BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

If you go to the SmartTire website it sez: "SmarTire is no longer actively soliciting sales and distribution opportunities for its motorcycle product." so I'm guessing it's NLA. Probably too many warranty problems with mashed transducers.

http://www.smartire.com/motorcycles

...well.....I decided to risk $170 and bought one. I'll let everybody know how it turns out.......

Alex - be interested to see if you get one. Please let us know..

HI Don.....they shipped it and I have a tracking #........I also talked to them and they said that nothing has been discontinued and the replacement parts are readily available.......

....yesterday, i have reseived the TPMS.....nice package.....everything is sealed and the sensors came in the airtight seal package. The main unit (display unit) is much smaller then I imagined...it is reeeeaaallly small. I have an appt tomorrow with my dealer (they finally got the guel gauge parts) and will ask them for a quote to install the sensors in the wheels.

Don, I beleive I know why you have heard that the sensors are getting chewed up when people install the tires......there are spesific, detailed instructions on how to install the tire and not to destroy the sensor and you need to follow them carefully........what you heard are people having problems because they have ignored the instructions......ususally it's the "I know it all and don't need any friggin instructions" people.

in any case.....depending on the dealer quote i'll either have it installed tomorrow or if the dealer decides to ask for an arm or the leg for install, then i'll wait for better times.....

I do have one question.....there are 2 wires coming out of the unit +/- that needs to be attached to a switched sercuit....i am a complete idiot on the electric stuff so if anybody can help me out and draw a detailed diagram (that a complete idiot can understand) i'd really appreciate that .
would i be better off getting the centech box and running the wires to it?.....does it have a build in switched sercuit? i really would not want to mess with the wire harness....

Graf wrote:....yesterday, i have reseived the TPMS.....nice package.....everything is sealed and the sensors came in the airtight seal package. The main unit (display unit) is much smaller then I imagined...it is reeeeaaallly small. I have an appt tomorrow with my dealer (they finally got the guel gauge parts) and will ask them for a quote to install the sensors in the wheels.

Don, I beleive I know why you have heard that the sensors are getting chewed up when people install the tires......there are spesific, detailed instructions on how to install the tire and not to destroy the sensor and you need to follow them carefully........what you heard are people having problems because they have ignored the instructions......ususally it's the "I know it all and don't need any friggin instructions" people.

Graf, I think the problem arrises when other than the owner does a tire change.. like the ape(TM) who does tire changes at the dealer. They not only don't get to hear the directions, they can't read them and wouldn't understand them in anything more advanced than sign language (perhaps I'm being a bit harsh - but there are reasons I like to do my own changes at a friends shop..) If you can find a way around that, probably all will be fine.

in any case.....depending on the dealer quote i'll either have it installed tomorrow or if the dealer decides to ask for an arm or the leg for install, then i'll wait for better times.....

I do have one question.....there are 2 wires coming out of the unit +/- that needs to be attached to a switched sercuit....i am a complete idiot on the electric stuff so if anybody can help me out and draw a detailed diagram (that a complete idiot can understand) i'd really appreciate that .
would i be better off getting the centech box and running the wires to it?.....does it have a build in switched sercuit? i really would not want to mess with the wire harness....

If you do a search - for connecting up a GPS - you'll find the PN of a wiring harness repair part, which can be used to plug directly into the GPS power lead which is tied down to the frame tube on the front of your bike (if it isn't powering a GPS..) This would work fine for this application, and has the advantage in this case of being a switched source. I know the PN is here someplace (or mebbe someone has it handy..)

thanx Don......i absolutely agree with you on the tire changes.....unfortunately I have never done it myself and would not even know where to begin......and I do not know anybody who can show me....

I know about the existense of that power lead for GPS......but again....I have no idea what to do with it even if i find it......i am really leaning towards the centech box with the switched relay.....this seems to give me exactly what's needed and will be much easier for me to add any electronic farkles in a future......there is still a big question (for me) of how to wire the harnes, switched relay and centex box together ....i guess i just have to put my faith in the dealer.....the same dealer that missed installing a fastener (bolt and nut) on the small faring under the seat when my bike was given back to me after failed 1st atempt in fixing fuel gauge problem. I am trying to get to know the mechanics there to figure out what exactly they are capable off....or not capable....

I just answered my own question on the way to a demo ride on a R1200R today.

Pressures checked OK when I left the house - pressures on the TPM showed 41/43 which is normal for my F800ST [my TPMS display runs a few pounds higher than my gauge]...off I went. The tires warmed up and that added 1 psi - perfectly normal for my F800ST.

I heard my cell phone ringing in my tank bag, so I pulled into a coffee shop, returned the call and had a cup of coffee while waiting. It took about 15 minutes in all and I was back on my way. As I left the coffee shop, I was almost immediately on an entry ramp for the tollway, beyond the 'point of no return, watching traffic as I merged into the 80mph cage traffic, when I felt 'something' like a very minor bump, perhaps a crack in the pavement. [for those unfamiliar, Illinois has some of the worst highways I have encountered in the U.S. - many miles of major roads are terrible, full of cracks and holes and highly irregular surface consistency] When I was fully merged and in my lane, I looked down and saw the yellow warning triangle flashing. The rear tire pressure was a flashing 37 (psi). Something wrong but not a good place to pull over. The bike felt fine, so I just watched the pressure and tried to merge to the right and see if I could make it to next exit ramp where there was a gas station.

