First time I am saying " this is a must have" for your bike or your whole stable.

[MonsterBiker]

Every time this thread popped up I would think "I should order that".... Ok, I surrender, just ordered from Amazon. I decided that it is too big a safety issue to ignore any longer.

[Marcarl]

As an added note: Years ago I was informed that 75% of the tire wear was in the first 25% of tread depth. Now this was for car tires, but going on Puc's post, it might seem to be true for MC tires as well. Just something to keep in mind.

Makes sense really. When the tire is new, there is lots of flex in the tread available to deal with the road surface, but as the tread wears the flex diminishes and so the rubber will start to scrape the road surface causing heightened wear.

[pope3567]

Every time this thread popped up I would think "I should order that".... Ok, I surrender, just ordered from Amazon. I decided that it is too big a safety issue to ignore any longer.

 

Good move, you won't regret it. A word of advice...follow the installation instructions exactly. They can be a little touchy to install and connect the first time. But work well..

[Guest divey]

Ron. No.

 

The tire manufacture takes heat into account. If you set your cold tire pressure to the max on the sidewall or less...

Ok, I’m a bit confused here. It’s been my understanding from the “experts” that air pressure should be set at the recommended setting of the vehicle manufacturer (usually the sticker on the door of the vehicle or the sticker under the lid of the RSV trunk in our case), not the tire manufacturer. In fact I believe that has even been recommended on this forum some time ago. Is it relative to what type of riding you do, ie @cowpuc riding across the heat of the desert at 100 mph two-up loaded to the gills vs touring the backroads on a Sunday afternoon at 60 mph? Not trying to hijack the thread but some thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[luvmy40]

Ok, I’m a bit confused here. It’s been my understanding from the “experts” that air pressure should be set at the recommended setting of the vehicle manufacturer (usually the sticker on the door of the vehicle or the sticker under the lid of the RSV trunk in our case), not the tire manufacturer. In fact I believe that has even been recommended on this forum some time ago. Is it relative to what type of riding you do, ie cowpuc riding across the heat of the desert at 100 mph two-up loaded to the gills vs touring the backroads on a Sunday afternoon at 60 mph? Not trying to hijack the thread but some thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

 

I think this in response to one poster commenting that he was surprised at the pressure increase in the rear tire after riding. This is just an assurance that as long as you set the pressure cold at OR BELOW the tire Mfg. Max Pressure spec. you are safe as they account for heat expasnion when designing the tire.

[cowpuc]

Ok, I’m a bit confused here. It’s been my understanding from the “experts” that air pressure should be set at the recommended setting of the vehicle manufacturer (usually the sticker on the door of the vehicle or the sticker under the lid of the RSV trunk in our case), not the tire manufacturer. In fact I believe that has even been recommended on this forum some time ago. Is it relative to what type of riding you do, ie cowpuc riding across the heat of the desert at 100 mph two-up loaded to the gills vs touring the backroads on a Sunday afternoon at 60 mph? Not trying to hijack the thread but some thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

A good father will never abandoned one of his kids when summons and I am not about to do that now Son-shine :grandpa:even though I know I am going to step in it ...

You know your old Dad,,, you want the long version or the short version??? I know you would pick the long version ..

Many years ago I was sitting in a 4th year Business Law lecture in College.. The Prof began his lecture by reading a real life story about a man and his neighbor who had received extreme hand injuries from a lawn mower they were using to trim the hedges between properties.. Apparently this intelligent men did not know of the dangers associated with holding a lawn mower above the hedges in their hands and what would happen if their fingers got inside of the blade housing/deck.. The courts decided in their favor because no warning stickers were found on the deck stating DO NOT USE FOR HEDGE TRIMMING..

Many people will say,,, well Puc,, what has that got to do with tire air pressures,,, but I am sure you already know where this is going cause your smart like your old man ..

IMHO,, those factory numbers found on all street legal vehicles are put there to protect the manufactures and their dealerships as well as service centers from lawsuits that would result if a mechanic tried to determine the best PSI for any given vehicle.. I worked in a couple of auto service centers thru the years and was ALWAYS under the corporate rule to follow factory data to the tee,, under NO circumstances, as a Licensed Mechanic working for a company was I allowed to fudge the numbers,, whether it be in a tune up, front end alignment and yes,, even tire pressures and that was ALL,, 100% insurance based to protect the company. Outside of that,, with my own stuff and IMHO - any and all of those numbers are a guide at best for the savvy owner who wants to readjust his tire pressures to any given situation he/she may find himself in.. Personally,, I am not totally convinced that those numbers are not also fudged a little to increase tire wear to sell tires while at the same time still remain safe in the process too BUT,, you know me,, I am Mr. Conspiracy Man so there is that:witch_brew:..

