Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: SmittyRider03 on April 29, 2013, 09:50:07 AM
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I have read through many posts and don't feel I have the exact info I need, and I need it soon!
2008 C14, currently at my local shop getting new tires, front rotors/pads, and Murphs 90 degree valve stems...
Like many other folks my sensors flash the annoying warning light almost every cold-start morning. My questions are as follows, and any and all opinions are greatly appreciated!
1. I believe the batteries are still ok - should I just leave the sensors in for now or will the warnings get worse as they die?
2. If I leave them in and let them die, the way I understand it is I will just get dashes for tire pressure and NO flashing warning?
3. Do I just have the shop take them out all together right now while they have tires off? I have never had TPMS before and frankly have never looked at it in the 2 years I have had the bike now.
3.1 If the sensors get removed, will Murphs valve stems work without them?
3.2 If the valves work with the sensors removed all together will I just get dashes for tire pressure and NO flashing warning?
Just trying to get to the bottom of this, may be helpful for others as well I hope.
Thanks for the help!!
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1. I would leave them in. Once they save you once, you will be in their debt for life. They are awesome. Had a massive flat while riding one day, two up in 95 degree weather. Could have been a very bad outcome if I hadn't seen the PSI warning.
2. I would assume that would be true as it will just default to not being able to see the sensors. (Speculation on my part)
3. I would not
3.1 Yes, they do not touch the valve stems. (fact)
3.2 Refer to 2.
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Sorry, but how do these work? Is there a battery in the valve stem assembly? I bought my connie used, the bike had not been rode in while. I took it out for the customary test ride and and recieve a low battery warning. After about 20 minutes of riding it went a way and has not returned.
Why not just replace the batteries while the tires are off? Or is it not that simple?
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Sorry, but how do these work? Is there a battery in the valve stem assembly? I bought my connie used, the bike had not been rode in while. I took it out for the customary test ride and and recieve a low battery warning. After about 20 minutes of riding it went a way and has not returned.
Why not just replace the batteries while the tires are off? Or is it not that simple?
Most cold mornings will make the warning light come on until the air warms up, then it will go off. Very annoying in my opinion!
The sensors do have batteries which are soldered in. There are how to's on replacing the batteries in the forum. The sensors themselves are not cheap, upwards of $175 each.
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The system that the C14 uses has nothing to do with the valve stem.
Yes the batteries can be replaced, but its not as simple as just popping one out and putting a new one back in. Do a search on TPMS battery replacement and there are a few threads about it.
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Thanks Guys.
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Just replace the battery when you change the tire. I just did my rear....maybe 5 minutes since it was my first time. :rotflmao:
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OK CB, you're going to have to explain yourself. Everybody else is cutting housings in half just to get to the battery.
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Just replace the battery when you change the tire. I just did my rear....maybe 5 minutes since it was my first time. :rotflmao:
OK CB, you're going to have to explain yourself. Everybody else is cutting housings in half just to get to the battery.
Exactly. I've never changed the battery in my TPM but there ain't no way in the world that this is just a 5 minute job. And I say that as a guy who's been repairing electronics for over 30 years.
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OK CB, you're going to have to explain yourself. Everybody else is cutting housings in half just to get to the battery.
+1
I thought the same thing when I read what he wrote. Perhaps one could get it down to 5 min if one has done the procedure several times already and had all the tools and supplies ready and waiting. Otherwise, I was thinking more like 15 to 20 min.
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You only need a small torx bit and a soldering iron once you have the unit unscrewed from the wheel.
Peel back the FCC label and unscrew the torx screw.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DLO2TehCuYk/UYJp-iGPh_I/AAAAAAAACKk/3NOFSCYh8CE/w902-h677/P1060186.JPG)
Pull off the back by releasing three plastic tabs. (one on the round end and two in the hole.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8aPnin1zehI/UYJp_9sS8oI/AAAAAAAACKs/LaXlWta1Qdw/w902-h677/P1060187.JPG)
The board just sits in there. Pull it out.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-V8HX9ZAWld4/UYJqB6IM5YI/AAAAAAAACK0/smk_wfkd8RU/w902-h677/P1060189.JPG)
Fold the tabs of the new battery over to the board contacts and solder them on. (Note polarity)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xi0Nt25CZpI/UYJqDmQ_BHI/AAAAAAAACK8/F8w3v4rluA4/w902-h677/P1060193.JPG)
Profit
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VYjFD22ga90/UYJqFGwD4tI/AAAAAAAACLE/w8HJOzt7esE/w902-h677/P1060194.JPG)
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You only need a small torx bit and a soldering iron once you have the unit unscrewed from the wheel.
- Peel back the FCC label and unscrew the torx screw.
- Pull off the back by releasing three plastic tabs. (one on the round end and two in the hole.
- The board just sits in there. Pull it out.
- Fold the tabs of the new battery over to the board contacts and solder them on. (Note polarity)
- Profit
Touché! ;)
That gives you one minute per step after the TPMS is removed.
I agree with maxtog: Seems doable if you've done it before and have all the tools and supplies ready.
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I was told by my dealer when the bike was new if the low battery comes up, inflate tire to 50PSI, wait 5 minutes while the bike is on (does not have to be running) and reduce PSI to riding presure.
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I was told by my dealer when the bike was new if the low battery comes up, inflate tire to 50PSI, wait 5 minutes while the bike is on (does not have to be running) and reduce PSI to riding presure.
This has already been discussed and was proven to be inaccurate.
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I was told by my dealer when the bike was new if the low battery comes up, inflate tire to 50PSI, wait 5 minutes while the bike is on (does not have to be running) and reduce PSI to riding presure.
Yet another dealer giving bad information. ::)
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How long do you have to wait then?
So much mystery and folklore surrounding so many things but KiPass (and assorted accoutrements) top the list.
