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manual air pump
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:22 am
by badgertom
Has anyone tried using a manual air pump ? I am looking at the Aerostich Micro Floor Drive Pump which seems to be capable of providing the required pressure and volume (?). I like the idea that it is a push down type pump and not the standard bicycle pump.
Re: manual air pump
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:54 pm
by ipokebadgers
Years ago when I had my R100S I used to use a bicycle pump as I also rode a bicycle a lot. It wasn't motorcycle specific as the Aerostich seems to be. It wasn't too much trouble pumping up a motorcycle tire it just took a while. Volume being the biggest issue as any bicycle pump should give you the pressure. I have owned many plug-in air pumps and I have a pigtail made so I can use them with a BMW plug. They don't seem to last that long for me. That being said I have never had to use one on the side of the road.
The Aerostich pump looks like a very well made tool and it should work well for adding air to a tire. The only issue I see with the hand pump is seating a bead if the bead is broken. There are tricks to that but I wouldn't want to use any of them on a motorcycle tire and sometimes high pressure and flow are needed to seat a bead. I keep a 10 lb bottle of liquid CO2 in my garage and use that anytime I need to air up a tire or when installing a new tire at home.
Re: manual air pump
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:16 pm
by xprof
Back in the day, I remember pumping up tires along the roadside with the hand-pump that came with my 1959 R60; I could get just enough pressure to make it to the next filling station for a proper fill. Of course, with tubes, seating the bead was no problem. I believe I'd rather use an electric, given the choice...
PS: In my garage, I air up from my SCUBA tank. Now that's slick!