ARI AirPlugger Tubeless Tire Repair Tool @MotoPumps - Awesome tool AT A GREAT PRICE!
The AirPlugger is compact, lightweight, strong, versatile and all the tools fit inside the handle.
Sticky strings, reamer and insertion needle.
Over my riding career, I have gotten plenty of flat tires which lead to the creation of MotoPumps® back in 2005. Having the right tools along on the bike to deal with any eventuality is one of my rules. This leads to a bloated tool kit that is large and heavy. Reducing the weight and bulk of that kit has become a bit of an obsession.
I love the Dynaplug tire plugging tools, and have carried one for about 12 years. They are compact, lightweight and easy to use.
Aside from price ($22 to $85), their shortcoming is that the plugs are small and sometimes a single plug does not fix a larger puncture. I had three plugs in one puncture and while it didn't seal perfectly, it did get me home. After dealing with that a few times I added a traditional sticky string/bacon strip repair kit to my tools for larger punctures. The shape of the Dynaplug handle also makes the tool harder to use than the T-Handled tire pluggers on the market. The trade-off is that the T-Handle tools are large and often heavy.
About a year ago I found the Fri Concepts AirPlugger and bought one to test. (It is now called the ARI AirPlugger)
5" overall height
1" diameter
3.8 oz weight
Machined aluminum case that stores the tools inside and turns into a handle. Nice design.
Bringing the new Made-in-the-USA MotoPump to Market!
As COVID 19 and Trump tariffs have wreaked havoc across the world, they have also changed the much smaller world of MotoPumps.
Since going off-shore to produce the MotoPumps Mini Pro inflator in 2012, I have wanted to bring production back to the US. For anyone who has first hand knowledge of how things work domestically and off-shore, they will not be surprised how many factors make it extremely attractive to do business outside the US. Much of it comes down to price, but in a niche segment, production run size is also key. Most US companies are not set up to do small runs and won’t entertain those requests.
As a small company in a niche market, we can’t do product runs of 50,000 pieces. The magic of many off-shore factories is they are built to work on small runs and offer one-stop shopping. They will design with you, make many molds or hunt down the myriad small parts needed, assemble, test, create packaging, print, pack, QC, manage export logistics and get the product to your warehouse. Here in the US, that one-stop shopping is not a thing, at least when your runs are small.
I recently retired from a long IT career at Cornell University and can finally dedicate the time to manage all the logistics and get production back to the US. I can make this work by not counting my time and using all the management, project implementation and arm twisting skills I learned in the crazy world of IT Security.
Product Requirements:
For the Motorcycle market, an inflator needs to be reliable, small, light, durable and have decent performance. Reliable is first because you probably already have an issue as you reach for your tire inflator — if it doesn’t work now, you are no better off, but probably a bit worse off as far as your mental state. This thing has to work when you have a flat tire.
Small and light is important because if it isn’t, you will leave it at home. No one wants to haul around a heavy tool that they may not use that often. Durable matters because it has to withstand the vibration, knocks and bumps it will experience not only during normal use, but while stored on a motorcycle making its way across the planet. Life in a pannier is not easy!
Performance is important, but the least important of those as an extra minute or three to inflate a tire is not the end of the world, especially considering the alternative of not having a compressor at all, or using up all your CO2 cartridges and realizing the board you ran over had two nails in it, and now you have two holes to plug not one. Performance of our pumps is exemplary for their size and weight, but physics dictates that putting a certain amount of air into a tire at a certain pressure takes time.
All that said, here are a few images of the engineering process as it has progressed so far.
Early image as work started on a clamshell style case
I enjoy the iterative development and engineering process as I explain what I want and the product needs to be and the engineers explain physics, thermal dynamics and reality. All that stuff doesn’t stop a good product from coming to market, dammit!
Designs naturally refine as productive meetings are had. Need this feature, need it to fit the hand here, move the wire here, the vent there. No, much to big. Looks good, now lets remove that wasted space…
Outside of case showing contours
Refining size, function, features and style…
3D Print of final prototype. Ready to create injection molding tooling for the case. Logo will be added when the tool is made.
Air Shot 2.0 in action. We provide a lanyard loop so you can hang the pump while it is running to keep it out of the dirt and dust.