The pressure had suddenly lost 7 psi, but it was holding at 37 psi indicated and bike was feeling OK, so I kept on going rather than pulling over to check things on the shoulder of 4 lanes of 80mph traffic.

In a few miles, the exit for the service station/fast food 'Oasis' came up and I pulled into the space for the air compressor. As I got off my bike, I saw a large nail head sticking out of the rear tire. I'd show the pictures, but I can't figure out how to include a .jpg here yet.

Anyway, I put 45 pounds in the tire, got back on the tollway, and carefully made it to the BMW dealer in Chicago, IL while monitoring the pressure to see how it behaved. I lost 6 psi in a half hour, but I could not detect any unusual behavior of the bike. Surprisingly, the dealer doesn't carry tires, you have to order them and wait a few days, so I was 'hosed'. I lost interest in the test ride of the R1200R, especially since none of them had TPMS.

More air in the tire, a call to confirm that the dealer in Barrington, IL had a new Metzler, and I nursed my bike for another 40 minutes over there to get the new tire. The guys at Cyclewerks in Barrington (the BMW Dealer) were great, they fit me in even though I didn't have an appointment and were very helpful and fair. I cannot say enough about Guy, Scott and the team there. They really came through.

Now, however, I KNOW that I will wait for a 2009 with TPMS. I'd regret buying the 2008 w/o it every time I climbed onboard, even if I did get a fantastic deal.

Thanks to all for sharing your opinions. Perhaps when I get a lot of years of experience, I'll feel confident that I can sense the tire problems by the 'seat of my pants', but for now, I guess I'm just too much of a noobie.

I still am of the "old school" in not feeling I need TPM, but your experience certainly justifies your waiting until you can get a bike so equipped!

Well having tried to get the Kisan tire pressure system working and having utterly failed, I found a $100 deal on the Smartire on eBay:

http://tinyurl.com/4vnbkl

This past week, after a previous plugged leak, installation of Ride-On Tire Sealant for Motorcycles which stopped 2 more nails from leaking, I finally got a 4-inch nail just outside the band of the sealant and about 6 inches away from the previous plug. Since I use my bike on the job, I got in a routine of adding air every two hours throughout the day, until my new tire arrived. Friday was end of the road for the Conti Road Attack, which was getting fairly squared-off anyway and had about 7K miles on it, so I decided to try out the Bridgestone B021 rear and leave the almost new Road Attack on the front. (Despite dire manufacturers' and motorcycle magazine authors' warnings, I've found the handling just fine with these particular mixed brands. YMMV). [Is it just San Francisco, or do other cities have pickup trucks with conveyor belts in the back to dispense sharp pointy objects continuously onto the roadway?!!]

I took this tire-changing opportunity to install the Smartire system, which I've had on hand for about a month. Other than my usual Festival of Cursing surrounding the use the Harbor Freight Tire machine, wooden furniture clamps, tire irons, soapy water etc, everything went reasonably well, leaving my newly installed sensors undamaged (not hard to do, actually, with a little common sense) and I'm glad to say I now can read my tire pressures, deviation from cold pressures, and tire temperatures while motoring along. Way cool.

BTW, I also installed a 45-degree metal valve stem on the rear wheel. These are great! I can actually just shove a air chuck or tire gauge onto the stem and have it work the first time, without the hard-to-reach rubber stem wobbling all around, leaking air. I found a set of 4 on eBay:

http://tinyurl.com/4qhoy6

Are TPM systems necessary? Of course not. But there IS a peace of mind factor that, for me, is well worth the money and time spent. It's good to know that, in addition to my former SOPTMS (tm) (Seat-of-pants-tire-monitoring system), I actually can receive a warning light if tire pressure goes too low, deviates too much from cold, or if the tires get too hot. And now off to a ride to see how warm I can get those tires!

Bill,

This thread is useless without pictures.. :-)

Please put up a photo of the install.

TIA!

deilenberger wrote:Bill,

This thread is useless without pictures.. :-)

Please put up a photo of the install.

TIA!

Well, Don, the sensors are already in the tires and the tires are mounted, so it'd be like watching scuba diving from the boat. But I can post a pic of the readout on the bars and the new shiny metal valve stem. Might take me a coupla days.

ShinySideUp wrote:Well, Don, the sensors are already in the tires and the tires are mounted, so it'd be like watching scuba diving from the boat. But I can post a pic of the readout on the bars and the new shiny metal valve stem. Might take me a coupla days.

Bill,

I can envision the valve stem - but the readout is what has my curiousity up. The design doesn't seem to lend itself to discrete placement, so knowing you've done it well - I'm curious what it looks like.

....i am planning on doing the install of the TPMS next week......well....the dealer will do it and I'll try to take pictures. Yesterday, I have received the Centech box and the relay harness from easternbeaver.......what a nice harness.....outstading workmanship......everything is clean, the crimps on the connectors are perfect, 2 extra fuses (for the inline fuse holder) included.....even the damn zip ties are included...received it in less then 5 days from Japan...after looking everything over, I think I'll attempt the Centech install myself......seems like the connections go from the battery to the fuse box through the relay.....simple.....the only wire left is the relay wire to attach to the bike's lead....some people recommend the lead in the steering column (suposedly it is not used and taped in there...somewhere)...others recommend the parking light (I assume they talk about the one in the headlight....not the tail light (just shows how much i know about the electric stuff:-)......so....all said.....i'll hook everything up axcept for the lead (relay) wire and leave this last piece to the dealer.....unless of course somebody can explain in "idiot" terms on exactly how to do this (with pictures)