TPMS Systems

[dazzler24]

8 minutes ago, piotrek said:

Fitted the sensors on the wheels today. I can see myself getting frustrated having to loosen/tighten the jam nuts to be able to top-up. Have to wear the tires some more to get my T-valves installed. Positive news though... the reading on the gadget agrees dead-on with my Joe Racing gauge.

Yes, I decided to not use the lock nuts for that reason.  I check after every ride and they seem securely attached so will go with this going forward.

[Wintersdark]

11 minutes ago, piotrek said:

Fitted the sensors on the wheels today. I can see myself getting frustrated having to loosen/tighten the jam nuts to be able to top-up. Have to wear the tires some more to get my T-valves installed. Positive news though... the reading on the gadget agrees dead-on with my Joe Racing gauge.

Loosen/tighten the jam nuts?  I just screwed mine onto the valves and left them, exactly as I'd screw a valve cap on and leave it.  Works fine.  

[piotrek]

14 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Loosen/tighten the jam nuts?  I just screwed mine onto the valves and left them, exactly as I'd screw a valve cap on and leave it.  Works fine.  

LOL... makes sense I suppose. Not sure what to expect from these things. Unlike a valve cap, they are supposed to seal.

[betoney]

21 minutes ago, dazzler24 said:

Yes, I decided to not use the lock nuts for that reason.  I check after every ride and they seem securely attached so will go with this going forward.

 

19 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Loosen/tighten the jam nuts?  I just screwed mine onto the valves and left them, exactly as I'd screw a valve cap on and leave it.  Works fine.  

I agree that removing and replacing the jam nut each time is inconvenient, good to know that they can be used w/o the nut without any issues. 

[dazzler24]

1 minute ago, betoney said:

I agree that removing and replacing the jam nut each time is inconvenient, good to know that they can be used w/o the nut without any issues. 

So far so good at least.  What would be way more inconvenient is to lose one of the sensors completely!!

I'll take the punt however. 🙂

[dazzler24]

11 minutes ago, piotrek said:

LOL... makes sense I suppose. Not sure what to expect from these things. Unlike a valve cap, they are supposed to seal.

Mind you, many (decent) valve caps have a rubber gasket in them which provides a last line of seal should the schrader valve leak.

[sirepair]

For those wondering, the T-valves work great!  I've used them for several years on my ST1100, and put them on the FJ as soon as tires were needed.  I just bought 8 more to put on my trailer tires (1 tandem axle enclosed and 1 tandem axle utility) to work with a TPMS system I got just for that.

On the bikes, I opted for a TPMS with a watch-sized display that gets power from the bike.  These sensors are not "always on", but I try to take time to check my tires before a ride anyway.  And since the power comes from the bike, I don't have to remember to charge a device, or have my phone in a visible location to keep track of tires.

Here is the TPMS system I'm using: 

Motorcycle Tire Pressure Monitoring System

 

[Wintersdark]

4 hours ago, sirepair said:

For those wondering, the T-valves work great!  I've used them for several years on my ST1100, and put them on the FJ as soon as tires were needed.  I just bought 8 more to put on my trailer tires (1 tandem axle enclosed and 1 tandem axle utility) to work with a TPMS system I got just for that.

On the bikes, I opted for a TPMS with a watch-sized display that gets power from the bike.  These sensors are not "always on", but I try to take time to check my tires before a ride anyway.  And since the power comes from the bike, I don't have to remember to charge a device, or have my phone in a visible location to keep track of tires.

Here is the TPMS system I'm using: 

Motorcycle Tire Pressure Monitoring System

 

There's a couple different looks, but they all come in the same box and use the same sensors and mounting hardware etc.  I posted earlier about the first one I go (had a non-functional second button so while I could turn it on and off, I couldn't change settings).  The new one I got looks a bit different, has a sunshade and solar panel.  But it too came in the same box.  So the upside is now I have two sets of sensors!  If I do ever lose one, I can just pop another on. 

They're sold under a huge number of different "brands" but it's all the same internals. 

