Is it me or does anybody else have problems with filling the tires

EvilTwin

Active member
Not sure what BMW was thinking, but putting air in the front tire is a royal pia. With the straight metal valve and the interference from the two brake rotors it is always a bear to get the air chuck on square enough to put air in and not have it leak back out. I picked up one short angle chuck off Amazon and it works, but it is still takes some finagling to work. The rear is a bit easier, but not as easy as it could be. Does anybody have a better way of doing it?

This is about what I got off Amazon:

image_2021-10-04_213744.png
 

Delray

Well-known member
Ah yes, curse words have flown when filling the front tire ....

I use a portable air inflator. The hose is flexible so if you thread it through the rotor, move the hose with your right hand and screw on the valve stem with your left hand (and click your heels three times and say, "There's no place like home"), it's a pretty smooth operation. One little PITA is getting the valve stem in the ideal position, about six inches forward of six o'clock. That usually takes some tire tugs or moving the bike forward or backwards.

Why does your chuck "take some finagling" to work? Looks like a straightforward, simple solution.

IMG_6077.jpg
 

slant911

Active member
Always a challenge. Was pleasantly surprised on my new Zero that they have a 90 degree elbow on there. Super easy to check. Maybe next tire change can put some of those on there.
 

Delray

Well-known member
"pleasantly surprised on my new Zero that they have a 90 degree elbow"

Congrats on the new ride. A longtime member on the Burgman 650 site bought a Zero this year and it was pure misery for him. I vaguely recall the bike breaking down with no dealers nearby ... the seat was hard and uncomfortable. I'm guessing you are having a different experience?
 

slant911

Active member
"pleasantly surprised on my new Zero that they have a 90 degree elbow"

Congrats on the new ride. A longtime member on the Burgman 650 site bought a Zero this year and it was pure misery for him. I vaguely recall the bike breaking down with no dealers nearby ... the seat was hard and uncomfortable. I'm guessing you are having a different experience?
So far yes very different experience...knocking on wood. I absolutely love this bike. Well I love all my bikes.... The range issue most people point to is a non issue for me as my typical ride on any bike is about 40-50 miles. I do not have the attention span any longer than that. And I am getting about 120 miles to a full charge with mixture of city and highway. Supposedly can get up to 160 miles on a charge..I am guessing that is downhill both ways in order to get that range. Seat is not as comfortable as my corbin on my Honda but about the same comfort as on my BMW. Not bad but not great. In any event I have had no issues and my dealer is about 7 miles from my house.
 

Delray

Well-known member
"up to 160 miles on a charge. I am guessing that is downhill both ways"

Haha, flashback to a very old Joe Isuzu TV commercial where the car salesman is a pathological liar. "And it gets 168 miles per gallon"... (footnote on screen: DOWNHILL. IN A HURRICANE).

Zero website shows I have a dealer 14.9 miles from my house. I will check out this bike. I am interested in BMW's electric scooter but my local BMW dealer isn't selling it because "the start up cost of BMW repair and maintenance equipment is too high and demand would be too small." That bike, CE 04, starts at nearly $12k with 80-mile range and 42 hp.

One very intriguing thing for me is that it looks like with a totally flat bench seat you can slide forward and back to get full leg extension, which I love. Kind of a cool design. Definitely a conversation-starter.

 

slant911

Active member
Yes saw the new beamer. It does look mighty uncomfortable. Maybe the hipsters in their skinny jeans can sit on that thing but my fat old ass won't last long on it. Prepare now for the sticker shock before you head to the Zero dealer. I got the SR/S model. Was more comfortable and significantly more power than the other models. Oh and the fun of absolutely waxing anything on the road from a stoplight never gets old. 140 ft/lbs of torque from 1 mph...its intoxicating.
 

EvilTwin

Active member
Some interesting tangents... For the finagling part, when the brass chuck is attached to the hose, there is only so much room to maneuver it in between the rotors to make contact. More interesting, I have that exact little battery operated compressor. I havent tried to use it on this bike because it will blow the fuse on my bikes 12v accessory outlet. But on the good side, I have ordered a smallish tire compressor that runs off 110 which has the same angle chuck and a digital setting so I should be able to set a value and have it pump up to that number. If that doesnt quite jive with what the tpms says, I can play around with settings and eventually figure out what to set it at to get the right pressure.

On the electric tangent, before I got the c650 I had found a NOS C Evolution that they were asking about 10 grand on at a dealer up in PA. No miles on it. I would have been fine with the range on it, but my issue was that the local dealer would not service it since they had no one trained on electrics. I would have had to carry it about 2-3 hours one way for any service, so I passed on it. It would have been pretty unique.
 