 

Concerning the motorcycle tire psi concerns you bring up.. This is a can of worms that hours and hours of writing has been done about... One thing I would like to toss into your thinking Son cause I love you.. Your old Dad has seen many many issues come up concerning accidents caused by and people hurt by improperly inflated tires.. Guess what one thing that 99.9999% of the time pops up when ever I have seen this happen on street bikes??? If you guessed UNDER INFLATED TIRES you would have guessed right.. Over inflation,, on car/truck/bike/trailer and any other street application normally results in premature wear on the tire but seldom results in an accident.. Matter of fact,,, and speaking strickly of NON RACE/TRACK vehicles,, I have never heard of over inflation causing an accident except for the lame brain who cant see the cords sticking out of the tire and it blows.. That said,, I prefer to run at top recommended by the tire manufactures PSI or close to it at all times.. Yes,,, the tire may seem hard if riding one up with nothing in the bags BUT,, you know your Mom,, at any given moment we could be headed out cross country and end up filling the bags with all kinds of heavy stuff!! I like being always ready for adventure..

I will also add this though,, you are 100% on the "is it relavent to" question.. ABSOLUTELY! Dropping the PSI down to 25 pounds when off roading Tweaks is a MAJOR advantage!! Especially in loose stuff..

So,, all that said,, what do I suggest for finding your best PSI,, all around number... Because bike tires are made to run on a radius and not on a flat tread contact with the road I suggest that the next time you swap on some new tires,, inflate them to factory spec,,, now load up your bike and take a ride on it with it fully loaded like you were heading to Michigan to buy me an ice cream cone.. Go a couple miles,, get off and check the ride pattern on the new tires.. Is the contact area in the center more than a couple inches?? It shouldnt be... Your best handling is when you are able to ride the radius in the corners,, this increases the flickability and handling of your bike majorly.. Adjust air pressure allllll the way to top spec on sidewall if you need to to obtain proper contact patch.. Does that make sense?? Once you find the air pressure that accomplishes this task,, LIVE BY IT!! And live by it unless you switch brands of tires... Do this with both front and rear tires... Try it and see what ya think and then come back and let me know if you think I am nuts

There,, now I will let one of these other lop eared varmints :Im not listening toyour ear off!!

Dad

[luvmy40]

...This is a can of worms that hours and hours of writing has been done about... One thing I would like to toss into your thinking Son cause I love you.. Your old Dad has seen many many issues come up concerning accidents caused by and people hurt by improperly inflated tires.. Guess what one thing that 99.9999% of the time pops up when ever I have seen this happen on street bikes??? If you guessed UNDER INFLATED TIRES you would have guessed right.. Over inflation,, on car/truck/bike/trailer and any other street application normally results in premature wear on the tire but seldom results in an accident...

 

Does anybody remember the Ford SUV that was rolling over all the time? IIRC, that was found to be due the reccommended tire pressure from Ford being way too low. Any kind of sudden latteral control change at medium+ velocity resulted in the tires peeling off the rims and the truck rolling. Huge lawsuit over that one!

[MonsterBiker]

Ok, I’m a bit confused here. It’s been my understanding from the “experts” that air pressure should be set at the recommended setting of the vehicle manufacturer (usually the sticker on the door of the vehicle or the sticker under the lid of the RSV trunk in our case), not the tire manufacturer. In fact I believe that has even been recommended on this forum some time ago. Is it relative to what type of riding you do, ie cowpuc riding across the heat of the desert at 100 mph two-up loaded to the gills vs touring the backroads on a Sunday afternoon at 60 mph? Not trying to hijack the thread but some thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

Ok, let's look at it from this perspective: I work for a manufacturer, although in an unrelated industry. Nobody knows a product and it's limitations better than the company who designed and manufactured it. The vehicle manufacturers do not design or manufacture tires. Tire manufacturers design and manufacture tires. Vehicle manufacturers buy tires from tire manufacturers just like we do. The recommended air pressure as per the vehicle manufacturer should match that of the tire manufacturer of the tire selected by the vehicle manufacturer to be the OEM tire on that vehicle. When the tire installed is not the OEM tire there may be a difference between the vehicle and tire manufacturer recommendations. I will go with the tire manufacturer recommendations every time.

[MonsterBiker]

Good move, you won't regret it. A word of advice...follow the installation instructions exactly. They can be a little touchy to install and connect the first time. But work well..

 

Came in this morning and I have them installed. Only issue I had was one battery was dead and the other nearly so. But, they packaged 2 spare batteries in the box so it was just a minor annoyance.

[VentureFar]

Came in this morning and I have them installed. Only issue I had was one battery was dead and the other nearly so. But, they packaged 2 spare batteries in the box so it was just a minor annoyance.

MonsterBiker

I am in touch with engineering at fobo. They would like to escalate the battery issue to their quality team to find out how you got dead batteries and make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.

can you PM me the serial number(s) on the box?

 

VentureFar...

