SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
Contact Fred, owner of 441 Cycle Shop (the only BMW motorcycle dealership in South Florida). Their contact information can be found at http://www.441cycl eshop.com/contact. htm It would do you well to check your facts before you post. (Aug 12, 2008 | post #12)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
sigh* Normally, I don't fall for the baiting of trolls, but on the odd chance you might not be a troll, I'll take a swing at a response. I was -hoping- I wouldn't -have- to take it off. I was hoping to leave it on the bike permanently. Like the article said, at the time, there was absolutely -no- indication whatsoever from the SunPass site, or any of the packaging materials that warned against affixing a Mini to a motorcycle windshield. Even as I was registering the device online and filling the account with tolls, there wasn't a single indication that the Mini was incompatible with motorcycles. Of course there's every indication -now- on the SunPass site; several warnings in big red letters, in fact. Would you like to know when these warnings went up? The day after I called them and asked them to pony up the $400 for my replacement screen. As far as me being an "a_hole, " as you so eloquently put it, well, I guess it takes one to know one. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #10)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
You have no idea what you're talking about. Plexiglas windshields are not the same as the glass windshields found in a car. You can't just take a razor blade to a plastic screen--you'll hack it to pieces. Because they're plastic, not glass, they have specialized coatings on them to protect them against damage from the sun's ultraviolet and against rays, scratches from bug strikes and road debris. The SunPass Mini employs some mighty powerful adhesives, designed for the glass windshields on cars. If I were to peel or scrape this thing off the screen, the protective coatings will come off with it--permanently damaging it. I'll have a SunPass Mini-sized hole, yellowed from ultraviolet and hazy from acid rain, within two months. I guarantee you if this happened to you, you wouldn't consider asking for reimbursement from the government entity responsible "getting something for nothing." Their negligence has caused damage to my property. I feel that I am entitled to compensation. It's not like I'm asking them to replace toe whole bike. I'm not even asking me to pay for the installation--I can take care of that myself--just the price of a replacement windscreen will suffice. Heck, I even told them they could pay me off in toll credits rather than cash, if it'd make things easier (goodness knows how tough it is to get a government agency to cut a check). I think I'm being very reasonable. All I want is a windscreen without their sticker on it. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #9)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
A fellow motorcycle commuter here in the building says he doesn't use his transponder on his bike -at Rather, he just keeps his license, make and model information current at the SunPass website. Whenever he goes through the SunPass lane, they charge his account when they figure out who he is based on the cameras in the lanes. I asked him what he tells the Florida Highway Patrol when they pull him over for being a toll violator. He went on to say that not only has he yet to be pulled over, but he never gets violator letters from SunPass either. I should try that, as well. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #60)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
I like that idea. That way, I can use it on multiple bikes (if I ever put another steed in the garage). A friend here at the office suggested I Velco(tm) the hard-case transponder to the top of my helmet, a-la Al Franken and those Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketches where he would wear the "portable " helmet-mounted satellite gear (which compressed his spine until his discs all popped out). But I think that would look silly. Anyway, the folks at SunPass said that the Mini will only work on a glass windshield. So unless my helmet were made of glass, I'd be out of luck. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #59)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
I would love that option. However, my shield is custom-fit for my Beemer, and not a Harley-style touring shield. Because the screen is on an articulating frame to raise and lower it electrically, it wouldn't accommodate the three-pocket bag belt. One of the posters on the BMWLT forums (http://www.bmwlt. com) indicated that he's had some success with mounting the suction-cup hard-case transponder to the inside of his pillion case. I'm going to try that and see what happens. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #46)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
Heh... if SunPass tells me to go pound sand, I just might. :-) (Aug 11, 2008 | post #44)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
ROFL!!! I love it! :-) (Aug 11, 2008 | post #37)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
As I mentioned in a previous post. you're exactly right--the things you mentioned above may work on other shields. But BMW screens' coatings are notoriously fragile. The BMW Motorcycle forums are littered with examples of people damaging their screens with standard household cleaners. Even BMW North America says that the only things that should ever be applied on a BMW shield are mild soap, water, and bugs. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #34)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
