Interstate Travel

[FJ1100mjk]

I remember Garth (Mr. Bean) ended up finding his electrical issue. It was traced to his kill switch I believe. (Erich's FJ started/ran fine the rest of the journey)

Thanks for the information.

Mental note to self: Check/inspect/clean kill switch before riding to Central Rally.

[ribbert]

Dan, Noel posted up his TPMS, it installs inside the wheel with a steel band. It looks like a good system and has no affect on the valve stems. Maybe Noel would repost it or give us a link to it.

Yeah, I just went and found that, seems like a robust system, although fairly involved.  I wonder about the units that also fit from inside the wheel that have no band.  This would make tire changing less problematic.  Many cars use this style to good effect, even high performance cars, so I'm thinking the band may be belt and suspenders?

Dan

It gives me great comfort knowing my tyre pressures. Throwing it into a corner only to discover you have been losing air can be nasty, being aware of a puncture long before it becomes evident by the the bikes handling can save a lot of drama and give you more options for finding somewhere to pull over or monitor the rate of the leak (and get to the next town) and the convenience of not having to check them manually makes it worth the relatively modest investment for me.

I have seen many posts here over the years of members discovering under inflated tyres, some embarrassingly so, merely from oversight or forgetfulness.

I researched the unit I bought and it is made by one of the largest manufacturers of such devices in the world, been around for 30 years, makes thousands of automotive electrical components and is a major supplier of after market parts to the industry. Good, no problem with back up and spares.

Yes they work, yes they are accurate and no they don't need calibrating. I gave up double checking mine after a year or so, totally confident of it's accuracy.
The valve cap types though are not as accurate (according to the people who make them)

I have no issue with the band, it is a giant ss worm drive hose clamp and I haven't given it a thought since I installed it years ago. I have a sticker on the rim to indicator the senders location for the purpose of tyre changing and that hasn't been an issue either.

The unit I have has a simple easy to read display showing f & r pressure (in whatever units you want - bar, psi, k's) and temp (F or C) all at once. Some makes require button pushing to scroll between F & R. It has an adjustable alarm for high and low pressure and high and low temp. It also has an adjustable alarm for volts and displays the voltage at start up, so I don't need a dedicated volt meter.
It probably does other things I haven't worried about.

It updates the info every 2 secs, good for monitoring air pressure loss in extreme twisties (or you could just write some numbers on a bit of tape on the handle bars for the same result and a lot less money)

The only downside is you can't replace the batteries with the "in wheel" type, you have to replace the sender unit but I think they are good for about 7 years.

Yes, I like knowing my tyre pressures at a glance and knowing my alternator is charging but everyone is different. I for example, have no interest in monitoring oil temp and pressure, I can't do anything about either one of them, it's not going to save me any grief out on the road and just gives me something to worry about.

Btw, I think oil level lights are far more useful on modern engines. A means of gauging the condition of the bottom end is less relevant these days but they do still use oil. By the time a pressure gauge registers no oil, you have already ruined you motor, particularly if the loss was gradual.

Noel

[FJ_Hooligan]

Alright.. I bit my lip long enough.

I took a break from this message board for a long time because of shit like this.  Someone asks a question and receives some replies.  Great, we're all here to discuss things and help others.  Then someone posts something in the same thread that has some relevance and all of the sudden people go fucking ape shit.  The thread then degrades into a pissing contest with post, after post, after post with nothing to help the OP.  The OP must then sift though the messages to find anymore relevant information.

I see less and less of the long time members posting and I believe it's because of crap like this.  How does getting into an argument over how much tire pressure someone looses while riding in the mountain twisties have to do with the original question of riding a long distance across three states?  This is the kind of stuff that if left to run rampant, kills a message board.  Folks will find the site, look at the quality of the posts and move on.  I'm not trying to be the "Topic Police" or stomp on your first amendment rights.  I have seen too many other message boards go to shit over public arguments and I don't want that to happen here.  The "newer" members may not know how or why this message board came to be.  The reason has relevance over my concerns.

In the end it sounds like I'm in the minority here.. I enjoy a thought provoking discussion like everyone else.  If you seriously have an issue with me, don't result to name calling or beat around the bush with your feelings.  Tell me to fuck off either in public or PM and I'll be happy to oblige you.

And to add to the discussion of a throttle lock.  Very, very good idea.  I had forgot to mention it in my post.  Amazing how good it feels to let go and feel the blood flow freely back into your hand.

Okay Garth.  I was going to move on but now, like you, I feel the need to reply.

First, like you, let me establish relevance with the original post by redundantly stating that I think a throttle lock is also a good idea.  From your example, I guess that now gives me premission to ramble off-topic.

I don't really think the discussion went "fucking ape shit."  My concern was for the general population relative to accurate tire pressures (whether you're riding long distance on highways or through twisties).  Let's say someone plans on riding the Gap and reads that he may lose 2-5psi while riding hard.  So, to compensate he overinflates his tires by 5psi "just in case."  I would see this as a very bad thing since heat will further raise the tire pressure to a perhaps dangerous level.  THAT was my concern.  Potentially dangerous information was posted and I was trying to correct it. 

I doubt seriously that this discussion will lead to the death of this board.  I have seen far worse.  Also, perhaps it's you that need to be reminded of why this great forum exists.  As I recall it, heated discussions of politics, election candidates and general opinions on different gorernments on the Yahoo site lead to a plea from the moderator to try to point the discussions back toward more FJ-related topics and please  refrain from discussing politically volitile topics during the presidential election year.  It was this that lead to people going "fucking ape shit" over charges of excessive censorship that lead to people abandoning the Yahoo group and heading over here.  I think the modern structure of this forum is also a major factor. 

We've survived worse than this and will continue to do so probably because of the maturity of this group as a whole. I don't think you're in the minority with how you feel.  There is plenty of crap that peeves me on here but I try to ignore it and move on. 

My apologies to the original poster for muddying up the post but it's not the first (or last) time this has happened. 

[Capn Ron]

Just going to add my two cents on long-distance touring and tire pressures...The need to check them...and a bit of humility.

On my big trip, I mounted up a set of Pirelli Sport Demon tires before I left Los Angeles and put them to 38-40PSI.  In two weeks (5,500 miles), I had worn them out and replaced them with Metzeller Marathon ME-880's and they lasted the next three months of the trip.  Okay...so in the first 14 days of riding, tire pressures never even occurred to me.  I mean...short of a puncture, the Pirelli's didn't even have time to loose much pressure before they were replaced!

The Metzellers were a different story.  The rear lasted 12,000 miles to get me home and the front continued on to my first West Coast Rally and a lot of local riding for a total of 17,000 miles of use.  This was all done in less than 9 months and again...I never even thought to check tire pressure.

One night, I was reading the forum and a heated discussion was going on about tire pressures.  All sorts of theories were being thrown about and I was soaking it all in.  In the end, it seemed that near-max pressure (40-ish PSI) was where I should be so I went out to the garage and checked on the Metzellers.  The rear was at 38...but I had just replaced it recently.  The front...which had been on the FJ since the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina 9 months and 16,000 miles ago was at....15PSI!  FIFteen!!    I mean I guess the bike felt sluggish in the front end, but if you reduce the pressure by .085 PSI per day...over 270 days, there isn't a single day I would notice that.  I pumped the front up to 38 PSI and took the bike for a ride.  Holy smokes, I thought I just bought a brand-new bike!

Lesson learned and I'm checking tire pressures on a regular basis now as part of my regular pre-flight checks.