Auto-inflating motorcycle tires?

[DrBob]

I have had 5 tubed motorcycle tires go flat on me in the real world, and four went completely flat very, very quickly, ranging from an instant blow out to maybe 5-7 seconds to completely flat. Three times the tube was so shot it would not hold any air at all- once I could not even FIND the valve stem, as the tube disintegrated by the time I got the bike stopped. On the fourth one I could use a 100 PSI shop compressor to fill it up, but it was too flat to ride by the time I hung the air hose up. The fifth one, which took maybe 3 minutes to go flat, I could use a gas station air compressor to fill it up and go a couple miles to the next station, but the second fill up of air lasted less than a mile and it was tow truck time.
I have seen tiny pinhole leaks in tubes that caused a tire to loose air slowly, but when riding tubed tire failures tend to be pretty sudden and catastrophic.
That is the biggest selling point of tubeless ties: when they fail while riding they tend to go flat slowly enough where you can get slowed down and to the side of the road. That's why I don't personally think I would ever buy your product: no help on tubes, and with tubeless I can usually plug the tire or use slime, fill it from an inflator bottle, and be on my way. Your's would help with those little slow leaks, but I check my tires visually every time I ride, check the PSI frequently, and I can tell when my tires are even a couple pounds low from the change in handling. But I am sure someone would be interested, and even if you lack the resources to bring it to market (which could easily cost a half million) you could sell the patent to a company that could. So keep plugging away at it...

[tj1964]

Originally Posted by frostbitevinnie

Ha!! Bet they are Velcro!

.

Shhh! Don't tell all my secrets Vinnie!

[NateHarris]

Originally Posted by richar18

OmegaJim, I have too changed a tire!

That was the first thing we learned at Stanford lol.

Richar18,
I have been paying close attention to your dialogue with DrBob and am wondering if your idea, while a good one, is actually just in the wrong demographic. Having ridden motorcycles for many years now, I can only think of two flats I've had. One was slow, where this device may have helped, and the other was flat in about 3 blocks. This covers a span of almost 25 years riding. The second flat was caused by something that cut a whole in the center of the tread of the tire about 3/4" of an inch long. I never saw it, but it was a very rapid deflation. But neither resulted in a wreck.

So I saw this because on the whole, I cannot think of many accidents caused by tires going flat on motorcycles. However, what I can think of are other vehicles, like 18 wheelers, whose tires are self destructing possibly because their pressures are too low. And every time that happens you are looking at damage to other vehicles on the road from the remains of the tire, a few hundred dollars in a repair for the trucker and an unstable 18 wheeler trying to get off the road.

Just a thought.

[Davecm203]

I am curious as to how something so small and powered by inertia (or something) can be so small and yet be capable of pumping up a tire to 40 plus pounds. How much is it going to weigh? A little extra weight on the wheels makes a large difference. It would not be popular with the sport bike riders. You mentioned in one post that it would generate electricity. Very little electricity would be generated by something so small and would not have enough power to drive a pump.

You did mention putting it inside the tire which I would think would be a better option since bikes with dual disks have very little room for it to sit on the stem as first mentioned.

[omegajim]

the gizmo will pump up the tire a bit,but I don't see it pumping any given tire up greatly.

[womper]

no gizmo will ever be a replacement to visually inspecting your tires...

[omegajim]

oh contrare, due to the Explorer fiasco (which later turned out to be pretty much underinflated tires for a softer ride) I believe in either 10 or 11 it will be mandatory that cars have sensors in each wheel and have indicator lights on the dash.

But it may be 2012.

[DrBob]

Actually, tire pressure monitoring systems are already manditory on all new cars sold in the US, and have been since September 2007.

Not that they work: a tire industry study showed that only 14% of cars with the system actually had 4 properly inflated tires, up only slightly from the 9% on cars without the system. They have two problems, the first being that in order to account for the change in PSI as tires heat up and cool down, the systems do not trigger the warning light until a tire is 25% low, and even then they are allowed a 2 PSI error. The second problem is that people ignore the lights until the tire gets so flat it effects handling or looks flat.
When I was in the industry, probably 95% of the bikes that came into the shop with "handling problems" had nothing wrong with them except low tire pressure.
I am a fan of the little valve caps that turn green when your PSI is right, and red when it drops. But of course then only work if people actually LOOK at them! LOL!

[AloRaptor]

Originally Posted by DrBob

Actually, tire pressure monitoring systems are already manditory on all new cars sold in the US, and have been since September 2007.

Not that they work: a tire industry study showed that only 14% of cars with the system actually had 4 properly inflated tires, up only slightly from the 9% on cars without the system. They have two problems, the first being that in order to account for the change in PSI as tires heat up and cool down, the systems do not trigger the warning light until a tire is 25% low, and even then they are allowed a 2 PSI error. The second problem is that people ignore the lights until the tire gets so flat it effects handling or looks flat.
When I was in the industry, probably 95% of the bikes that came into the shop with "handling problems" had nothing wrong with them except low tire pressure.
I am a fan of the little valve caps that turn green when your PSI is right, and red when it drops. But of course then only work if people actually LOOK at them! LOL!

I saw some of those at the store and was wondering how well they work. I guess if you like them they must work as advertised.

[DrBob]

LOL! Most of the cheap ones sold in auto parts stores only come pre-set for 32 or 36 PSI, so unless your tires run at that PSI they are worthless. But more expensive ones can be set to any PSI from 20 to 42, and will show the red indicator if PSI drops more than 2, so they are quite good as reminders.

[omegajim]

thank you (again) for your input Dr. Bob.

"learn from those that have gone before you, as you really don't want to learn the lessons the hard way" anon.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by DrBob

But of course then only work if people actually LOOK at them! LOL!

Valve stem......what's a valve stem ???