Looking at the box, they marked it as a "commercial sample"

They tried I guess !!

What I dont understand is, i paid sales tax in the US and duty in the UK...

Surely they both cant tax you ?

I know this is pretty trivial on small items but imagine buying a full luggage set etc.

Absolutely wrong of them to charge you sales tax stateside !
I've never had to pay that for exported items .

Hey guys,
The Cyclepump is just a Chinese electric air pump in a fancy box IMHO. I am sure you can buy the same thing in Europe. Just strip the plastic off it to make the package smaller and you have the same thing. I attached my guts to a heavy piece of cardboard with a couple of plastic ties. There have been many threads on how to do this on Adventure rider and so on.

If you use cardboard, make a little well in the cardboard for the rotating wheel on the pump.
It is very simple. I run mine in the lid of my Touratech aluminum pannier.
The pump costs around $15usd at Walmart in the USA.
Try to find one with a decent air chuck.
bill.

Hey Bill

Usually I would agree with you but i have tried these cheap pumps and they are CRAP but I guess you can get lucky.

Iv had 3 and thrown 3 away within a couple of weeks of use. I know the cyclepump is expensive for what it is but it does come very highly recommended and at the $-£ exchange rate, its VERY cheap for us Brits (unless customs catch us :()

I have to say that I'm delighted with mine. It's built like a little brick shithouse, and pumps like a mad little m***********. For some reason though, the cigarette lighter connection to my socket is a little dodgy.. I need to jiggle it occasionally to get it to start. I must see if I have a loose connection in the socket, or whether the cyclepump plug just doesn't make a good connection. It uses the universal DIN (BMW) / cigarette lighter combo type plug, so maybe thats the problem.. The fallback option is the battery connection with crocodile clips, which is a great option to have. I could always just re-wire a regular plug into it, but then I wouldn't be able to use it with my R1150RT :(

Review: Out of 10

Quality: 9 (caveat.. not yet used in anger) - brass whatucallits, solid hoses, heavy ally box. bulletproof. feels a bit weighty for it's small size, but I wouldn't be afraid to drop it.
Aesthetics: 9 (hey, I like aluminium box panniers, so it fulfils my definiton of stylish)
Value for money (given that I got a bit shafted by UK customs): 6

I'd like to see some of the sharp(ish) edges on the foldable legs rounded off though.. they keep on ripping my latex work gloves.

Chinese?
 

Hi Ted,
Well maybe I am wrong. I will try to find the link on Adventure rider.
Have you had the lid off your pump and looked inside?
Do you find plastic gears and Chinese manufactured components?

Check this thread out...page 3 has the good info.

Tire pump recommendation - ADVrider

I know its nicely done but that is a $90 box.
I zip tied my stripper to a heavy piece of cardboard and found little bag to store it. I run it in the lid of my Touratech aluminum pannier.
It works very well.

bill





bill.

[url=http://www.motopumps.com/]

I got mine from this guy off ebay, about $30 or so, much cheeper than the more expensive cyclepump. Been a life saver several times on my trip of the americas. No problems so far after 5 1/2 months of regular use.

Packs up small in a neat little zip bag and mine came with tubeless tyre repairs. I´m now looking for an inline tyre guage though as those little pen type guages pack in pretty quickly.

Tiny Tyre inflator
 

I just bought this last week from Infinity Motorcycle:

Sime Power Sport Tyre Inflator

Cost me £29.99 and it is really small!

It comes with pressure gauge pen like and all the cables required. I have not tried yet but could be an idea rather than order in the US and pay a fortune in customs?

Small is beautiful
 

Maria but there too many tales of small/cheap compressors breaking and/or not being capable of re-seating a tyre. Many overheat fast and seize up and/or can take ages to put any air in- more noise than pump!!
It is likely to be a false economy and a real disappointment when you find out on the road.

I'm a big fan of the Cycle Pump - quality kit which used it each day in Africa- & never let me down - just make sure not to put it anywhere where it can suck up 'crud'!
It really does 'what is says on the box'.

BTW make sure you don't pack those CO2 cartridges as I have been told by air-freighters that these cause big problems when bikes are x-rayed and often lead to cases being opened to have those removed before flight.

Hi Bertrand !
I guess it's too late as our bikes have just been crated with all the luggage and tools! I'll just have to test this tyre pump on the road and see how it goes!
We have not packed those CO2 cartridges so I hope all will go fine on Monday when the airline X-Ray the bikes! When are you off? Still starting from Quito?

Yup
 

and yup :thumbup1:

I went through the whole pump/inflator research thing before my last trip to Morocco. In the end I went for the home made route.
I bought a standard 12V inflator from Halfords, stripped off the casing, guage, and in-line switch to leave a motor/pump assembly with a short hose and 12V lead attached (much the same as the one in the ADV Rider article inked to above). It cost me all of £15.
It's cheap, compact and I've used it regularly and it's been has been 100% reliable.
From what I've seen of these things they all use an identical design, and a similar mass produced motor/pump unit. The parts which are most likely to fail are the 12V connector (they're usually quite fragile plastic which doesn't stand up to regular use) and the cheap valve connection. Both of these are easily replaced with better quality items.

Mark
 

was yours able to re-seat the bead ? if so on what size tyre?
cheers

No problem at all as long as you put a bit of lube on the bead. The rear on my KTM950 is a 150/70 and the standard Pirelli tyres are well known for needing plenty of pressure to pop the beads - my little inflator gets 50-60psi into it in a few minutes.
I've done quite a few tyre changes using this inflator and used it on a daily basis to bump up pressures for road riding with no problems.

cheers
 

always good to know of another bit of kit that works.