In hommage to my late close friend Bob Leong, who preferred to go by his avatar
BobSkoot, I wrote that Bob was
full of good surprises. I was fond of thinking of Bob as a wizard. He had the gift of making good stuff happen.
With his passing, I resigned myself to a life without Bob's surprises.
Then I got an e-mail from Brad and Brandy. It turns out that Bob would buy stuff from time to time and have it sent to Brad and Brandy in Oregon, taking advantage of free shipping offers that sadly don't extend north past the border. Bob was rarely in a rush to have the things he ordered, and was content to pick them up whenever circumstances allowed.
That was how Brad and Brandy came to be holding a purchase for Bob. With his untimely passing, it was destined never to be collected or delivered.
Unbeknownst to me, a consensus developed among west coast bloggers that Bob would have wanted me to have the item.
On Wednesday it arrived on my doorstep.
It didn't take long for me to tear the wrapping off like a little kid on Christmas morning.
What the heck is it?
Well it's
this.
An amazingly well thought-out, high-performance, portable, 12 volt air pump. It gets its power from the vehicle's electrical system. You can tell it's designed for the moto community because it's compact, it has a robust lossless screw-on air chuck, and the primary electrical connection terminates in a female two-prong SAE connector.
Stock Vespas don't have one of those, but I do. I installed one direct from the battery, hours prior to my departure on last's year's moto trip with... guess who... Bob.
The line, which is fused at 10 amps, runs from the battery compartment in the floor, back through the bike, and exits just below the left rear fairing.
This pump kicks butt!
I tried it out minutes after unwrapping it and it's by far the best way yet to adjust the tire pressure on my Vespa.
My full size air compressor is technically superior, but when you factor in turning it on, waking the dead while it builds pressure in the tank, uncoiling the hose, connecting the hose, plugging in the tire filler attachment, and clipping the business end onto the valve, the
MotoPump is way, way, more convenient than the full size compressor. That doesn't factor in the time it takes to take the compressor components off, empty the tank, store the hose and accessories, and so on.
Comparing the
MotoPump to the portable 12V pump I had been keeping on the bike for emergencies, the
MotoPump takes up a lot less room than my former loud and painfully slow portable pump that had no built-in gauge or worklight. The
MotoPump also comes with an array of accessories that will allow you to inflate anything, and includes both an extension with a standard car 12V plug, and, for good measure, an extension with battery terminal alligator clamps, just in case you're servicing an ATV or a farm tractor (nudge nudge, hint hint, wink, wink). Even with the accessories, it still takes up a lot less room than my old pump. The
MotoPump is also amazingly fast for a portable pump. In fact, it's amazingly fast for any pump; period.
Armed with this baby in my Vespa's underseat compartment, I could rescue stranded motorists in full-size SUVs! Wouldn't that be a hoot! Next time I see a stranded motorist, I'm going to stop.
Here's proof:
Wow!
Thanks Bob, wherever you are, I feel you smiling, truly I do. And thanks to Brad, and Brandy, and Richard if I'm not mistaken, for your kindness in making this happen.
I am blown away (sorry for the pun).