As I bought the airchamber I thought it would be useful to write up a quick review for any other bike owners in a similar predicament:
Scenario: 2 bikes, a 40 year old sectional concrete garage with asbestos sheet roofing. No insulation or heating, some leaking. Condensation and general moisture a problem over winter.
The long term plan is to build a new garage, but for now, there are other things I want to spend money on. So I bought a small car airchamber:
http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/air-chamber/airchamber-car.aspx
I bought the 'small' size as it fits both bikes end to end easily, with enough room to get one past the other if necessary.
Construction: The whole thing comes in a large roll bag with instructions (not brilliant). The product is essentially a huge tent made of hard wearing pvc with a very strong pvc base. Woven into the rear of the chamber are two 12v fans that blow air through the area, these connect to mains via a supplied transformer. After rolling out the plastic and plugging in the fans the chamber gradually inflates. I got bored of waiting after an hour so used my DryCycle bike dryer to pump air quickly into the chamber. Once inflated, it was a case of using the tent poles/struts to form the internal structure to give the chamber the support to remain upright. After about 3 hours of my messing about the airchamber was up and running with bikes inside.
Experience: Really pleased. After 3 weeks I have noticed no condensation inside the chamber or on the bikes (it is also dust free). Opening the airchamber is via zipped doors (either at the side or front). Moving around and working on the bikes inside the chamber is excellent. This was what put me off the bike in a bag option, I like to work on the bikes in my free time, even if it just to put another coat of carnuba on the paintwork during the depths of winter. Any spillages are easily wiped up off the pvc floor. Also, after washing a bike and getting it as dry as possible, putting it into the airchamber dries off any remaining moisture so I'm not worrying about anything getting rusty over winter. There are only two negatives I can think of: 1- the floor does get a little ruffled up moving the bikes in and out so it needs readjusting occasionally, not a big deal, and, 2 - a hot exhaust needs to be kept away from the pvc sides so it doesn't deform or melt anything, although some strong tape would easily fix a hole.
The airchamber I went for was about £460, the single motorcycle versions are about half that. Insulating the new garage would have cost over £1000 when I get it built, so now I will not bother with insulation and reuse the airchamber in the new garage, saving a few quid. So apart from saving me the cost of building a new garage now, it has saved me money when I do. Plus my HP4 wont be rotting away this winter.
If you have a problem with condensation in the garage and want a solution that allows you to work on the bike(s) without putting in insulation and heating then I do recommend it.
Scenario: 2 bikes, a 40 year old sectional concrete garage with asbestos sheet roofing. No insulation or heating, some leaking. Condensation and general moisture a problem over winter.
The long term plan is to build a new garage, but for now, there are other things I want to spend money on. So I bought a small car airchamber:
http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/air-chamber/airchamber-car.aspx
I bought the 'small' size as it fits both bikes end to end easily, with enough room to get one past the other if necessary.
Construction: The whole thing comes in a large roll bag with instructions (not brilliant). The product is essentially a huge tent made of hard wearing pvc with a very strong pvc base. Woven into the rear of the chamber are two 12v fans that blow air through the area, these connect to mains via a supplied transformer. After rolling out the plastic and plugging in the fans the chamber gradually inflates. I got bored of waiting after an hour so used my DryCycle bike dryer to pump air quickly into the chamber. Once inflated, it was a case of using the tent poles/struts to form the internal structure to give the chamber the support to remain upright. After about 3 hours of my messing about the airchamber was up and running with bikes inside.
Experience: Really pleased. After 3 weeks I have noticed no condensation inside the chamber or on the bikes (it is also dust free). Opening the airchamber is via zipped doors (either at the side or front). Moving around and working on the bikes inside the chamber is excellent. This was what put me off the bike in a bag option, I like to work on the bikes in my free time, even if it just to put another coat of carnuba on the paintwork during the depths of winter. Any spillages are easily wiped up off the pvc floor. Also, after washing a bike and getting it as dry as possible, putting it into the airchamber dries off any remaining moisture so I'm not worrying about anything getting rusty over winter. There are only two negatives I can think of: 1- the floor does get a little ruffled up moving the bikes in and out so it needs readjusting occasionally, not a big deal, and, 2 - a hot exhaust needs to be kept away from the pvc sides so it doesn't deform or melt anything, although some strong tape would easily fix a hole.
The airchamber I went for was about £460, the single motorcycle versions are about half that. Insulating the new garage would have cost over £1000 when I get it built, so now I will not bother with insulation and reuse the airchamber in the new garage, saving a few quid. So apart from saving me the cost of building a new garage now, it has saved me money when I do. Plus my HP4 wont be rotting away this winter.
If you have a problem with condensation in the garage and want a solution that allows you to work on the bike(s) without putting in insulation and heating then I do recommend it.
