TPS, Tire Pressure Sensor, on a GS or GSA. Good or Bad Idea?

[2on2off]

This may not belong in the ride report section but it may apply to all of us at some point in time.

BMW offers a tire pressure sensor on the wheels of the R1200GS and R1200GSA. They have had some problems with it but I haven't heard from anyone who has actually had a failure.

When everything is working, it is great. But if you have a failure, you could be left stranded.

BMW's TPS sensor is made of plastic and it is possible if you hit either a pot hole in the road or a rock when off road, the tire could compress and damage or destroy the TPS. If that happens, you may not be able to air up your tire unless you have a spare valve that you can install.

Here are some pictures of what the sensor looks like installed on a mag wheel. My riding buddy Ray, bought a used 2007 R1200GS that has the TPS on mag wheels. He recently installed spoke wheels on this bike and decided to leave the TPS on the mag wheels because he didn't want to risk a failure of the TPS when off road.

I would like to hear from anyone who may have had a failure with their TPS and what they believe was the cause. Here is what the TPS looks like.

[OldPete]

I wonder how that large sending unit deals with rough tire changes.

Caps like these are what I have used. http://www.autobarn.net/kle44444.html

[2on2off]

Smartire apparently has a very good system where the sensor is separate from the valve stem, thus, if the sensor is damaged it will not affect the tires ability to hold air.

These sensors can get damaged when tires are being changed if the tire installer isn't very careful about the location of the sensor.

[Beemer bum]

IMHO I don't think these really have a place on motorcycles. I know I will catch hell for that statement, but here is why I think that.
I have had a couple of flat tires while riding, and with the exception of a total blow-out, it becomes obvious you have a flat rather quickly.
Now, if the sensor is there to tell the pilot whether the tires have enough air at the start of the ride, that is nice. But it seems like an unneeded risk to trust a "do-hicky" in the wheel, when it only takes 30 seconds to check the pressure manually.

With that said, I am NOT against technology on bikes. For instance, I rode my dads K1200GT and that had cruise control which I thought was super cool!

[wbunning]

Originally Posted by Beemer bum

But it seems like an unneeded risk to trust a "do-hicky" in the wheel, when it only takes 30 seconds to check the pressure manually.

With that said, I am NOT against technology on bikes. For instance, I rode my dads K1200GT and that had cruise control which I thought was super cool!

TPS, for me, is a solution to which there was never a problem. I always check my tires anyway. I suppose the manual tire guage method
could also be off, but it's one less piece of tech to go wrong.

Cruise on the otherhand, is important to me on long stretches of pavement. I have some nerve damage in my throttle arm that makes my right hand go to sleep and I need to drop it off the throttle grip occasionally. I really appreciate the cruise on the RT.

I suppose this reply is a little off topic, since the original post was attempting to elicit testamonials to actual failures of the TPS. Sorry.

[calikatoom]

Lets all be honest..... Do we check our tire pressures before every ride? We all know we should but most of us don't! I believe this is where the value of the TPS system is worth its weight in gold.

There is a safety issue AND there is a tire wear issue. For instance if you accidentally run a new front tire just a couple pounds low early in the life of the tire, you run the chance of starting to "cup" the tire. No amount of pressure increase will counter act that. The cupping will continue to get worse throughout the life of that tire.

Safety - I have to agree that 9 times out of ten, you know when you are losing air in a tire. But what about that 10th time? It sure is easier to replace a flat tire than it is to repair a damaged motorcycle. Like ABS, you only have to have one episode in which the system completely pays for itself and shows its value.

Like all new ideas in bikes (or cars for that matter), the benefits of a new idea aren't always so clear. There will always be those early adopters that like new stuff for the sake of it being new and cool. Certainly many more will reserve themselves to see the new idea proven before jumping on the band wagon..... just like cruise control once upon a time!

Just my 2 cents....

Gail

[Beemer bum]

[quote=calikatoom;185416]Lets all be honest..... Do we check our tire pressures before every ride?


YES!!!
If you don't, you really must not care too much about your life...

Shoot, tires are only the FIRST thing you check, also check the brakes, and oil level.

I don't think the TPS is a bad idea, but I do think that it's new technology and like all new stuff it needs time to work out the kinks.

On the flip side I DO think that it is making riders more complacent about their safety.

[2on2off]

I haven't heard from anyone that has had a failure with the TPS on a BMW. Maybe there is no problem and they are just fine.

If no one reports any kind of failure with this tire pressure sensor, then I would have to conclude that it is a good idea to have one. I like the ABS on my GS Adventure and oil level indicator. Maybe a TPS is also a good idea.