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Nightmare that is checking Air Pressures

11K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  TLe504 
#1 ·
Many years ago, when I was young, all wheels (road and dirt) were spoked, discs were smaller and life was simple. Enter 2016! I bought a brand spanking new R1200 GS LC. It's gleaming red and silver shines brightly, it's spoked wheels sparkle in the sun. It is the culmination of years of slowly improving what I ride. It looks great, rides wonderfully and is possibly THE best bike I have ever owned. Ok so, for me, its a little retro in going back to spoked wheels but so what. Well, I now have a 'so what'!! I'm in the habit of checking my tyres at least once a fortnight depending of where I've been riding (Australian roads are terrible both inside the cities and outside!!). I'm finding checking the pressure on either wheel with my trusty tyre gauge is a nightmare and that's before I need to put air into the tyre!!! What was I thinking?? Did nostalgia take over from he practicality of years of maintenance experience?

So, after setting the scene for my question, here it is. How on this earth do you other owners of this otherwise wonderful bike manage to maintain the air pressure in your tyres on spoked wheels or do you do what I'm thinking of doing and just run with them flat??

Please help a poor old rider whose patience is rapidly disappearing with the air in my tyres :(
 
#2 ·
I feel your pain. My hands are big, usually have to special order gloves because XL aren't big enough. Makes measuring air pressure and filling air pressure kind of a pain, right? First, did you notice it is easier from one side of the bike than the other. On one side a spoke is directly opposite the valve. On the other, no spoke and easier to get at the valve. I use a gauge with a hose and short couple. Also, when I had a 2011GS with the TPS the Teutonic engineers did some kind of compensation for the sunrise in Berlin kind of thing. My gauge pressure did not match the computer. On the 2016 the gauge and computer are spot on. The computer even reads to the tenths. WOW, that's great.
 
#4 ·
Check from the proper side. It's easier checking from one side than it is from the other.

Get a pressure gauge that fits your bike. Some are better than others.

Replace your valve stem. Angled valve stems available. Get the right size. I *think* you need the 11.3 mm version for the GS (hole size in rim) which BMW calls 15 mm (the width of the BMW valve that fits in the 11.3mm hole).

If you get the stem extensions I'd recommend NOT keeping them on the bike full time. Some have reported problems doing that.
 
#5 ·
I have many different tire pressure gauges including a couple of little ones that I purchased specifically to use on my 2013 GSW spoke wheels, neither of which worked very well.
After going through my collection of handheld gauges I found that one of the larger ones I had actually worked the best with just a little maneuvering and a good solid press.
This is the gauge that I use to check the tire pressures:

 
#8 ·
Strongly suggest

I'm in the habit of checking my tyres at least once a fortnight depending of where I've been riding:(
1.That you check the pressures every time before you go for a ride.
2. Don't implicitly trust the tyre sensors. If their batteries are on the way out they can give all sorts of readings.
3. Grab yourself a couple of 90deg extensions as suggested, and also a decent gauge (not a cheapo).
4. While you're at it, grab a portable compressor like a Tomcat that will fit in with your gear and clip onto your battery terminals.

Trust your gauge over the bike's. If your gauge is in sync with another, and the bikes is different, go with the independent gauges. Kept belting pressure into mine chasing 42psi when I was actually over 55.
Cheers
Greg
 
#9 ·
Best Rest products have a great pressure gauge with an angled stem that locks onto the valve....they also have one of the smallest and best compressors....I carry both in my tool kit and their tire repair kit....www.bestrestproducts.com....whether travelling on bike or in a car I take this kit with me.....have used this kit to plug car tires and bike tires on the road.....have 1700 miles on a plugged bike tire(37 miles on tire when plugged) and about 10K miles on a plugged car tire....I know ..I know..never run a plugged tire on a motorcycle other than in an emergency...first time I have ever done this and I check it on every ride.
 
#10 ·
Thanks everyone for you suggestions. I had borrowed a right angle attachment and found that, while there was a knack to using it, it was better than nothing. So it will be off to the local accessories store tomorrow to buy one. I had been warned against leaving them permanently attached so your comments about that have confirmed that for me. Like some of you I have had my own home workshop compressor for a few years now as I got sick of the gas station ones not working. Just a note here for our US friends - gas stations in Australia don't charge for air even if you are not buying fuel.

