Portable Air Compressor Recommendations

A company called Stop N Go makes a kit for motorcycles that includes the same small compressor pictured above as well as a tire plugging kit.

I've used this once, when my back tire picked up a large nail. The plug wasn't successful in saving the tire (I had to replace the tire later that week), but it was good enough to get me the last 200 miles home so that I could replace the tire at my convenience in my garage, rather than needing to have the motorcycle towed on a flatbed trailer.

Costs about $65 USD, comes in a small pouch that is easily stored in the bottom of a saddlebag.

Michael

Stop N Go Puncture Repair Kit

I have the Stop-N- Go mini compressor.
On my recent trip I wanted to top off a rear tire that was showing 39 PSI up to 42 PSI. I have the Stop-N-Go air pump that I have never used so it is basically new. Not only id it not inflate the tire but it managed to lower the rear tire to 25 psi before I stopped and disconnected it and found a near by ATV dealer to inflate my tire from 25 to 42 in about 2 minutes. any way - what did I do wrong? don't know - I was scared to keep trying due to it may drop the tire to 0 ??

I put the mini air compressor back in its new case, back on the bike and now I am not sure what to buy.

ST-Traveler said:

I have the Stop-N- Go mini compressor.
On my recent trip I wanted to top off a rear tire that was showing 39 PSI up to 42 PSI. I have the Stop-N-Go air pump that I have never used so it is basically new. Not only id it not inflate the tire but it managed to lower the rear tire to 25 psi before I stopped and disconnected it and found a near by ATV dealer to inflate my tire from 25 to 42 in about 2 minutes. any way - what did I do wrong? don't know - I was scared to keep trying due to it may drop the tire to 0 ??

I put the mini air compressor back in its new case, back on the bike and now I am not sure what to buy.

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Take your bike to your fav. garage with a compressor (or home if you have a compressor) and try out your bike's comp again. Once you have a backup you can play around w/o the pressure of "no compressed air if this does not work" (of course the pun was intended). I suspect you did not properly clip the comp's hose to your valve stem. I often screw this up w/ my bicycle air pump when I want to add only a pound or two to my mc's tires.

CYYJ said:

A company called Stop N Go makes a kit for motorcycles that includes the same small compressor pictured above as well as a tire plugging kit.

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On one of our group rides, one of the bikes suffered a flat in the restaurant's parking lot after lunch. Two attempts with the pictured mushroom plugs failed to stop the leak. Gummy worms worked perfectly. Now, one guy's experience with the added pressure of about a dozen friends standing around giving him conflicting instructions (friendly, though) is not a statistical sample against the mushroom plugs. Do some research before you depend on one style of plug.

Better yet, if you have a tire that's nearly bald, and you are about to change it, drive a nail into it and plug the puncture in the comfort of your own driveway. Then yank the wheel and change the tire. Funny how pilots are supposed to practice all sorts of things that might go wrong but we groundlings never even check a new car to see if there is a jack let alone read the manual to see how you extract it from the hidden compartment in the trunk.

SMSW said:

I suspect you did not properly clip the comp's hose to your valve stem.

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Thanks for the feed back so quickly but I have the screw on type and the only thing I can think is that I did not have it screwed on tight enough although I could not screw it on any tighter by hand - maybe I should have tried to use pliers to snug it on- I am planning on trying / practicing this in the safety of my garage.

If I can figure out what I did wrong I will feedback on this thread.

ST-Traveler said:

If I can figure out what I did wrong I will feedback on this thread.

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Maybe the O-ring fell out.

Larry Fine said:

Maybe the O-ring fell out.

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Thanks, I will check that too.

SMSW said:

Two attempts with the pictured mushroom plugs failed to stop the leak.

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I also saw reviews where the mushroom plug worked where the gummy worm didn't.
I guess you could carry both?
There are a lot of videos on you tube for the mushroom plugs that are pretty successful.

Aerostich catalog carries these - Aerostich Mini compressor... very small package - has been on all my bikes for over ten years... works every time.

I did find the problem- I hooked up to the stop-n-go to the valve stem by screwing it on and it quickly dropped from 44 psi to 32 psi- and I could hear the air escaping- I think the seal or O-ring is no good or dry rotted on the stop-n-go screw on part.
Do they sell such a seal to replace it? I had to dig the old one out so it is damaged for sure.
I think lesson here is test before you leave and don't let the "O" ring dry out. but what to add maybe silicone ? to keep lubed? so it doesn't dry rot.
From what I can tell is that is it not actually an "O" ring but a section of rubber tube type stuff about 5 mm thick.

SMSW said:

... Two attempts with the pictured mushroom plugs failed to stop the leak. Gummy worms worked perfectly.

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I had a somewhat similar experience earlier this year.

I picked up a large bolt in my rear tire. I used the 'mushroom plug' in the Stop N Go kit to plug the hole, and it did a "sort of good enough" job - it plugged the hole sufficiently well that I could ride at highway speeds for about an hour before the tire pressure dropped by about 7 PSI and I had to stop and re-inflate the tire (at a gas station this time). The little air compressor worked perfectly when I had to inflate the tire the first time around.

