Made by Inmates, for Inmatesis a series to highlight some of the very talented and inventive inmates who are making and designing products for you and your riding buddies and your motorcycles. Today, we’re looking at MotoPumps, as sold by inmate @Motopumps!

MotoPumps

Tell us about MotoPumps; what were your humble beginnings?

Like the start of many, it was an accidental business. Back in 2005, in a span of six weeks, I got three flat tires while riding. The third one was on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, two-up, on a weekend ride from New York to Maryland. Armed with a can of fix-a-flat, I had confidence, but in practice, the goo came out just as fast as the air had gone missing.

Hours were spent on the side of the road before we were flat-bedded to the nearest dealer. They had a tire and fixed the bike and all we lost was about 8 hours and $385 for the flatbed and service.

When I got home from that weekend, I started thinking about putting together a compact, 12v powered inflator with a suite of tire plugging tools. I wanted it to be 100% reliable, packable, easy to use, and provide multiple inflation cycles in case I didn’t get a good plug or patch on the first try. CO2 cartridges were not an option for me based on my requirements borne of previous experience.

I went to Autozone, Walmart, Agway, Napa, Sears, etc., and bought one of each of the smallest 12v tire inflators I could find. I took them all apart and figured out which one worked the best and could be made the smallest without the case. The winner was a Campbell Hausfeld unit from Walmart.

It required cutting off the motor shaft and fan, removing and plugging the barb for the bulky and very approximate air gauge, relocating the on-off rocker switch, and changing the cig-plug to an SAE plug. Shrinkwrap around the motor to secure and clean up the wires, zip ties, switch, and hose. I was pretty proud of my one-off creation. (I later became a Campbell Hausfeld dealer to supply production)

The next time I was in the dealership, the guys were giving me grief for yet another flat and I showed them the kit. I had found a zippered neoprene case in the dollar store and had the pump and plug/patch kit in there as well. They were impressed when I showed them how quickly it would inflate a tire and they said, “you should sell those!”. After a few riding buddies asked if I would make one for them, I decided it would be a fun hobby business. My brother helped with the name, a logo, and a domain and we were off and running.

How long have you been in business?

We started as MotoEssentials.com in 2005 but changed to MotoPumps.com in the spring of 2006. We sold our first kit on ADVRider in January of 2007.

Why do you make parts for motorcycles, what inspired the passion?

I got my first motorcycle in 1979 (I still have that Honda XL185s)

I have always fiddled with bikes and when I have found a niche in the market that was unfilled, it seemed like a natural way to support my habit, connect with other riders and expand involvement in the sport.

It has led to lots of trade shows, rallies, launches, magazine articles, and fun industry opportunities. I even chose my next bike at the 2016 NY International Motorcycle Show, when I was supposed to be working!

What was your first product, and do you still make it/ sell it or something like it?

TheMotoPumps Classic inflatoris still in our product line and is not all that different from the first one I made nearly twenty years ago. Each one is still handcrafted by me.

Your new inflator is the AirShot 2.0: Talk us through the build, the highs, the lows, the design, and the finished product?

This was the fourth pump design and my major motivators were to simplify, control quality and improve performance, keep the price down as much as possible and make the new design here in the United States.

The amount of time I was putting into quality control that was supposed to be done at the off-shore factory meant that I was nearly back in the early days of building everything myself.

Import tariffs, COVID killing one of the factories, QC issues, and retiring from my 25 year IT management career at Cornell made it possible to repatriate production.

“All of our other products were being made in the US anyway, why not make our primary product here too? It was more than that, it really feels like the right thing to do“

美国小规模生产的弊端很多。离岸工厂对这种家庭工业工作开放，并将提供端到端的服务，这些服务在不到50万件的生产运行中找不到。

They are happy to help with design, engineering, molding, creation of tooling, printing, packaging, testing, QC, logistics, shipping, etc. They offer end-to-end service for small production runs at really enticing prices—at least they were still good up until about 2016.

For the Air Shot 2.0, I had to handle every aspect of the project. Many businesses would not even return my phone calls or cut the conversation short when they found out I didn’t want 250,000 pieces of whatever they were vending.