Delray

Well-known member
"I have that exact little battery operated compressor. I haven't tried to use it on this bike because it will blow the fuse on my bikes 12v accessory outlet."

Mine doesn't have a battery. It's electric and has a cigarette lighter plug. I've never plugged into the bike, and won't after hearing your concern about blowing the bike's fuse -- I didn't know that. Sometimes I plug into the cigarette lighter socket in my Prius. Usually, I plug into the adapter in the photo below and then into the house with a long orange extension cord.

"If that doesnt quite jive with what the tpms says, I can play around with settings"

I had to play around. The Hyper Tough gauge isn't accurate. The bike's TPMS isn't accurate. So when my two trusty pocket tire gauges agree, that's what I go with. I inflate beyond 36/42 with the Hyper Tough, figuring it's easier to let air out than connect the air hose again. I let air out until I reach the desired 36/42, which my bike will show as 33/39, because it always reads 3 lbs. lower-than-actual. Little bit of an Alice in Wonderland operation, where down is up and up is down (and 33/39 is 36/42).
 

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mjnorris

Active member
I have no trouble using the the air machines at the local QTs (Quik Trip convenience stores) to air the tires on my 2013 GT.
 

EvilTwin

Active member
I picked up a small compressor off amazon. Has one of those right angle snap on air chucks with a pretty flexible if not very long hose. Runs on 110 or 12v, has a preset for pressure to shut off. I set it to about 37 for the front and ran it up from 32. Stopped at 37 but then pressure dropped to about 34. Hit the on button again, ran for a second or so now up to about 35. Did that a couple more times and it stopped at about 37. Popped off the hose, did the same with the back set to 42. Took a short ride to fill up the tank and tpms read 36/42. Color me happy.

image_2021-10-07_092055.png
 

DrCohen

Active member
Not sure what BMW was thinking, but putting air in the front tire is a royal pia. With the straight metal valve and the interference from the two brake rotors it is always a bear to get the air chuck on square enough to put air in and not have it leak back out. I picked up one short angle chuck off Amazon and it works, but it is still takes some finagling to work. The rear is a bit easier, but not as easy as it could be. Does anybody have a better way of doing it?

This is about what I got off Amazon: {giant photo of angle chuck deleted for brevity}
I carry a right-angle valve extension and 8-inch extension hose on my bike. Keep the valve extension attached to the hose. Just screw the valve extension onto the tire valve and fill at the end of the hose. Costs 7 bucks and works beautifully!
On my home air compressor, I've replaced the standard chuck with this all-angle chuck. It gracefully fits all the tires on my scooter, cars, and bicycle.
 

JamesBenPrice

New member
re: getting an air hose on the front value stem of the C650GT...

It certainly would have been nice for BMW to use a 90 degree valve stem on both front and back, but that's just a dream.

I've tried a few after market 90 degree valve extensions with marginal success. They seem to be prone to air leak over time. I suppose you could pull the tire and replace the valve stem with a 90 degree valve stem, and when I have the tires replaced, I will ask the shop to do that.

So, as of today, I still struggle (unsuccessfully) to fill the front tire. I have a 10 gallon compressor at home with the standard attachments, but none work well.

On a side note, I don't believe the tire pressure readout on the dash corresponds exactly to the actual tire pressure of the tire. When I fill the tire to 40 pounds, the TPM/dash will show 34 or 36. Is this true of all TPMs or, just a fluke? (Readings are taken with cold tires).

========================== Update ==================================

I purchased the 45 degree valve extensions pictured below (eBay) and tried to install them and leave them on the bike. They would unscrew a bit all by themselves and leak air (as I mentioned above in my earlier post). So now what I do is put them on, then attach the pump/compressor and inflate the tire, then remove them. Although it still isn't the easiest thing to do, it does work.
 

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Ceesie76

Active member
I've never noticed any problem filling the front tire, either with my own compressor or at a gas station. It still has the original tire as I bought the bike used with only 1,960 miles and I have not replaced it.
 

emseedee

Member
I got my local tyre company to fit angled valves to front and back, which makes connecting the compressor much easier.
Regarding powering a portable 12V compressor, I use a CTEK battery charger, and I’ve fitted a permanent changing lead to the bike, which comes out through the right hand storage pocket. CTEK do a lead which goes from the permanent charging lead to a cigarette lighter socket, so I bought one of those. The battery is only small, though, so if I had to use the compressor at the roadside I’d be thinking of keeping the engine running.
 
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