An aside here: It turns out the handlebar clamp these come with attach via a 1/4-20 screw.  The is exactly the same sort of screw used by GoPro's and other action cameras, so having two of these handlebar clamps turned into a big blessing as my Akaso camera came with a whole pile of mounting hardware, but not a really good handlebar clamp. 

[sirepair]

I opted to use a wiring clamp to install on my handlebars. Not as clunky as the plastic clamp, and like you said, 1/4-20 fastener took care of  it.

 

[piotrek]

Installed my T-valves. They sit against the rim a bit different from the 90 degree metal stem I had on there before. The old stem was tightened metal-to-metal, sandwiching a rubber seal sitting in a groove of the stem base. This thing here is tightened to just slightly deform the thick rubber gasket. Been on there for a couple of weeks of riding, and all is holding well. Had to get some guidance on installation. It took some weight to balance the wheels... more so in the front than the rear.

[Clegg78]

I use the same T-valves, and roughly the same TPMS.  I love it.   Actually one of the features of a number of the small TPMS readouts is it shows temperature.   Its been interesting seeing the difference front/rear on hot days.  Rear TPMS has read 140F before on hot asphalt riding (in 112F weather that is). 

[piotrek]

6 hours ago, Clegg78 said:

I use the same T-valves, and roughly the same TPMS.  I love it.

Useful gadget the TPMS. Fobo is another option for the T-valve apparently. Design is a bit different, but the reviews are favourable.

[Grumpy Goat]

On 9/4/2021 at 9:03 PM, piotrek said:

Installed my T-valves. They sit against the rim a bit different from the 90 degree metal stem I had on there before. The old stem was tightened metal-to-metal, sandwiching a rubber seal sitting in a groove of the stem base. This thing here is tightened to just slightly deform the thick rubber gasket. Been on there for a couple of weeks of riding, and all is holding well. Had to get some guidance on installation. It took some weight to balance the wheels... more so in the front than the rear.

Thanks for reporting on the balancing of this significant added mass eccentrically on the wheel. I am not surprised that the front would take more weights than the read as its effect would be greater.

My bike only has 3000 miles on it (bought at 2600 miles) and the tires (especially the front) look pretty new so I may have a while to wait before installing the T-valves, but I will go ahead and order them so that I have them in case of a sudden need to install new tires. I installed the FOBO Bike 2 kit yesterday and am very pleased so far.

[piotrek]

19 hours ago, Grumpy Goat said:

Thanks for reporting on the balancing of this significant added mass eccentrically on the wheel. I am not surprised that the front would take more weights than the read as its effect would be greater.

My bike only has 3000 miles on it (bought at 2600 miles) and the tires (especially the front) look pretty new so I may have a while to wait before installing the T-valves, but I will go ahead and order them so that I have them in case of a sudden need to install new tires. I installed the FOBO Bike 2 kit yesterday and am very pleased so far.

For reference, the rear balanced at 35g and the front at a whopping 62g. I setup the balancing rig twice just to make sure. It all checked out good and smooth when road tested.

I have to give the tires a spin to get a reading before a ride. The TPMS wakes when I nudge the bike, but the unit holds/displays last values reported while in motion. Kinda wish I didn't have to do that, but not that big a deal really. How does the FOBO report?

[Grumpy Goat]

17 hours ago, piotrek said:

For reference, the rear balanced at 35g and the front at a whopping 62g. I setup the balancing rig twice just to make sure. It all checked out good and smooth when road tested.

I have to give the tires a spin to get a reading before a ride. The TPMS wakes when I nudge the bike, but the unit holds/displays last values reported while in motion. Kinda wish I didn't have to do that, but not that big a deal really. How does the FOBO report?

Thanks for the feedback on the balancing. With the FOBO all you have to do is fire up the app and if in range it takes a few seconds then updates the pressures. I would think that you have to have it running in the background to be able to get real-time monitoring and warnings for loss of pressure etc ... I doubt that with the app not running in the background, it would push a notification for a loss of pressure. That means that you have to remember to turn it on when heading out.