Thanks again to everyone. My sanity will be preserved for a while longer yet :)
 
#11 ·
Someone mentioned this before, but on my BMW bikes with TPS, they are not accurate. I do not use them to check the pressures. I use a gauge. I do look at them as an indicator. I may have 42 lbs and TPS shows 40, on the road I check the TPS to see that 40 is maintained. Since they are not subject to a calibration, they are useful to note changes.
 
#12 ·
I was the one that made the comment; however, once the TPS gets moving and settles down, it is dead on what I put in using a gauge. That's the 2016 GS. Was not the case on my 2011 GS. I do agree with the way you use the readings on the road. That's the way I used it on the 2011. Considering ambient air and road temps plus how you ride, the pressure will vary.
 
#16 ·
Try moving to Sydney

(Australian roads are terrible both inside the cities and outside!!).

What a load of bollocks.
Try moving to Gods country where the road are excellent :smile2:
 
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#20 ·
You're a hard man to please Fred

Considering the number of roads we have, and our small population, we actually have quite good roads. Many of our roads in NSW are over 100 years old or more, and because most were built very well they've stood the test of time, and made for many a motorcyclists orgasm, eg old Pacific Hwy northbound from Berowra to Somersby.
The biggest thread to our road quality are our pathetic excuses for governments who are obsessed with privatising and tendering maintenance and construction of roads (and other public services).
Generally road construction standards are quite good. Their maintenance is abysmal.
Regards
Greg.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Considering the number of roads we have, and our small population, we actually have quite good roads. Many of our roads in NSW are over 100 years old or more, and because most were built very well they've stood the test of time, and made for many a motorcyclists orgasm, eg old Pacific Hwy northbound from Berowra to Somersby.
The biggest thread to our road quality are our pathetic excuses for governments who are obsessed with privatising and tendering maintenance and construction of roads (and other public services).
Generally road construction standards are quite good. Their maintenance is abysmal.
Regards
Greg.
Hard man to please? I hardly think so but when I see a comment saying the roads are excellent when they clearly aren't it's worth saying something.

It's not like I said they were the worst roads in the world, I disagree they are "excellent".

The Old Road from Berowra to Brooklyn is good but the rest is pretty poor road surface. Now the first section of the Oxley mountain pass is amazing but the rest is bumpy.

The worst is when they dump all the loose stones on top of the tar. That stuff is very dangerous and simply unforgivable.

I find that the roads here will have a couple nice parts but then surrounded by pretty average bumpy sections. On the GS it doesnt really matter so much but I've always had sportbikes. Wisemans for example on the sportbike is like riding on a goat track
 
#22 ·
Can't disagree with you there

Re wisemans, it's been ordinary for too long.
However I reiterate my point that since the govt privatised all or parts of the dmr/rta/rms or whatever they call it this week, maintenance standards have fallen exponentially, as contractors opt to make the minimum repairs necessary in the shortst time to maximise their profit. The classic example of that is your example of the single coat seal (gravel on top). This is remarkably done for 'skid resistance' as well as sealing the wearing surface. It's appropriate for many situations but what we need for many places is heavy patching or rejuvenation of the road base, which addresses the bumps. Another Aussie habit of councils and utilities is the obsession with waiting until a new surface is paved, and then some utility will dig a friggin great trench across it. That infuriates me...
Ride safe mate
Greg
 
#23 ·
Re wisemans, it's been ordinary for too long.
However I reiterate my point that since the govt privatised all or parts of the dmr/rta/rms or whatever they call it this week, maintenance standards have fallen exponentially, as contractors opt to make the minimum repairs necessary in the shortst time to maximise their profit. The classic example of that is your example of the single coat seal (gravel on top). This is remarkably done for 'skid resistance' as well as sealing the wearing surface. It's appropriate for many situations but what we need for many places is heavy patching or rejuvenation of the road base, which addresses the bumps. Another Aussie habit of councils and utilities is the obsession with waiting until a new surface is paved, and then some utility will dig a friggin great trench across it. That infuriates me...
Ride safe mate
Greg
Yes and I agree with you 100%. I just don't think the roads are "excellent" and that was my original point. Like I said before, I find most of the roads pretty ordinary except for a small few sections.

Putty is a another good example where you get a good decent section of road but the sections getting to and from the Putty are poor. Although since the police have launched yet another unjustified "operation" targeting riders at the Hunter until March 1st I doubt I will be going to the Putty for a while.
 
#25 ·
My 2012 K16 TPS system was good enough to let me know I had a flat. The '16 GSA seems spot on.

I assume if you balanced your tires with the extensions on you'd be fine.

I'm interested in how much air you loose when taking these off as there's not a big difference between 40 and 38.
 
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