Hello All,I've had this Motorcycle Tire Pressure Monitoring System for about 6 months now... So I feel I can now review them.
Fitment:
Well, it couldn't be easier to fit these. You simply remove your valve stem caps, and substitute these. They take little "pill" or "button" batteries that slip easily into place. Then you simply install the AAA battery in the receiver unit, turn it on, and follow the easy instructions to program your high and low pressure warnings and temperatures.
Functionality:
The units react very quickly, and you can test this by just twisting the caps open a little to let the pressure between the cap and the valve get out... The cap will immediately send the low pressure signal to the "key fob" display, which will beep its alert and vibrate. Provided that the batteries in all the units are good.
Pros:
Easy to fit, pretty easy to program, external to tire (so no need to dismount you wheel, then the tire, then fit those internal units, then mount it all back up again; knowing that you will have to do it all over again when the sending unit batteries go flat!). The units are pretty accurate. In my experience within 0.5-1.0 psi of the actual pressure (checked against several very accurate gauges). This system is quite a bit less expensive than the other "internal" units, especially when you consider the labor to fit them if you are not doing the install yourself. And it is way cool to be able to check your pressures at the touch of a button. Also, if you attach the unit to the bars or dash (or close to body so you can feel the vibration while you are riding), it could save you some real problems by alerting you to a low pressure situation BEFORE you actually have a totally flat tire. Which could mean that you pull off the freeway earlier, into a Truck Stop, where there are facilities to repair your tire. Which is way better than sitting at the side of the highway, trucks and cars whizzing by, trying to lift the front end of you bike in the air to change the front tire!!!
Cons:
AND PAY ATTENTION HERE!!! These units are no substitute for checking your tire pressures with an accurate gauge!!! They can sometimes show the last pressure registered, and if you don't pay attention to the TINY "link" icon, you might think all is OK, when it isn't!!! Also, you need to pay VERY close attention to the "power" icon. As if you get low power in the monitor, or the sending units, the icon will illuminate, BUT again, it still showed the previous reading. The monitor is a "Key Fob" style, with no facility to mount it on the dash or bars. This means that in all likelyhood, the unit will sit in a jacket pocket (like mine did), where you can't effectively feel the vibration (or mistake it for your phone) while riding with all the wind buffeting and noise. A big imporvement to the unit would be to supply it with some form of mount... Or even Velcro... And a way to easily remove the chain that attaches to your keys...
BUT BIGGEST ISSUE HERE IS NOT ERRANT READINGS... IT IS SAFETY!!!
It is my opinion (after actually experiencing this first hand), that these units should NEVER be installed on bikes which have rubber valve stems! They should ONLY BE INSTALLED ON MOTORCYCLES THAT HAVE METAL VALVE STEMS, PERIOD! Over time, cruising on the freeway at higher speeds, cross country where one might run higher than the posted limit, the constant pressure of the weight of the valve caps under centrifugal force of the wheel rotating at high speed, WILL BEND THE RUBBER VALVE STEM OVER TO THE RIM!!! Do this time after time (speeding up and slowing down again as you do on the freeway) and eventually it CAUSES THE VALVE STEM TO TEAR, causing it to lose air. If you are lucky like I was, you are ONLY left at the side of the road with a flat FRONT tire, a broken valve stem, in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday!!!!!!!! That's if you are LUCKY! If you are not... The consequences of a high speed rapid deflation of the front tire (as mine was) could be catastrophic!!!
Conclusion:
A great little system IF...
1. You make sure your batteries are always in a good condition, and you program it correctly.
2. You really PAY ATTENTION to the TINY icons in the corners of the screen of the TPMS monitor.
3. YOU NEVER FIT THESE TO RUBBER VALVE STEMS (I'm pretty sure they are fine on metal ones, especially the steel kind with "O-Rings").
4. You keep the monitor where it can be seen, or felt easily while riding the bike... Otherwise you lose the warning aspect of the unit.
Things to think about...
