While most of us know in our gut if something is 'off' with our tires, I wanted my bike to have something similar to my car to keep an eye on pressures...

I'd seen the Garmin system, but as that needs a Zumo GPS it wasn't a great option, and I didn't particularly want to bolt yet another display onto the bike (kinda hurts the minimalistic look!)

took a punt a while back and signed up to a crowd funding project that was going to deliver a Tire Pressure Management System (TPMS) that worked with my phone as the display, and a couple of months ago my "FOBO Bike 2" arrived in the mail.

Installation was dead simple ... unscrew the existing dustcap, and put the replacement on. They're about the same diameter as a penny, and about 5 deep - as I was replacing a tire anyway I got the guys to check balance with it on and off, and there was not enough difference to need a change in weight, not checked the rear yet (as that has an offset stem) but not noticed any balance/unexpected wear issues after over a thousand miles with this fitted

Pairing it with the phone only takes a few seconds (make sure you pair each one when you put it on, if you install both and then try to pair them it can get confused), and boom... you have a handy display to check pressure and temperature before you ride, but also as you ride (and you can share the info with a friend)

Pressure readings match my manual gauge both cold and hot after a ride, and it's fun to watch the temperature and pressure change as you ride. So far they've been pretty reliable in everything from super hot days through to nasty rainstorms and a great supplement to the manual check that's part of any riders routine.

Interested to see what updates they'll make to the app over time, they seem to be pushing out new features on a pretty regular basis which makes me hope they'll be around for a while. Even if Harley start making this available as a standard or optional feature, there's a lot of bikes out there that could do with something simple like this...

(review on my website)

 

I don't think many of us can tell when something is wrong with our tires. I change tires. You wouldn't believe how many come in with 20 pounds or less in them. And some are in right off long trips.
A friend of mine thought that the squirreliness was due to the road surface. That is, until the rear tire broke the bead and he lost control of his motor at 75 mph. He was fully suited up and wasn't hurt. His motorcycle was totalled. I walked up to the motorcycle within a minute of his crashing. The radiant heat off the rear tire hit my face when I was 10 feet away!

And there it was! An imprint of a nail head and a hole, right in the center of the tread! The tire was completely bald!

This tire was brand new just 2 weeks prior to our 3,500 mile trip. Another 150 miles and we'd have been home. We surmise that somewhere along the trip, he picked up a nail and air began to leak out. It wasn't noticed. These Dunlop American Elite tires are so thick-walled that you cannot see a low tire! And at speed while riding straight, you cannot feel it, either.

I went back through my pictures of the trip. Caught a shot of the rear tire in Durango, Colorado. It was almost bald with very little tread! The air pressure was already down; probably to 20 psi or less.

We ate breakfast in Amarillo and headed home on our last segment. Just before Clarendon, it happened. He had to hitch a ride back to Amarillo and catch a plane to Dallas. Seriously lucky!

That prompted the six of us to buy FOBO bike. It was four years ago. I won't ride without them, now. Instead of checking our air pressures before a trip and assuming that it'll stay in there for the duration, we now check every morning before breaking camp.

The next year, I got an alert of a tire going down when doing twisties in the Hill Country of Texas. It felt absolutely fine on the straights. But in the curves, it felt like the road had undulations. Pulled over and stopped . . . only 15 psi in the tire and it was deflating quickly. FOBO may have saved me from a catastrophe.

I am not associated with FOBO in any way. I'm only a user with two relative stories to tell.

I'm waiting for FOBO Bike 2 to come out. They're over a year late from the expected ship date. As soon as they're available, I'm going to buy a set to replace my original FOBO bike TPMS.

Ken

 

hey Ken - the Fobo Bike2 is available... that's what I'm running. You can order from the Indiegogo site - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/f...es/x/2257377#/ or their own store https://my-fobo.com/Store

 

Well I just ordered the Fobo Bike2 for my 19 SGS, and am I correct that I can use them on stock tire valves? Thanks for the info on these. Also can I pair these up to show on my bike screen as my phone is kept in the saddle bag when I ride? Thanks again.

 

Yes to stock valves, though depends on clearance (they fit fine on my my18 FXBB). Don't know about the SGS screen... they run as an Android/iOS app with on-screen notifications (and an on-screen overlay that can 'float' over other apps). I know they're looking at BRP Connect integration (for Can-Am) so it might be possible to integrate with other systems down the line (would need Harley to have an interface that allows 3rd party apps to send info the the screen...)

 

Think my phone is a I-phone Apple, still work on that I hope now that I ordered them. Not at all savvy on this new tech stuff. Thanks, sure hope it comes with dummy directions.

 

the Fobo software works fine on an iPhone. the installation instructions are pretty simple, just make sure you do them one at a time so it doesn't get confused between front and rear sensors!

 

Great, thanks for your response, appreciate the help.

 

I'm also told that if you have stock rubber tire valve they are not going to work is this true because this is what stopping me from purchasing a set I have a 2018 Harley Davidson Road Glide special someone told me that you needed to have metal valve stems please verify if that's not true I'll be purchasing a set tonight

 

They will work with the stock rubber valve stems. But just keep an eye on them for cracking. Don't push the stock stems too far in any direction or the little metal tube inside might damage the rubber stem. The new FOBO2 TPMS comes with metal stems. I rode mine with rubber stems for a year before changing to metal.