That's funny. A Harley rider calling a Beemer pilot an idiot. To your credit, though, I'm surprised that you can even use SunPass. You probably couldnt get your Hawg **** to_ the Turnpike without a mechanical failure, much less down it. I'll betcha you love wrenching your bike on the side of the road... (Aug 11, 2008 | post #32)
SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles
That might work on some Plexiglas screens, but the coatings on BMW screens are notoriously fragile. If the screen is sufficiently aged (like mine), the coatings can be damaged even by common glass cleaners, like Windex--so sayeth BMW Motorcycles North America. (Aug 11, 2008 | post #31)
Pembroke Pines man killed in motorcycle accident
Incredible. You people are just incredible. The article says absolutely nothing about Mr. O'Brien's sobriety at the time of the accident. Nor does it say if he had ever taken an MSF class, how long he'd been riding, or even if he had a motorcycle endorsement on his license. It didn't even say whether he died of head trauma or some other injury (as another poster so astutely pointed out). Yet every single one of you "experts " are so quick to stick in your two cents and jump all over the deceased, filling in the details you want to believe. He was drunk. He was an idiot. He was a wanna-be. He wasn't wearing a helmet--he must be a moron. So what if he wasn't wearing a helmet? You're not required to--and William chose not to. How dare you judge someone for their choices? Could you pass a test like that? You people are disgusting and should be ASHAMED of yourselves. A man--a fellow human being--is dead. Show some respect. Is there no shred of human decency among any of you? Does hiding behind the cloak of Internet anonymity give you license to unleash your vile hatred and vitriol upon someone you've never even met? What on Earth did William O'Brien do to earn your contempt other than die, tragically, doing something he loved to do? My God, we should all be so lucky. Why would you even think to say such horrible things about a man you don't even know, and draw such awful conclusions about an accident you know absolutely nothing about? Shame on you all. (Aug 4, 2008 | post #66)
Sunpass transponders are a joke - on us
I got one better for you--the new Minis aren't compatible with the segment that could really benefit the most from an ultra-tiny transponder: motorcyclists. The new Mini does not work on motorcycle windshields--somet hing about silica-based glass amplifies the RF signal that the toll transponder uses to exchange data with the tag. Even better than that: I only found out AFTER purchasing one, loading it with tolls on SunPass.com, and affixing it to my Beemer's windshield. I mentioned in passing, while I was on the phone with an agent from SunPass deactivating my "box" transponder, that the Mini wasn't compatible with motorcycle windshields. How about that. It would've been nice if the packaging or documentation that the Mini came in had mentioned that. It would've been nicer still if SunPass.com would've mentioned that little detail *while I was registering and loading the thing.* Before you go there and call me an idiot, it's on there *now*-- now that I called SunPass and demanded $400+ for a new motorcycle windsheild. Ain't no way I'm getting that monster adhesive off my shield without taking the UV- and scratch-resistant coatings with it, leaving a SunPass Mini-sized hole that will quickly weather and yellow when exposed to the elements. And here's one better then THAT... The new 95 Express boondoggle--the thing that's causing so much fun and excitement in Miami, and soon coming to Broward--will charge each and every vehicle with a Mini in it, whether it's exempt or not. Exempt vehicles include hybrids, like my 2007 Toyota Prius, and my BMW K1200LT Motorcycle. I wrote several folks at FDOT and asked how they propose to not charge exempt vehicles with Minis. They said "Get a 'disabler shield' from SunPass." Guess what? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DISABLER SHIELD. so now I have to scrape my Mini off the windshield of my Prius, too--AND, try to bag up my Box transponder in its RF-resistant silver bag AT FREEWAY SPEEDS if I want to not be charged tolls on 95 Express. Boy oh boy, FDOT sure did not think this mess through very well at all. (Aug 4, 2008 | post #4)
Woman sent to jail for Disney beating
I love you right-wing loonies who want to lock up everybody [that doesn't think like you do], yet wants to slash taxes [mostly for the rich], thus ensuring that we would never be able to pay for it if we **** did_ lock up everybody [that doesn't think like you do]... (May 6, 2008 | post #18)
A lot of folks have made some very good points here. I agree with a lot of them--you bought a designer purse for a grand that some third-world sweatshop churns out for ten bucks and now you have to sell it on eBay? Boo hoo hoo. Cry me a river. The last new big-ticket item I bought was that motorcycle you see me astride--in 1999. It has been paid off for years, it works great, and I have no desire whatsoever to replace it. I never buy new cars--let someone else take the depreciation hit; with enough research, you find and buy any kind of car you want with the options you want. There's never any need to order it new. I'm always buying and selling stuff on eBay, and when I do go to the brick-and-mortar stores for anything, I always look for open-box and scratch-and-dent stuff first. Why would you pay a 10% or greater premium just to be the first person to open the box? Open-box stuff has the same warranty and return policy as new-in-box merchandise anyway... (Apr 30, 2008 | post #19)
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