It's a pretty expensive way to check your tire pressures... Especially when an inexpensive (less than $5) gauge will do the same thing... And that when you check you tire pressures manually, you are also way closer to your tires, which allows you to assess their condition, and maybe note uneven wear, or a cut, or a nail... Whatever. Bottom line is you may see something you would have otherwise seen by checking manually (just as you do when cleaning you bike frequently).
I hope this review helps you to make a good buying decision... Until next time... "Keep the rubber side down!"
Please also report any failures or deformity of rubber valve stems while using TireGard external monitors to info@BigBikeParts.com
I sincerely hope this info prevents someone from losing their life due to the potentially dangerous consequences when used on rubber valve stems.
Buy WIRELESS TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR Now
Having found a couple of nails in the rear motorcycle tire I was concerned about not knowing what was happening when riding. Getting a flat on two wheels is a lot different than on 4 wheels. My ride a BMW F800 ST could not be fitted with the factory tire pressure monitoring system. It either came with the bike from the factory or you had to find a non OEM system. I looked at several options, non of them were very promising (either way too much work to install, or the wireless valve stem caps would not clear the front calipers. Then I saw the TireGard mentioned on a BMW discussion board and decided to try it. Very eeasy to install and the TPM valve stem caps clear the front caliper (not by much) but there is enough room. The readings are fairly accurate, but I wish the monitor could be fixed mounted on the bike. The important aspect is if the tire pressure is going down while riding I will be able to see the pressure being lost in real time. It is a pricey system but it works for me.Read Best Reviews of WIRELESS TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR Here
Overall this little device is a pretty cool way to monitor tire pressure. For that it seems to be accurate with no air loss (in 2 months) through the valve stem sensors. I took off the key chain and with Velcro, stuck it to the back of the fairing for easy viewing/removing (in case of rain). Unfortunately the front tire temperature sensor is defective. It rises only to the low 80's on hot Hawaiian highways. This temp is frequently below ambient and it always about 20 lower than the rear sensor. I tried the resets per over the phone help but it made no difference. I returned the TPMS to the distributor and the replacement does the exact same thing.So don't be surprised if the front tire sensor is wrong, for me to get 2 that malfunctioned means that defective units may be the rule rather than the exception.. however, just add 20 degrees and your are probably going to have the correct front temp.
The unit is probably useless as an unseen pocket sensor. The buttons could be constantly pushed, reset, light on etc.... it doesn't have a lockout button. It needs to be seen like a speedo/tach. This would have been a much better unit it were designed for fairing or handlebar mounting in a weather proof case. Maybe the next version will address these shortcomings.
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i HAVE BEEN USING THIS REMOTE PRESSURE measuring device for 7-8 months on my Honda GoldWing GL1200 cruiser. Aside from the WIRELESS TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR being a reliable electronic instrument, there are two good reasons for why it serves my purposes.First of all, my GoldWing bike weights upwards of 900 lbs without me on it. With me, it is goes up to 1200 lbs. With that much weight on two tires, you really don't want to see a tire blow moving at 70 miles per hour.
Before installing this wireless tire monitor, I was unaware that my front tire had a VERY slow leak in it ... at a rate of maybe 5lbs every 2-3 days. My ride was getting a little spongy, and steering was starting to be a little off. Measuring tire pressure on a GoldWing is a huge pain-in-the-butt! The dual front brake disks make getting a tire gauge into the air valve very awkward. The back tire is no easier because the hard side saddle bags and drive shaft (and also rear brake disk) get in the way. Human nature being what it is, I tended NOT to measure tire pressure as often as I should have. Still, with the spongy feeling, I forced myself to measure the pressure ... which was 20lbs below what it should have been. Yikes! Although I promptly fixed THAT problem, that's when I realized I need a better way to keeps tabs on my tire pressures.
Once installed ... which takes all of 2-3 minutes ... the system works GREAT! Now, every time just before going on a ride, I can read the tire pressure front and back within +/0.1 lbs. If the tires feel funny during the ride, I can at least know what the pressures are with the push of a button. Being able to do that is worth every penny of this wireless system.
In my experience, there are no down sides to using the wireless pressure measuring system.
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