SW-Motech Bags-Connection EVO electrified tankrings - better connection?

[arjayes]

I've seen several complaints about intermittent connections with the old non-EVO electrified tankrings. Anyone using the new EVO rings seeing the same problem?

 

[greg the pole]

cant comment on the electrified rings.
i'm in the process of swapping out the old for the new.
The design looks much better

 

[arjayes]

Heads up to anyone ordering an electrified SW-Motech bag from Twisted Throttle: Currently if you order an EVO bag and select the electrified tankrings they send the old non-EVO rings. If you order non-electrified they send the new EVO rings. I contacted them and they do have the new electrified EVO rings, so I'm not sure why they don't offer them on the order page. I'm sending the non-EVO rings back to swap for EVO, but debating whether to stick with electrified or not. Having power in the bag is nice, but it's too much money if it doesn't work reliably.

 

[arjayes]

Also posted this question on ADVrider and got a response from Twisted Throttle. They're still testing the powered EVO rings and have not released them yet in North America.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23349845#post23349845

 

[tubebender]

I've had the City bag and electric tank ring for 1.5 years and never had a problem.

 

[EricV]

I've had the City bag and electric tank ring for 1.5 years and never had a problem.

You would seem to be in the minority. How many miles of use?

I have the non-EVO rings and started with the powered rings. It was fine for a year or so, though I did have one of the small pins break and Twisted Throttle replaced the ring for me at about 6 months. The second ring started getting inconsistent, cutting power at various times, causing the GPS to re-boot, which was more than a little annoying when you needed the next turn info. IT continued to get worse and was not a pin issue this time, eventually getting to the point where I ran a new power connection and used a SAE connector to allow separation from the bike, leaving the lead long enough that I could still move the tank forward onto the bars when re-fueling. I spoke to Twisted Throttle, who was absolutely fantastic to work with, and they told me they were not going to import the new EVO style rings in the powered version until they had some good feedback that it worked better than the older version.

They sent me a pair of EVO rings, (non-powered), gratis, which I did not expect at all. I haven't used them yet, but ended up yanking all the powered bits off the lower non-EVO ring and am using that as an unpowered set up because I like the ease of use and though miss the simplicity of the powered ring, it's great to not have to worry about the GPS cutting out mid instruction.

I know some riders that have been successful in sticking a rolled up newspaper under the bottom of the bag at the rear to 'shim' it and avoid or reduce the intermittent power issue. I tried that, but it only helped for a short time before getting bad enough to give up and go with a separate power wire. FWIW, I picked up the SAE connectors on pigtails at the local NAPA store in the trailer wiring section. Cheap at ~$4.

 

[tubebender]

Only a pathetic 10,000 miles. And I've packed that bag full of crap.
I power my music and communications and never had an issue.

 

[EricV]

Only a pathetic 10,000 miles. And I've packed that bag full of crap.
I power my music and communications and never had an issue.

I honestly hope it continues to work well for you. It's a very slick set up when it works. Part of my personal issue was using it to power the GPS. When you lose power on a Garmin device, it powers back up and asks you a couple of questions first, basically warnings about using the GPS while riding. So every power interruption means you have to clear those two pages again before you can see your route or get instructions on the next turn... which you probably just rode past if you're in a city environment and hunting a bonus location during a rally. Maddening!

I only put on about 28k last year, not as much as usual. Partly due to saving money for the IBR, partly due to less discretional funds for gas and tires.

 

[arjayes]

Thanks for the info, Eric. The powered ring kit costs $175 at Twisted Throttle (on top of the cost of the bag) vs. $38 for the non-powered rings. For that much cash the setup should be pretty bullet-proof and at least last as long as the bag.

I agree that Twisted Throttle is great to deal with. They responded to my post on ADVrider and said that the EVO ring design will allow them to be retro-fitted with power by popping out some knock-outs. But the power kit is still in testing. I hope they figure it out. I like that modularity.

For now I'm going to go with the non-powered EVO rings and hope to add power later, either with their rig or roll my own.

 

[Ridetherock]

i had the non powered evo connector on my tenere, hated it after having the old style on my vfr, and upgraded to the old style electrified setup just to get rid of the evo.

 

[EricV]

i had the non powered evo connector on my tenere, hated it after having the old style on my vfr, and upgraded to the old style electrified setup just to get rid of the evo.

What didn't you like about the EVO style? The old style slips on from the rear. It looked like the EVO style needed to be pressed strait down from glancing at the two pieces, but I've never used the EVO style at this point. It took me a few days to get the hang of popping the old style one onto the ring when I first started using it.