So this past weekend I replaced a few batteries in a few TPS sensors and got the bright idea to actually statically test one.... sort of. After the sensor was in, the new tire mounted and the wheel assembly back on the bike, I started it and ran it through the gears while on the centerstand; the bike 'goes' right around 27 MPH in sixth at an idle (whatever the idle was on that particular bike- I did not note what it was) and after a fashion, the rear tire pressure display popped up. Physics- you gotta' love it (centripetal force works even in the garage). Or maybe it was the incantation.... either way, the sensors both worked as per the owner's later report.
Brian
This has already been discussed and was proven to be inaccurate.
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Couple minutes, tops. Bust 'em loose from the tabs and slip in a new one with just a friction fit. Walla.
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6 minutes and 37 seconds.
Snip...
How long do you have to wait then?
Brian
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"bust em loose from the tabs." Was trying this last night while changing the rear tire on my 08, the battery seems pretty well stuck to those tabs! A bit tricky getting it loose without torquing the circuit board. Back at it this morning, my 6 minutes is up.
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"bust em loose from the tabs." Was trying this last night while changing the rear tire on my 08, the battery seems pretty well stuck to those tabs! A bit tricky getting it loose without torquing the circuit board. Back at it this morning, my 6 minutes is up.
I have not seen the battery in the TPMS in particular... but it is not uncommon for battery tabs to be what appears to be spot welded and I have encountered that many times where it was not just soldered. In those cases I would end up having to cut the strap off the battery.
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Yes other posters in other threads mentioned drilling out the spot welds. I ended up soldering some brass strip I had to a new wally world 2032 but it was showing a voltage drop from 3.14 to 3.02 by the time I was done. Oh well ::) the sensor is back on the wheel, summer is short in the great white north. We'll see what I have in a bit.
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Just a couple of quick thoughts:
There is no reason or want to remove the tabs from the OEM battery. Besides, they are spot welded and will not come off without a lot of deformation. As a battery should never be soldered directly anyway, there is no use for the tabs to be loose unless one has a battery tab spot- welder.
Always used tabbed batteries to replace the OEM types.
Which leads us to #3: never solder to any battery. That is why solder tabs exist and why they are used in the TPS sensors in the first place. Soldering a battery is guaranteed to melt the nylon ring that seals it, and that in turn will either ruin the battery immediately or ruin it slowly- both bad situations. When soldering the tabs, the battery itself is never heated above the melting point of nylon.
Tabbed batteries are easy to buy on-line. There are no tabbed batteries that are an exact replacement for the C-14 tire pressure sensor batteries but it is easy to alter (bend, cut) the tab(s) and solder wire to them, and then in turn solder the wire to the arm on the sensor.
Brian
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http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,56348.msg420336.html#msg420336 (http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,56348.msg420336.html#msg420336)
http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,40026.msg259402.html#msg259402 (http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,40026.msg259402.html#msg259402)
http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,29847.0.html (http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,29847.0.html)
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The next time I change tires, I'm gonna have two sensors for sale. I have no use for them. I've had a blowout on the Connie at 100 MPH with no warning. Such an explosion, the beads came off the rim. Yeah, I was lucky. But if a tire goes down slowly, I'll feel it.
(http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp236/Jimmymac25/two13021_zpse1979a9d.jpg) (http://s415.photobucket.com/user/Jimmymac25/media/two13021_zpse1979a9d.jpg.html)
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The next time I change tires, I'm gonna have two sensors for sale. I have no use for them. I've had a blowout on the Connie at 100 MPH with no warning.
Well, no sensor will help with that. And yes, you were very lucky!
Such an explosion, the beads came off the rim. Yeah, I was lucky. But if a tire goes down slowly, I'll feel it.
TPMS is also for knowing what your pressures are- which is an excellent way to keep the tires properly inflated. I normally check the display right when leaving, and often right when docked when returned, so I know when it is time to add a few PSI. I would guess that the vast majority of people are not going to know it is 2 or 3 PSI too low just by feel. I certainly wouldn't.
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The next time I change tires, I'm gonna have two sensors for sale. I have no use for them. I've had a blowout on the Connie at 100 MPH with no warning. Such an explosion, the beads came off the rim. Yeah, I was lucky. But if a tire goes down slowly, I'll feel it.
(http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp236/Jimmymac25/two13021_zpse1979a9d.jpg) (http://s415.photobucket.com/user/Jimmymac25/media/two13021_zpse1979a9d.jpg.html)
This is the first time that I've heard of anyone having a blowout on a C14. Any idea what caused it? Other than a catastrophic loss of tire integrity that is.
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This is the first time that I've heard of anyone having a blowout on a C14. Any idea what caused it? Other than a catastrophic loss of tire integrity that is.
I'm not sure what caused it. You could stick a quarter through the hole it made though. You can see the hole in that pic.
Just a heads up, when the bead comes off the rim, the side stand won't work. And getting it up on the centerstand is a chore.
When it happened, my Wife was on the back. We were both quite sure we were gonna crash. The rear of the bike was trying to pass the front and all h#!! was breaking loose. I felt like Superman when I got it stopped without a scratch. :D
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Wow glad you got r stopped OK. Perhaps you want to share what worked and what didn't for you?
I had a rear blow out on an 1100 Shadow a few years ago in truck traffic on the freeway. What did NOT work for me is getting on the brakes. Brakes or a too quick slow down will really make it slew back and forth. Actually put a bit of throttle back in to stabilize it, then very slowly eased back on the throttle, slowed down and got over on the shoulder.
That blow out was my fault, bags and a fender flap hid a flat spot that went through the cords till the tube came out of the hole! In a hurry to catch a meeting I did not stop and check on an unusual vibration I felt before she blew. That tire did stay in the safety beads.