Tyre Pressure Valve Caps.

[awa355]

Something I had not ever seen before. A bike on trade me with tyre valve caps that show the tyre pressure.
Has anyone had any experience's with these?

Here is a link to the auction which shows the valve cap in one of the photos.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/cruiser/auction-1042383071.htm

[husaberg]

Something I had not ever seen before. A bike on trade me with tyre valve caps that show the tyre pressure.
Has anyone had any experience's with these?

Here is a link to the auction which shows the valve cap in one of the photos.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/cruiser/auction-1042383071.htm

No idea about them but I have seen these on Trademe
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/tools-repair-kits/other/auction-1037686981.htm
You can get them in set pressures.ie 28 32 36 etc
They don't so much show the pressure but display by colour if they are at the pressure specified.
Side note. Old style steel caps are generally better than plastic caps as they don't leak as much.

[Tazz]

They're not actually showing a pressure of 32, that just tells you what you should be pumping them to. They're like the ones Husa posted that show a colour as a guide.

There are ones that will sense pressure and tell you 'wirelessly' through a display on the dash about.


Now we are just missing some KB technofogies to come and tell us how these aren't needed by anyone because it is way too easy to not use such doohickys and gizzmos and how they used to have to stand in cow pats to keep their feet warm while checking pressures during industrial acid rains back in the day with nothing but old LSD tabs and gradmas burnt tripe sandwiches to keep them dry :shutup:

[AllanB]

Indication:
Green shows that tyre pressure is normal.
Yellow shows that the pressure is down about 5 pounds below normal.
Red alerts you that the pressure is down by at least 10 pounds below normal.


Be OK on a car - on a bike if you have lost 5 or 10 psi from a tyre you should know it!

[jellywrestler]

bet the quality and accuracy is superb too, worth betting ya life onto.

[Ocean1]

There's been at least one version of these that would actually deflate your tyre.

The wee indicator plunger would apparently lean on the valve stem at speed.

[Gremlin]

So as said, they're only showing brackets. Garmin amongst others have caps that will feed the pressures to the GPS (or for other products a display).

[nzspokes]

Make sure if you are going to use them that when you get your wheels balanced they are fitted. They are surprisingly heavy.

[pritch]

Garmin amongst others have caps that will feed the pressures to the GPS (or for other products a display).

Somebody has apparently introduced a similar item for pushbikes. WTF? You squeeze the tyre between finger and thumb, if it feels soft add air.

[Gremlin]

Somebody has apparently introduced a similar item for pushbikes. WTF? You squeeze the tyre between finger and thumb, if it feels soft add air.
Depends on the tyre carcass. During the start of one trip to the South Island as I exited SH1 onto SH2 southbound at Bombay, the BMW display flicked to the pressures and flashed up an orange light warning the front was 24psi. I'd just checked and set my pressures that morning so didn't really believed it but stopped anyway. Felt Ok to the hand, but put the gauge on it and sure enough it was 24psi... after a few more issues and having to return to Auckland to get a replacement tyre it turned out the tyre was faulty with a bad bead...

So yeah, sometimes those gadgets are pretty cool indeed potentially saving a life.

[awa355]

After reading all this, I think I will stick to the old 'kick the tyre' once every month method. :oi-grr:

[caspernz]

The tyre valve caps with the indicator thingemeebob is a waste of time in my book, nowhere near accurate enough for me.

For now I'm happily checking tyre pressures with a digital gauge, although I'm pondering whether to embark down the TPMS route at next tyre swap, just for the sake of experimenting. My only first hand experience with TPMS has been in trucking, and some years ago at that. Sensors in those days were too much like toys, couldn't hack the pace on the big road...

[nzspokes]

BTW, try to use metal valve caps with Orings. More so if you like a bit of speed.

At speed the valve can retract due to centrifugal force and deflate the tyre. O ring in the cap will stop this problem.