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Recommendations for Small Tire Pump


Michael B

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I'm a street rider and sooner or later I'm gonna need a tire pump. Storage space being limited, which small tire pump would you recommend based on your actual experience? I quickly researched the following four models but of course am open to other tire pumps that are superior in your opinion and easy to stow in a small space.

 

Slime Tire Inflator: I already have one. It costs around $10 but is small enough to store under the rear rack on my '11 RT. Have never had occasion to use it but not sure it would inflate a beach ball. Penny wise here but probably pump foolish.

 

Motopressor Pocket Pump: Reviewed in the August issue of BMW ON mag. $49.95 from Altrider, looks like a serious little pump, packs small, American made. Claims to pump up an average bike tire to full pressure in 2-5 minutes.

 

Micro Tire Pump: Looks just like Motopressor, from Adventure Designs, $79.99, packs small and is American made, pumps a tire in 2-5 minutes. Looks to be well made.

 

CyclePump: Supposedly THE small bike pump to have. Costs $140 with 90 degree chuck, lifetime guarantee, American made, appears to be quality, works in 2-5 minutes. A bit pricey, larger than the ones above, and seems to function about the same.

 

So, what do you guys recommend? You can be creative here too (no hand pumps, please!).

 

 

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I've got an older version of the Aerostich Mini Compressor. Currently $50, but they also sell it in a kit for $85 with a storage pouch and patch kit. My older one came with a detachable in-line pressure gauge, but the current ones don't.

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Mine is the $10.00 special from Kmart, or Walmart, or....

 

Had a plastic case that I removed and trashed. Easily fits in the tail area along with much other stuff. I've used it several times and works fine. I oil it (3 in one) before every trip. If it every gives me a problem, I'll just buy another.

 

Since it's naked, you do need to be careful where you hold it. Moving parts whizzing around and it gets hot too.

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TEWKS has pointed out the Slime Pump you should consider. It sounds like the Slime you have is one of the "Top Off" small pumps. I have one of those that came along with a used ATV I purchased. They definitely are not something I'd rely on to get me back on the road.

 

I currently have three of these... One for my ATV, one for my Mercedes SLK with a donut spare, and one for my Kawasaki 650.

 

With my RT I was able to fit the pump in the case under the tail section after removing the seat. The Kawasaki did not have as much room so I put removed the pump from the zipper case and stored the pump body and hose separately.

 

These pumps are very robust. I used the one on my ATV last weekend when I sliced a tire 27 miles from my truck in some very rugged back country. The riders with me were impressed with the speed of the little pump. I had to use four ropes to seal the split so the pump got a good work out. I've also used it twice to inflate car tires for stranded motorists who had flats AND way under-inflated spares.

 

If you are wired for heated clothing it makes sense to add a coaxial plug to the pump for quick hookup.

 

Two car tires, two ATV tires, and three or four motorcycle tires repaired and filled over the years...that is why the Slime is my pump of choice.

Edited by eddd
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I have a little Slime pump. I don't know that there's any of them that's clearly superior. Do make sure that it will work with whatever electrical setup you have. Mine plugs into the charger lead I've wired to my battery.

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Morning Michael B

 

Those cheap little pumps like the Slime work OK, if you remove the large plastic case then they do store quite easily. (I usually make a simple small plastic or aluminum shield for the gears so they don't pinch a finger)

 

If you shorten the air hose & lengthen the power cable they store even easier as the longer power cable allows the pump to easily reach the tires even with the short hose.

 

Now the bad side-- You need to be careful of what small cheap pump that you buy. The older ones like my old Slime have a metal piston & metal cylinder. A lot of the newer cheap small pumps have plastic pistons & those things will melt the piston if used to add a lot of air or pump up a sleeping pad.

 

The other thing to keep in mind is: most of those smaller cheap air pumps will draw just slightly over 10 amps when working & hot so will trip the BMW 1200 bike power socket protection circuit (you will probably need a 15 amp fused battery-direct power connection to use one reliably).

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Guest Kakugo

Exactly the same 12V pump as sold by Slime is sold with other brands or as a no-name eBay special at a lower price. My brother has one for his GS but I am unaware if he ever used it.

 

While we are at it I'll ask a very closely related question: what about a small foot pump for the same job? A motorcycle tyres doesn't hold that much air after all... ;)

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+1 on the gutted $10.00 pump. I have a fused, SAE 2 prong plug wired directly to the battery that doubles as a charging point.

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Normally, I'm a cheapskate, but I have the cycle pump. Comes as a nice kit ready to go. Has a top drawer chuck, and there's room in the bag for your patch kit. Five stars.

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I have a slime pump. Used it a number of times, never had an issue including pumping up several tires from dead flat. I'm ok with the size of it in the case. I think I'd consider the aerostitch pump if I had to replace mine as Andy tends to stock pretty high quality stuff and the price isn't much more.

 

The motopumps looks like a nice little unit as well.

 

For me, $140.00 for the cycle pump just seems *quite a bit* pricey. Come on.. it's a small pump for crying out loud. Maybe if I was riding 1000 miles from the nearest air.. but..

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The Slime pump works well. Understand, HEAT is the killer of air compressors big and small. I've destroyed, rebuilt, and repaired too many. When air (any gas) is compressed, the temp of the compressed air goes up dramatically (see Boyle's Law), and heats the piston, cylinder and output side, in addition to the electrical motor heat. Big multistage compressors have finned coils to help dissipate the heat. It's the reverse of the refrigeration cycle.

The heat will shorten the life or quickly destroy any of these light duty compressors. Also, putting hot air in your tires will give you less pressure when it cools down to the normal running temp of the tire.

Pumping up a motorcycle tire is about the limit of these little pumps for one continuous run fill. On a car tire or larger, best do it in several stages with cooling intervals between.

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Well, you asked. This guy stands behind his stuff and gives a little advrider discount. More money than the Slime, less money than some others.

 

http://motopumps.com/

 

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/new-motopumps-minipro-inflator-with-adv-inmate-bonus.931816/page-34

 

Terry

 

I purchased the Air Shot through the ADV thread a few months ago. Came quickly and I've used it a a few times - including filling a brand new RT front (used zip ties to change it and the mini pump to set the bead and fill it) and a completely flat LT rear, and today I used it a couple of times to adjust pressure in my air hitch.

 

I have no complaints - worked great, has a light which is nice, and comes with several accessories including a very long SAE power cord. I feel it was well worth the $50.

Josh

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Joe Frickin' Friday
The other thing to keep in mind is: most of those smaller cheap air pumps will draw just slightly over 10 amps when working & hot so will trip the BMW 1200 bike power socket protection circuit (you will probably need a 15 amp fused battery-direct power connection to use one reliably).

 

I have the same Slime pump eddd linked to. My bike has a direct-to-battery connection (with fuse) sticking out between front/rear saddles that I use for my Battery Tender; this is the perfect connection to use for the Slime pump.

 

I actually had a flat tire one morning at a hotel during a trip in 2013. Two discoveries:

 

1) the pump is LOUD. I felt compelled to roll the bike away from the hotel to a more remote location for filling the tire (BTW, a bike is damn hard to push with a dead-flat tire!).

 

2) if you start the bike's engine, system voltage goes up - which makes the pump spin a LOT faster.

 

If you take away some of the accessories/cabling that you definitely won't need on your bike, then there's enough room in the pump's carrying case to also stuff in a tube of rubber cement and some sticky ropes.

 

 

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We have the Slime pump. Still in the original plastic case and cardboard box. It has more than once filled a totally flat tire. We're so impressed with the $11 Slime we bought one for our VW Golf and another for our Passat, which has airbags for the rear suspension when hauling both RTs on a trailer. Cheap, works great, and fairly small. We store the pump in the RT side bags, not the top case, to keep the weight low. The plastic case just doesn't seem that large. Yup, it's loud. But all air pumps are. The other thing we like about the Slime pump is that the shrader valve fits the tires. Too often we'd pull into gas station airfills only to have the hose fitting not seat very well and leave with less air pressure than before the visit.

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Well, you asked. This guy stands behind his stuff and gives a little advrider discount. More money than the Slime, less money than some others.

 

http://motopumps.com/

 

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/new-motopumps-minipro-inflator-with-adv-inmate-bonus.931816/page-34

 

Terry

 

Ditto. I bought one of his Mini-Pro Deluxe pumps in November (when I traded my RT for a GSA). I like the built-in gauge (one less thing to carry), and the screw-on connection. I used it on my ride to Montana for the UnRally and it performed well. I had been using a Cycle Pump (along with the gauge they sell) for a number of years. While good, I always seemed to lose more than a reasonable amount of air every time I connected it (may be as much operator error, as anything else).

 

I'd check them out. Like Terry said, I got an ADVRider discount (they have a thread in the Vendors Forum on ADVRider.com).

Edited by marcopolo
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Thanks Terry, I ordered the small unit. Metal gears impressed me along with the 100psi capability. I had a Stop and Go that served me well until it was crushed when I was rear ended on my Goldwing. Goldwing for two up with my Wife, really, really glad she wasn't riding with me.

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As usual, you guys always come through with actionable good answers. So I took the recommendations from several of you and purchased the MotoPump Air Shot. Purchasing from the vendor was very easy and I had the Air Shot in my hands within two days.

 

I am extremely pleased with it's clever overall design and functionality. Size was an important part of my purchase decision, and I'm happy to report it fit neatly under the rear rack of my "11 RT with a little room to spare. I recommend it!

 

Thanks again for your answers.

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