Portable Air Compressor

[TM1918]

I picked up a drywall screw in my front tire today and barely made it home. I was out on a pretty rural ride about 50 miles from any service station and no cell service.

 

This prompted me to think of packing a portable pump.

 

Cyclepump.com offers what appears to be a pretty good product that sells for about $100.00. I also read an article on Webbikeworld.com where they took a "Campbell-Hausfeid" cheap little compressor and basically took the guts out.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions.

 

[dirtrider]

Hi TM

 

I carry and have carried for years a cheap “Slime” 12 volt tire air pump. I removed the bulky outer plastic case and lengthened the wires slightly then added a new power plug. I also shortened the air hose to allow better packaging when carried in the bike. That little air pump works great and has performed very well for a long time. It is small enough to fit in the little storage compartment on the RT’s or in the corner of a tank bag on the GS. You can spend more, in some cases a lot more, for a dedicated motorcycle air pump but as far as I can tell when watching others use their high dollar motorcycle pumps at rallies or campgrounds they don’t pump any better or any longer than a cheap “Slime” pump.

 

On your 05 RT you will probably have to either add a new battery-direct fused wire pigtail and SAE plug or update the factory “in fairing” power outlet to a direct wired to battery outlet to operate about “any” 12v air pump as those little pumps draw quite a bit of power so will trip the circuit breaker in your ZFE module if you try to run an air pump from the unaltered factory outlet.

 

[markgoodrich]

Slime is a bit pricey, but it fits nicely in the tail, in front of the alarm. It's my understanding most of the little compressors are essentially the same inside their cases. Over the years I've read of guys going to Wal-Mart, etc and buying the $10-15 units, stripping off the plastic housings, cutting off the cooling fans, and having a perfectly serviceable, very small compressor. Can't find a pictorial right now, gotta go get suited up for a breakfast ride...

[Lmar]

I carry a slime compressor that I picked up for $25.00 or $30.00. Came with 8 oz of slime. Works great.

[marcopolo]

I've been using a Cyclepump for about five years now and it works great. Some obviously don't like its price. I have an '06 RT and I have no problem whatsoever running the pump off the standard auxiliary power outlets (they are not wired direct to the battery).

[GordonB]

My $15 slime works great off the canbus aux socket. What ever pump you purchase plug er in and give the canbus a test.

[johnlt]

My Cyclepump would "pop" the breaker (I know, I know it's not a breaker) on the aux socket when the pressure got higher. Just drew too much current. I use a fused SAE from the battery which I also use for the battery tender.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Slime. I found mine for 19 bucks on sale at Cabelas or something like it online.

edit:

Looks like you can beat that price at Amazon 17.99!

[markgoodrich]

Ah, I found the super-cheap conversion:

 

http://tinyurl.com/f1tv

 

I'll bet a dollar this is the same pump contained within the Slime case.

[ESokoloff]

 

Does anyone have any suggestions.

 

I gutted a cheepo compressor & installed it in a project box with holes drilled in the side & a filter fabricated from a make-up removal pad & a screen along with some LED's.

Now not only do I have a compact air pump, I also have a switch (on-off) LED spot light & a red led that is unswitch all crammed into one little box.

[TM1918]

Okay, so the what I'm getting from you guys is the cheapo comp is the way to go. I like cheap. And ERIC, that project box deal is awesome. I'm gonna pick one up and stuff it in that box.

 

Thanks everyone.

[tallman]

Before you "gut" it, compare the actual volume of any box/container you will use to the original design.

When I did that, I decided to just leave my "cheap" pump in the original plastic it came with.

 

We've compare slime and Cycle Pump inflation times.

Cycle Pump wins, by a bit.

Not enough to say that it should be the choice and when you compare price, Slime comes out ahead.

I carry a Slime for the truck trailer and an AutoZone for the bike.

Sometimes I swap the Slime for the AZ on the bike.

 

But I'm still leery of stripping the pump down and subjecting wire and connections to saddlebag vagaries.

[johnlt]

I have heard stated that the "high-end" pumps like Cyclepump have metal pistons and the low-end pumps use plastic pistons and will not last nearly as long. I have not confirmed this but just passing on the info. I have a slime on one bike and a CP on the other and both have performed nicely. The prices however are dramatically different. The CP was around $100 and the Slime was $9 after the mail-in rebate!!

[tomk99r11]

Ya, that is a big price difference for something that will rarely be used repeatedly by most of us I am guessing. I have the slime pump, a cheapo one bought from somewhere I don't recall, and a cheapo from Wallys. They were all bought for different reasons and one as a gift. I sure wouldn't pay $100 for a pump you will likely seldom use and if the cheapo shoots craps, buy another one.

[Penforhire]

+1 for the Slime unit. I think I paid $20 for mine and it came with some Slime,, lol. I used to strip housings off $12 units and change to a Powerlet plug but they are hard to handle (get HOT) and there is an exposed plastic gear I always worried about. I suppose if I had less storage space (R12RT with top case) I'd probably still use the homebrew.

[tallman]

Tom,

But when u need it, you really need it.

I've never heard of a Cycle Pump failing, we sold them for years.

Anyone?

But, again, I use a different product.

[dirtrider]

Hi Tim

 

I have been using the same slime pump for years. I use it a lot as I use it every camping trip to blow up my sleeping pad and that takes a while of running with that small pump. It also gets used to blow up other sleeping pads at the camp site and pump up an occasional tire or two. I even used it a while back to blow up a tractor inner tube for a river float trip.

 

The only problem I have had is on the late BMW’s with the ZFE controlled power outlets. It will work for a while but after it gets hot or starts making higher pressure it will trip the ZFE circuit breaker. On my own bikes I just change out the power outlet to the early higher amp sockets then wire direct to the battery with fuse.

 

[bakerzdosen]

The more you pay for the pump, the less likely you are to ever use it (unless of course you leave it at home.)

 

I have a cycle pump that I initially tested 2 years ago, and haven't used since...

[Jerry Johnston]

Harbor Freight has a cheapy for approx $12 and a very niece looking one in a small flexible canvas bag for $25

[Dave_in_TX]

Ah, I found the super-cheap conversion:

 

http://tinyurl.com/f1tv

 

 

I have one of those. It worked when I did the conversion but so far, I haven't needed it.

[TM1918]

Ok. So the pump thing is really got me going. I spent all day researching the different pumps. I even went to Pep Boys. I think the best way to go is the slime 40001. No it doesn't come with slime. I wouldn't put that in my tire/rim anyway. So the 40001 cost about $30.00. That's pretty cheap. I could have bought it. However, now its a project. I found a super cheap pump at Harbor Freight (yellow plastic for ref) for $5.99. I stripped it out and removed the gauge. I also picked up a Radio Shack mini project box made of plastic for $2.99. Now I'm gonna put the whole thing together and build a kit with along witha plugs/plug tool.

[TM1918]

I am also going to change out the cig lighter for a powerlet. I don't have one yet, but I suspect they are less than $5.00. So all together this kit should cost less than $15.00. This is half the cost of the SLIME pump. Oh, slime has another pump for $12.99 that probably works good too.

 

I will probably go out and buy the SLIME 40001 as a back up. LOL.

 

 

[TM1918]

The reason I started this thread is to demonstrate how important it is to be prepared. I'm sure the real ADV guys will agree with me. I was truly out in "no man's land" this weekend. I would have been in big trouble if my leak would have been worse.

 

Get a pump, emergency water, cell phone battery back up, etc... if you're going way out.

 

There was an MMA fighter about a year ago who went out and his bike failed. He ended up dying in the desert. BE PREPARED!