire pressure monitoring while important is not a priority to me, though I would welcome it if they did. Kind of like having wipers on the headlamps or high braking light nice, but not necessarily "better"...JMHO

Personally, I wish MOCO would offer an affordable retrofit ABS kit and an EFI system upgrade for my 04 Sporty, that would be on my wish list. No it does not have to be the extensive mods to hide them or overly complex (read expensive) systems that are now in place, just something realistic. Remember they installed Brembo brakes first, then added ABS, and they added EFI early on their baggers, why not something useable for the sporting crowd or everyday riders of old iron? That is one of many untapped vertical markets with lots of possibilities.

 

[gs34]

There are presently several types of these systems available for vehicles....although, fewer available for motorcycles.
There are also 2 types of systems: DIRECT & INDIRECT

Direct Systems
attach a pressure sensor/transmitter to the vehicle's wheel inside the tire's air chamber. An in-car receiver warns the driver instantly if the pressure in any one tire falls below a pre-determined level.

Indirect Systems
use the vehicle's antilock braking system's wheel speed sensors to compare the rotational speed of one tire vs. the others. If one tire is low on pressure, it will roll at a different number of revolutions per mile than the other three tires, and alert the vehicle's onboard computer.

I would think that the direct system would be something that would be to our benefit.
A system which incorporated the sensing system within the air chamber, rather than as an external add on sensor attached to the valve stem, would be of intrest.

 

[glider]

What I have found in my cars is that the system isn't sensitive enough to monitor the pressures in the tires when a small change takes place. They seem to kick in somewhere around 5+ lbs low and that's a lot to run a tire low on air before airing it up again from the wear and handling aspect.

I never trusted it and checked the tires frequently because the cost of the tires on my Corvette were pretty high compared to some others.

 

[mnultra]

I like the idea of it. Like gs34 said, the direct system is what would grab my attention. I know in cages, I don't care for the type that all of a sudden tell you that a tire is low on pressure, but rather the sensor that monitors the psi in each tire constantly. The sensors on my GMC and Buick seem to be fairly accurate and it is interesting to see how the inflation pressures change from leaving the house until reaching the destination. JMHO

 

[09UltraSteve]

Very interesting. Are they developing a system to go into new bikes or something that we could add ourselves?

 

[UglyJohn]

I didn't get the name of the unit, but we had a presentation at the local HOG meeting. Sounded interesting for sure. This unit had a sensor screwed onto the valve stem and then a wireless monitor on the bike that looked like a XM radio or something.

When the price of over $300 bucks for this unit was mentioned, I just thought that I'd just do what I always done before a ride, check tire pressure manually. I do this each day I'm out on the road and every few days when I'm riding around the home 20.

To me it just seems a bit out there and for $300 bucks, I'd rather spend my monies on fuel and ride the approx. 5,000 miles that $300 of gas would buy. Just my opinion.
Ugly John

 

[scrinch]

I have a tire monitoring system...it is a pressure guage. Personally I like being involved with my bike, like simplicity and wouldn't want a system like that. I have one on my car, changed rims for snow tires and the thing blinks all the time. :newsmile107:

 

[SledDog]

I have the little caps with the green/red indicator on them. If the pressure is low, it's red.

I also double check my tires with a gauge before each ride. It's easy to do on all my bikes..

Checking the tires on the Road King gives me a chance to take a short nap on the ground when checking the rear.:18:

This what my car's owners manual says about the tire pressure monitoring system..

Please note that the TPMS is not a substitute for proper tire maintenance, and it is the driver’s responsibility to maintain correct tire pressure, even if under-inflation has not reached the level to trigger illumination of the TPMS low tire pressure telltale.​

For me, until there is a system that remotely reads the actual pressure (meaning I can read the psi numbers on the dash or whatever), I'll keep using the ol' Mark 1 eyeballs and a reliable pressure gauge.​