Empty case shell ready to be built
MotoPumps® Air Shot 2.0 kit with Cig/BMW plug, battery ring terminals and battery clips
As of late August 2021 we started taking pre-orders for the new MotoPumps® Air Shot 2.0 kit and shipping in early September. The feedback has been great!
MotoPumps on the MABDR
When the maps and tracks for the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route were released this spring, trip planning became the main subject of our Happy Hours as we gathered and waited for the riding season to begin. It is a bit ironic that it took us almost the entire season to actually make this happen, but here we are.
On the eve of our departure, Mother Nature is washing the roads for us!
That is a pretty organized front…
Lets just hope she is not washing them out. Florence took her shot at the Carolina Coast too. I think this is going to be a moist BDR ride, even up on the spine of Virginia.
Four of us will be leaving Ithaca NY in the morning, riding down to Damascus VA and then riding the MA BDR south to north. We are on a BMW F650GS, a Honda Africa Twin, a Triumph Tiger 800 XCa, and a KTM 1290 Super Adventure.
Come ride along with Greg, Doug, Seth and Rob.
Weeks before departure, the bikes were hardened, outfitted with crash bars, skid plates and knobby tires. The AT got a set of Shinko 804/805s
The GS a set of engine guards and K60 Scouts. They are pretty stiff, but went on with a bit of grunting and sworking.
The Tiger 800 XCa has a set of Pirelli Scorpion Rally knobs.
And the KTM 1290 Super Adventure got a set of Shinko 804/805s as well...
I said goodbye to my sweetie Briar Rose and she snapped this before I headed out.
Headed down to Gimme Coffee and met up with Greg, Doug and Seth.
Greg and Doug were already there.
Seth arrived shortly after...
...and we got to synching our Cardo communicators for the ride down. Easy to form a mesh group and it worked well. The battery life on day one was not what we had hoped, but it seems it is hard work for these things to keep 4 bikes linked from 8am to 6pm...
We arrived in Staunton VA for the night and parked the steeds.
A good day of riding so far. About 420 miles with mostly overcast skies, some sunshine, some rain, some wind and no issues at all. Great riding with this group.
We got our rooms, relaxed and shared some tequila and rye and headed across the parking lot to the Waffle House for what turned out to be a great dinner.
Charging our devices, talking to sweethearts and getting ready for what looks like a wet day tomorrow. There is no place I would rather be.
Rode from Staunton to Damascus on Sunday morning and got to Cowboy's in time for lunch. They are back open now and you should have some fried chicken.
Cowboys is right at the start of the MA BDR, 3rd and Douglas.
Full of a good lunch, we headed out. Just a couple of miles in, there is this beautiful waterfall on the side of the trail, climbing out...
Beautiful country roads...
Spectacular cuts through the rocks along the river...
Stopped the BDR for the day in Bland VA, and headed down to Wytheville to get a room and some dinner.
Great day of riding, weather was not too bad, we had some rain, but rode in overcast skies with some sunshine for most of the day.
Had dinner at El Puerto and really enjoyed it. Great food, great margaritas and a fun waiter with a sense of humor. Nice way to end the day.
We picked back up this morning after a hearty breakfast at the Waffle House in Wytheville. It was a short run back up 77 to Bland where we picked up the trail again and headed up into the hills.
The dirt section between Bland and Eggleston was lots of fun with a few muddy challenging sections. Light rain, heavy fog and no dust on the dirt roads! Aside from on hairy moment trying to circumnavigate a mudhole where both Doug and I almost went swimming, it was relatively smooth going. Fully loaded ADV bikes in the mud are a handful. Seems a better approach would have been to go through the center of this large mud hole instead of skirting it. I am sure we will get more opportunities.
We stopped to take some pictures at the bottom of Dismal Creek road, near Trent's Grocery and met Joe Carr.
Write here…
This was his wife's grandfather's house, built 9 years before the civil war. Beautiful Gap Farm. Had a great conversation and exchanged info. So nice to meet folks down here and learn a bit about their life, history, family, etc. Love how friendly everyone is. They definitely know about all the bikes going by and seem pleased with it.
The fog was with us pretty constantly.
Neat shot of the Africa Twin in the fog on a long uphill section:
