You are miles from nowhere with your trusty motorcycle (or bicycle or car or ATV/UTV, for that matter). At a stop, you notice that you have a tire that is looking low. Going any farther on the tire risks damaging the sidewall, having a blowout, and potentially losing control and causing a crash. One way to prevent being stuck out there is the Coolchong Smart Pump—a saddlebag-sized portable air compressor. Indeed, you can also use it to pump up your car tires, bicycle tires, basketball, football, flotation toys, air mattresses, and what-have-you.
My son, Jesse, knows this. He also knows I spend a lot of time on the road with my motorcycles and how I would hate being in the foregoing situation. So, for my most recent birthday, he gave me a Coolchong Smart Pump! Smart kid. It rather makes me wonder why I never thought of it myself.
To help prevent inadvertent over-inflation, the unit has four modes with preset pressure ranges. If you prefer, you can easily set your desired inflation pressure and unit of pressure measurement. That done, lock the inflator nozzle on the valve stem, and then press and hold the start button for three seconds. The compressor pump turns on and runs until your specified inflation pressure is reached.
The hose securely threads onto the unit body, but it doesn’t have a pivot or swivel at either end. As a result, the unit display can end up facing away from you when it is securely attached to prevent any air leakage when clamped on the tire’s valve stem. The tire valve end attachment is a 90-degree clamp-style instead of a threaded attachment, which I like because it is quick-on/quick-off, minimizing air loss and making it easier to attach to the valve stem in cramped quarters.
There are four additional filler nozzle connectors to accommodate bicycle inner tube valve stem size, ball inflator needle, and tapered filler tips for things like inflatable toys, air mattresses, and pretty much anything you can think of.
The Coolchong Smart Pump operates quickly and is much quieter than a full-size tank compressor. The LCD digital readout is bright and clear, though the mode and unit displays could be slightly larger. The display includes a battery charge level.
After experimenting with the unit, I decided to put the preset in Car mode and just leave it there, as it allows a range of 35 to 50 psi. In the Motorcycle mode, the range is 26 to 40 psi. Dirt bike riders will select the Ball mode for inflating tires, ranging from 3 to 14 psi. There is also a Bicycle mode with a wide 30 to 100 psi range.
As I carry the Smart Pump in my car and with my motorcycles, I leave it in the Car mode for convenience. I always specify the desired pressure for each, so I figure the higher limit that makes sense for my purposes. The exception is when I air up the air-adjustable suspension units on some of my motorcycles, where only a small amount of pressure is to be applied. Of course, you can easily change between modes.
I used my best pro-grade pressure gauge from CruzTools to compare the Coolchong Smart Pump’s pressure readout accuracy, which reads down to 0.1 psi. Multiple tests showed the Smart Pumps display’s accuracy is within 2 psi with a motorcycle tire filled. That’s not quite up to Coolchong’s claim of 0.725 psi (0.05 bar for metric fans).
The degree of precision is a little less critical when inflating a tire or basketball than when airing up the air-adjustable forks and shocks on some of my vintage bikes. They require only a small amount of pressure, and over-pressurizing them can blow seals that are a pain to repair. For example, the front suspension on my Honda V40 Magna requires only 6 to 14 psi per fork leg. I prefer the front-end handling feel with 10 psi, and the Smart Pump in the Ball mode allows me to get that easily, and with precision and confidence that I won’t over-pressurize them.
The unit’s multi-language operation manual is compact and gives reasonably clear directions. Unfortunately, as is so often the case these days, the manual is printed in a tiny font that is difficult to read. Click here for a PDF of the Coolchong Smart Pump manual.
The Coolchong Smart Pump has a list price of $108. However, we found it on the sketchy Temu app for $44—caveat emptor; there is no Coolchong website we can locate. Regardless, the Smart Pump is a handy way to keep up with your air pressure needs on your motorcycle and around the house. For more on managing your motorcycle tire pressures, see our story, Under Pressure—Air Pressure, That Is.
Coolchong Smart Pump Specs
• Dimensions: 4.7-by-6.7-by-2.5 inches in carrying bag
• Weight 1.4 pounds (total kit in carrying bag)
• Maximum pressure: 150 psi
• Preset mode ranges: Car: 35-50 psi; Motorcycle: 26-40 psi; Bicycle: 30-100 psi; Ball: 3-14 psi
• Units: psi, kPa, bar, kg/cm2
• Charging: USB-C input w/ cable included; up to three hours for full charge
• Accessory function: LED flashlight
Coolchong Smart Pump Price: $108 MSRP
