Tyre Pressures

[ClassicBiker]

Check your tyre pressure guage against a modern car with TPMs. I did this with several guages and my truck. Tossed out about half of the guages which were more than a couple PSI out.

I wouldn't go that route myself. My 2018 Chevy Silverado has TPM. Half the time when it was telling me the front right tire was extremely low and the other three tires were correct, all four tires were fine. The other half of the time it would tell me the front right was low and it was low. All I gained from that was knowing when the TPM said the a tire was low don't trust it check them all. I also have couple of tire gauges, analog and digital. I've filled one tire and checked them all against it. They all read pretty much the same, within a pound so I trust them all. The digital one how ever is useless in two situations. When the batteries are low it refuses to read at all. Nothing erratic, it turns on and used it turns off, which I can live with. The other is when it gets cold it just won't turn on. The analog gauge requires no batteries, it has pressure hold until the release button is pressed. So that is my go to gauge.
Steven

 

[Bill Thomas]

I just tried a Halfords digital in a nice case I was given,
For me it reads 3 lb low !,
So I use the one on a tyre foot pump and stick to that.

 

[ossie]

ON tyre valves keep a check on them tubeless ones.
i MOTed my Yamaha Diversion a week ago i pumped them up the day before.
when the tester was moving it off the brake test rollers he said you bike is heavy to move i think the rear tyre is soft.
we tested the pressure and it was 12 PSI on wobbling the valve you could hear air escaping.
so we put it up on the bike lift to check it the valve had aged on the part that goes through the rim we changed it.
checking the front that was suspect as well as i lived local i took the bike home and removed the wheel a few days later and had that changed .
i could never work out how the front kept losing pressure now i know .
so keep an eye on them dont be gentle when checking they are all that keeps them up you take them for granted when you tip them about to fit the inflater on.
OSSIE.

 

[TouringGodet]

On some vehicles, the TPM actually measures wheel rotation speed, and looks for tyres spinning at different rates. My 1989 Corvette actually had pressure sensors mounted inside each rim, with radio transmitter to a receiver on the car, but the cars I’ve had since use the rotation speed differential method.

 

[vibrac]

My GS BMW has always lost air from the back tyre it takes a week to get to light the low pressure light and then it needs pumping up, although its never more that a lb or so under.... but that baleful light!. I have had 2 new tyres and valves and it still persists it not enough to stop me tripping across Europe but its damm annoying when I come to the garage after a week of not using it.
On the other hand I kick the Vins tyres and bounce a couple of times and off we go . too much information perhaps?

 

[Daimog]

I use the old stick type, that I also stole from my late father about 40 years ago, trust this one as other gauges all vary too much.

 

[Shane998]

I got an Airhawke size of a hand drill cost me about A$100 with the charger and battery You can dial pressure required and an independent consumer guide here says they have tested to be within 1 psi I also use Kendra tubes cost a little more but in my experience seem to hold the pressure for longer Its 8 am on Christmas Eve here so excitement is building Happy Days

 

[Mike 40M]

Some 50 years ago, we always checked tyre valve leakage after filling with saliva. Nowadays rarely does it as valves seems to be of better quality. Also use metal caps on all bikes as stipulated in racing rules.
Don't rely on the cheap fillers, all I have has a substantial error, always check with a digital pressure tester which I believe is more accurate. Now close to 8 am here, Merry Christmas to you all.

 

[ossie]

Some 50 years ago, we always checked tyre valve leakage after filling with saliva. Nowadays rarely does it as valves seems to be of better quality. Also use metal caps on all bikes as stipulated in racing rules.
Don't rely on the cheap fillers, all I have has a substantial error, always check with a digital pressure tester which I believe is more accurate. Now close to 8 am here, Merry Christmas to you all.

the valve did,nt leak it was the complete rubber part that went through the ally rim.

 

[Gordon Ryley]

Have just been checking the tyre pressures on our car, and have noticed wildly different readings from the gauges I have available.

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As you can see from the following photographs, the standalone dial gauge reads 40, the compressor dial reads 50 and the stick type (that I stole from my late father about 40 years ago) reads 49.

How accurate are these things, and if the answer is none of them, which is your preferred pressure gauge and how do you ‘know’ it’s accurate?

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