I think that the 'mushroom plugs' kind of dry out over time. My Stop N Go kit is 5 years old, so I can't complain about the rubber plugs perishing. What I intend to do before my next big road trip is to buy a small tube of vulcanizing cement - for example, a 25 gram tube of Rema Tip-Top SVS Cold Vulcanizing Cement - and carry that with me in my kit. I'll also pick up a small sealed package of gummy worms. If I suffer a small puncture, I'll shove a gummy worm in, and if I get a larger puncture, I'll squirt some of the vulcanizing cement into the hole first, work it around inside the hole with the reaming tool, then shove the mushroom plug into the well-lubricated-with-glue hole.

All I expect the Stop N Go kit to do is save me from being stranded at the side of the road. If the patch lasts long enough to get me to somewhere that I can get the tire replaced - or at least get me to a hotel in a decent town so I can organize a replacement tire the next day - then that's good enough. I would not feel comfortable continuing a long road trip, far away from home, riding on a tire that has a mushroom plug or gummy worm in it. That's not so much a safety concern as it is a desire to avoid further headaches & delays.

Michael

CYYJ said:

I had a somewhat similar experience earlier this year....

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I've said before that I replace my gummy worms and the tube of rubber cement every year. Both are too inexpensive enough not to have fresh materials to work with when they are needed. And I carry the last year's worms and glue as a backup.

Without rereading the thread I’ll just note that the mushroom plugs can possibly have the shaft cut by the steel belts in radial tires, once installed and underway sometime later/down the road. It’s happened. I carry gummies also (for my radial tire riding friends

John

I think I will carry both- not that expensive- now back to the compressor seal at the screw on to the valve stem part- that seal failed me as tested in my garage. When screwing onto the valve stem air started to escape and no matter how tight I screwed it on it still leaked a large amount in a short time. So I am assuming the seal is no good or was too far down on the threads to provide an adequate sealing mating surface.

John OoSTerhuis said:

Without rereading the thread I’ll just note that the mushroom plugs can possibly have the shaft cut by the steel belts in radial tires

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Yes - there is a little card that comes in the kit and states the same thing. to only use until you can get tire replaced ( on steel belted tires) . I do have the Michelin PR4 GT's which according to the side wall information it is Kevlar belted and not steal belted- I believe the mushroom plugs will work OK for this situation.

ST-Traveler said:

I think I will carry both- not that expensive- now back to the compressor seal at the screw on to the valve stem part- that seal failed me as tested in my garage. When screwing onto the valve stem air started to escape and no matter how tight I screwed it on it still leaked a large amount in a short time. So I am assuming the seal is no good or was too far down on the threads to provide an adequate sealing mating surface.

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Is there a rubber washer like you find in a garden hose in your connector? I doubt if you can find the appropriate size, but if you see the black rubber and the leak is around the threads, maybe wrapping teflon tape around the valve stem might solve the problem? I'd probably just go to hopot or wherever and buy a new compressor - they are not expensive. Then test it before you ride with it.

SMSW said:

Is there a rubber washer like you find in a garden hose in your connector?

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Yes kinda- it is approx 4-5 mm thick, maybe it shrunk or something, but it would not seal the connection - no wonder the little compressor could not fill the tire, I was loosing air way faster that the little pump could keep up.

CYYJ said:

All I expect the Stop N Go kit to do is save me from being stranded at the side of the road.

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Some reviewers are saying they are leaving in and getting the rest of the life out of the tire.

ST-Traveler said:

I do have the Michelin PR4 GT's which according to the side wall information it is Kevlar belted and not steal belted- I believe the mushroom plugs will work OK for this situation.

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The experience I cited above (post #51) was with a Michelin PR4 GT. But, I don't blame the tire, I think the mushroom plug had perished (dried out) - it was 5 years old.

Michael

SMSW said:

I doubt if you can find the appropriate size...

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No, to the contrary, it should be super-easy to find a replacement O-ring for the inside of the threaded fitting that attaches to the valve stem.

The size of the fitting is a universal standard for Schrader-type valves, so, all that @ST-traveller needs to do is go to a bicycle shop and buy the little 4-inch long air hose that screws into the end of a piston-type bicycle pump, carefully pry out the O-ring, and fit it into his Stop N Go hose fitting.

Here's an example of what I mean: Bicycle Pump Air Hose. $1.20 on eBay, but going to a bicycle shop would probably be faster and easier.

Michael

ST-Traveler said:

Some reviewers are saying they are leaving in and getting the rest of the life out of the tire.

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Good for them, I'm happy for those folks, because tires are darn expensive.

In my case, I only use my STs to ride a long way away from my home (I live in Toronto, and just got back from a month of riding in Europe), and I'm not willing to take the risk that the plug might fail, this because towing charges, a couple of nights in a hotel, shipping charges for a tire, etc. can very quickly add up to more than the price of a new tire.

If I used my STs mostly for day trips, I might be willing to see how the plug holds up and see if I can use the tire until the tread wears out.

Michael