Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Mini air compressor recommendations

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Quote:

Originally Posted by backofbeyond (Post 623622)

What were they called? A Schrader valve or something like that. Had one back in the 70's. As you say, not much use on a single but it worked well enough on multi cylinder engines with normal sized plugs - ie cars! Most of the Japanese bikes we all rode back then had smaller plugs that it wouldn't fit.

Biggest worry was that you'd be filling your tyre with petrol vapour rather than air. The manufacturers said no, everyone else said yes. I had no idea but I do remember making sure nobody was smoking nearby when we were checking tyre pressures!

I was once told Schrader pumps didn't use the compressed gas from the engine's cylinder as I recall, they used the cylinder pressure to drive a separate pump piston in the pump body.
Not too sure if this is true though.
What is true is that they were pretty useless.

Ted Simon set out with one, but there was never any mention in Jupiter's of him actually using it.

I had one in the late 70's and found that the hand pump that used to be supplied with BMW's, back in the day when they were made by Bavarians who prided their national product, was much quicker.

That was the 'official' line, that the pumping cylinder didn't pull in fuel during its induction stroke and just pumped air, but 70's Facebook forums (your biker mates in the pub basically :rofl:) thought otherwise. I can't say I ever remember sniffing the tyre valve to check but we did use one a few times on mini bus / van trips until it fell apart. It was a bit slow but it did work.

The Japanese used to supply hand pumps with some of their early bikes - mainly 60's stuff but I do remember a couple of early 70's Suzukis coming with them. The frame on my 1970 Yamaha 250 has the lugs for a pump but they stopped including the actual pump with the previous model. Whenever I look at that part of the frame I wonder about how much job satisfaction some Japanese welder got knowing that his day was spent doing something completely pointless.