[VentureFar]

Everyone that is still seeing this thread, I am curious about your experience with the FOBO tire pressure monitoring.

Did I overstate " take the emergency $100" out of your wallet?

I love mine. Last ride I check my front was 35.9 and rear was 35.9. I once again did not have to waste time and dirty my clothes check the pressures. I ride solo at 36 and 2 up at 38. This was a solo ride.

I think I have saved laying down about 6 times so far and at my age, that is a blessing.

What about you? Any stories?

Thanks

VentureFar...

[MonsterBiker]

One ok battery out of 4......   Works great when it has good batteries.

[Freebird]

I haven't bought it yet.  Planning to but just got kind of busy and haven't got around to it.

[MonsterBiker]

Ok, dead battery has been replaced.  Time to find out if it was just bad batteries or if the sensor is draining them.

[MonsterBiker]

Ok, time for an update.  The rear sensor has been working fine ever since I put a new battery in it.  The front sensor has been eating a battery about once a week.  @VentureFar put me in touch with the engineers at FOBO and they shipped me a replacement set.  I just changed them out and the originals are headed back to FOBO for evaluation.

I will continue to update on how the replacements perform.  So far my only gripe has been the battery issue with one of the original sensors.  Other than that, they have performed as advertised.

[dueyk1111]

ok, have had a set of these for 4 or 5 years now. absolutely love them. i know what my tire pressure is all the time. mine are tire guard from show chrome. actually on my second set, the monitor on the first one quit after 3 yrs.   tells me tire temp if i want it to . i'm to old to get down n check tire pressure all the time. bought a set for my rid'n bud too for his goldwing. wonderful addition to the bike!!!!!🤩🤩🤩

[VentureFar]

Sure glad I came across these tire pressure sensors. Anyone have any other jewels on their bike they want to share that add as much value as these TPS do? I will be happy to get it and do a review.

VentureFar...

[MonsterBiker]

18 hours ago, VentureFar said:

Sure glad I came across these tire pressure sensors. Anyone have any other jewels on their bike they want to share that add as much value as these TPS do? I will be happy to get it and do a review.

VentureFar...

I just might for anybody looking to convert headlights and passing/driving lamps to LED without a lot of expense or effort.  I have this replacement LED headlight bulb:  https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-high-beam-and-low-beam-headlight-bulb/motorcycle-h4-led-fanless-headlight-conversion-kit-with-compact-heat-sink-2000-lumens/3930/8566/?make=105&model=3743&scc_id=1940&year=2008

It is literally plug and play, no modifications needed and I am very impressed with the performance.

I also have these 4.5 inch replacement LED passing/driving lamps with equally impressive performance.  Also a quick and easy installation (assuming your bike already has 4.5 inch passing/driving lights.  My RSV had them when I bought it, but not sure they are OEM).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HR7EUB8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is video I shot a few days ago during a night time ride through Islamorada, FL.

 

[Marcarl]

Actually, it looks quite impressive. Does it have high beam as well?

[MonsterBiker]

55 minutes ago, Marcarl said:

Actually, it looks quite impressive. Does it have high beam as well?

Yup, sure does!  Functions exactly like the OEM bulb.  The high beam is quite powerful as well.  I have a Kisan headlight modulator that continuously flashes the high beam during daylight hours.  The high beam is powerful enough to make road signs pulsate even in bright sunlight.  I recorded our entire trip to the Keys with a GoPro, I will see about uploading a video clip in the daylight so you can see that as well.

Edited November 27, 2020 by MonsterBiker

[RDawson]

I’ve been running that light a couple years. I like it. 

[MonsterBiker]

Ok, here is some video taken about mid-morning in the Keys, headed West towards Key West.  It is not as visible as I would like due to the video quality not transferring over the YouTube platform all that well.  If you watch the road signs you can see them pulsate as the high beam hits them.  It is much more noticeable in person than on this video.

 

[VentureFar]

The only reason I haven't switched to the plug and play LED that I bought several years ago is that I will have to buy and "LED" kisan and didn't want to put out the $100 when my current one ain't broke.

Darn Kisan's never seem to break. I have had mine since 2013. still works.

VentureFar...

[MonsterBiker]

On 11/27/2020 at 5:09 PM, VentureFar said:

Darn Kisan's never seem to break.

VentureFar...

That's good to hear.  I have zero desire to split the fairing yet again......I have done that too many times over the past year for various upgrades.

[Leland]

Just installed these FOBOs.  For an extra $48, I ordered the trike set (3 sensors).  The app allows you to rename the third sensor Air Shock.  I got the normal tire pressure increase, but also found that the rear shock increased 6# (37#>43#) after about a 45 minute ride on two lane twisties.  Not particularly hot; 65° in the mountains, 75° in Denver.  Knowing this, I may lower its' initial pressure.  Always knew about tire pressure increase with temperature, but never considered the rear shock before.  I assume the engine heat also affects the shock.