“I used Google street view to look at the various factories to find ones that were small and local looking. Those folks understand small, they came from there and were willing to work with me”

在一场全球性传染病发作中这样做是有ant challenge and definitely raised prices, made some products much harder to come by, and slowed everything down. In my IT career I had managed many high-pressure, time-sensitive, failure-not-an-option projects and that definitely helped me.

The injection molding was the area where I had the least experience, and that was also where I found the greatest challenges. After a number of false starts, a friend, fellow ADVrider and maker asked his circle of Haas machining buddies about injection molding businesses in the Northeast.

我的项目太小了，我敢肯定，对于我联系的大多数地方来说，我似乎都太无调了。我终于接到了Selinsgrove PA的注射模塑料Selmax的电话。他们对该项目开放，并将我送往费城的一家工程公司，为我的充气机设计模具。

Working with Creative Mechanisms and a great engineer named Erson (who I inspired to get his motorcycle license during the project!) was a pleasure. It took way longer than I anticipated, cost a bundle and we got a great result.

Once the design work was done, 3D-printed models were made and tested for thermal issues, noise, fitment, handling, etc. Many iterations, many arguments about size, production issues, thermal issues, mold complexity later, and we had a design. The drawings went to Selmax and we worked on getting bids from mold makers.

Holy crap, they cost more than a nice new car! I visited the factory to talk, see other folks molds in person and figure out what were going to do. Well, it costs what it costs, and we eventually found a mold maker who “only” cost 2x what I expected. So much for my naïve expectations.

More lows came as the mold was finished and acceptance shots were done (they were good) but when the mold arrived there were issues with function. Ejection was not consistent, and the factory would not accept the mold.

More delays as it was “repaired” and function was squared away. We had a first run of parts but then ran out while the mold was in the transit/repair/return cycle. The pause in production was a big low after the high of getting the first production run going and the product shipped.

How long did it take from the original idea for the new pump, to design, to prototype, to the final product on the shelf, and what technology did you use to assist in the design process?

It had taken more than 12 months of hard work to get from the start of the project to shipping the first finished Air Shot 2.0 pumps. Well, more like 24 months if you count the fits and starts before I committed to the project in earnest.

I had pallets of internals that I had spec’d, designed, built and tested before we got to the injection molding. That had to be done first.

好消息是，所有这些新利18苹果下载都是由正在进行的运营资助的。花了这么长时间没有债务。这是不确定的金融时期的祝福。

We used lots of CAD, 3D printing, Solidworks, Fusion 360, laser scanning and good old fashioned TLAR engineering. (That Looks About Right). We also used the pump on my own bikes and side-by-sides, and used dedicated testing equipment to make sure inflation times, temps, DB levels, etc. stayed constant.

You started with pumps, but now make other products that riders may not know about. Please explain about those, and again why?

Our biggest selling product right now from a volume standpoint is theMotoPumps GPS mount.

I have multiple-bike-disorder and generally mount a GPS on the bikes I ride. I am generally disappointed in the GPS mount offerings out there and specifically want the GPS above the instruments.

The benefit is not having to take your eyes as far off the road to see the GPS, follow tracks, successfully navigate, etc. I lead a lot of rides and lowering the workload while that is going on all day is important.

I wanted a mount that was as small and light as possible while still being robust, stable and durable. So many of the designs were huge, floppy, stalky and HEAVY.

我与一家专门从事悬架和Powersports零件的当地机械车间合作为我制作这些零件。现在这是他们最高的生产部分。

我们还为许多不同的自行车,让酒吧冒口GPS mounts and “Crap Flaps” for the KTM 790/890 ADV and Norden 901, windscreen adjusters for the Tenere 700, etc. I get a new bike, design and produce some parts for it, bring them to market, lather, rinse, repeat. I guess it allows me to justify getting new bikes at an extravagant tempo.

One of the coolest moments for me was being in Ouray Colorado, walking across the parking lot of a hotel and checking out the bikes. There was a beautiful 2014 pearl white Honda VFR800 there. We were on a tour, making our way west toward the Grand Canyon, Moab, Zion, etc. and I said to my son Dave, “Look. MotoPumps VFR Bar Risers in the wild!”. That made my day.

在您的网站上，您说“在美国制造”，这对您有多重要，为什么？

It is very important to me. It feeds local jobs, families and mouths. It allows for faster and better design iteration cycles, it gives me better control over quality and is the right thing to do for many other reasons beyond those for both me and my customers.

Where do you get your inspiration, your thoughts, and ideas, do you accept suggestions from customers/ friends?

ADVrider has been a massive influence in my riding, friendships and product development. From early days of tag-o-rama games and ride to eat, to being able to get testers, feedback, crowd-sourced ideas and suggestions ranging from names, colors, design ideas, bike fitment and on and on.

The community is fun, active, inspirational, tough, critical and I am very happy to be a part of it. You have some of the most INSANE product testers out there. They do things to various MotoPumps products that I never imagined.

我们一直提供ADV折扣，感觉我至少可以做到支持这样一个了不起的社区。我们销售的很大一部分直接来自论坛。使用我的‘information page’for links and how to get hold of me.

您认为自己认为是天才的产品，但公众不会买太多，但是您认为应该这样做，您能强调吗？

We do pretty well with all of the current products, but I would love for more people to try our Yamaha Tenere 700 windscreen adjusters.

For me, they took the stock screen from ok to excellent. No more bug splats, can ride with my helmet shield up and no more buffeting.

您能解释一下您使用的一些不同材料以及为什么使用它们以便外行可以理解您的过程吗？

Our bar risers for the various bikes and windscreen adjuster for the T7 are 6061 aluminum, which is pretty standard, but the MotoPumps GPS mounts are Delrin, a high density polyoxymethylene “plastic” that is high-strength, machinable, thermally stable, resistant to fuels and many chemicals and ideal for this application. Hardware does not tend to vibrate loose, even without thread locker and the clamps do not mar mounting points, handlebars or cross bars the way aluminum or steel would.

Has the development new technology changed the way you can produce your products?

CNC machining, injection molding and finishing processes are pretty standard for the products we produce. The development processes utilizing 3D printing and scanning are a definite modern approach that helps us get from prototype to production with lower costs and greater speed.

Motopumps is based in the US. Can riders from Europe, Australia and South Africa, etc., buy from you, and what is the best way for them to do that?

We do ship internationally daily, but can’t ship to certain countries from ADVRider or the MotoPumps.com website right now.

Changes with taxes, import duty collection and reporting have forced that. We do cover the rest of the world well from oureBay storeand have all of our products up there, and can also do special one-off listings for customers if needed.

Do you have any new products coming out for 2022?

We just released a limited edition Orange MotoPumps Air Shot inflator for 2022 and an enhanced GPS mount for the KTM 790/890 ADV and Husky Norden 901.

我们正在使用1 1/8英寸车把的更通用的GPS安装座，刚刚开始了一个新的酒吧夹GPS安装座，该安装板适合许多不同的自行车。

我们还处于下一个12V电动充气机的计划阶段。我一直在寻找一个较小的软件包，其功能，性能，可靠性和成本均可保持良好的平衡。找到该平衡点肯定会从Advrider社区获得意见。新利18苹果

ADVri新利18苹果der和y的囚犯扮演重要角色our business, do you offer any kind of incentive or discount for inmates?

Yes, we have always offered a discount to inmates and have many direct purchase threads with “buy now” buttons on the forum. PM me@motopumps

如果您有疑问，故障排除需求，想要对产品的一些变化（嘿，我可以用螺丝钉，黑色挂绳，蓝色箱子和两个电池环端子接线，而不是宝马/cig插头？） 当然！没问题。

总是乐于发送付款链接或字段问题。我们位于纽约伊萨卡以北，如果想停下来，他们很乐意与囚犯见面。

I would say that our biggest differentiator in the market is that I make these products for myself first. As an enthusiast, I want these products to work a certain way, look good and last.

Once I am satisfied with a product, and I think it will be useful beyond me, the decision is made to put it into production and on the market or not.

I am not doing this to make a profit. I am doing it to improve riding, solve problems, support fellow riders and lastly feed the MotoPumps enterprise to keep things going. Customer service, that is treating riders the way I would like to be treated, guides how we operate.

MotoPumps Inmate Discount Compilation Thread – Inflators, GPS Mounts, Bar Risers

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