Air gages

rkcoker · Post by **rkcoker** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:52 pm

I remember a Three Stooges bit where Moe notices Curly wearing three wristwatches and asks Curly "Why're you wearing three watches?" to which Curly replies "This one run 5 minutes fast, the second one runs 7 minutes slow and this one is set to the train." Moe asks "How do you know what time it is?" Curly pulls out his pocketwatch and says "It's tree-toity" Yuck Yuck Yuck!
That's how I feel with air gages. My air pump's gage reads low, my digital reads high, and my pocket stick airgage is somewhere in the middle. What type do you guys use? How close to sticker max air pressure do you try to maintain?

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:21 pm

Stick-type - fits easy in my little tool pouch.

I check my pressures when I'm filling up at one of the few stations left with free air, or if the road bumps feel funny. I'll then take 'em back up to 30/30.

iMoses · Post by **iMoses** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:52 pm

I use a dual head air gauge. It cost a little more but it is better quality than others I've seen and used. And the dual head allows me to use it for my scooters and my pickup truck.

I've never trusted the digital ones, perhaps it's cause I worked in the automotive business for about 20 years. When those first came out they were junk. I'm a little prejudice against them.

And FYI, when I measure my pressure I use both hands. One hand is on the gauge the other hand is behind the valve giving it support as I push against it.

Raiderfn311 · Post by **Raiderfn311** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:15 am

I have one with a round dial and a "flexi" hose. I can get in lots of tight places with it.

Edit-iMoses I never have trusted the digital ones either.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:00 am

Amen, iMoses, the right-angle valve stems make me a little hinky, too, so I support them with my other hand when checking pressure or filling.

SuperFlyBuddy · Post by **SuperFlyBuddy** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:16 am

Last summer I had an OEM valve stem fail on me so I replaced it with a Goldwing stem. I must say the rubber in the Goldwing stem is much more stiff. I still support the stem when checking pressure or adding more air but at least now I don't feel like it's going to break off.

KABarash · Post by **KABarash** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:19 pm

Based on the simple principle of just the way they work, I'd guess 'stick' gauges are most accurate.
I check my tires cold at home then ride into town to put air in them, I've noted a plus, meaning how much I need to add when cold, check my pressure again and add the necessary 'plus' amount. With my 'system' It too is imperative to use the same gauge as every one out there might be slightly different......

DanielPerrin · Post by **DanielPerrin** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:54 am

I have an air compressor at home, so I can do everything with the tires/air cold. I always support the right-angle valve stem when inflating or checking pressure so that I don't cause any breakage. For just checking pressure, I use a stick-type gauge. For inflating, my inflating hose has a built-in pressure gauge. I haven't compared my stick-type gauge and the inflating pressure gauge. It doesn't sound as accurate as it maybe should be, but I haven't paid too much attention to it. I can't justify not even knowing how the two gauges compare in accuracy.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:52 am

This one.

Raiderfn311 · Post by **Raiderfn311** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:22 pm

ericalm wrote:This one.

Got one just like it from Scooterloungueonline. Works great.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:29 pm

Stick gauges break easily and tend to be unreliable. I like the hose, which is especially useful on my LX rear tire, which is hard to access.

I do have a digital as well (Slime), that I use for my bicycle (pressure much higher than the dial gauge reads) and occasionally bring with me on the Stella if I don't want to go digging through the tool kit in my LX.