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Flash 2 Pass: garage door opening system for your motorcycle
April 3, 2009
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| Editor Ratings * | |||
| Quality |
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10 | |
| Portability |
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10 | |
| Convenience |
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10 | |
| Price |
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10 | |
| Value |
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10 | |
| Overall | 10.0 | ||
| Spectacular | |||
| A product that receives a rating in this range scores high on all of its rating criteria. It succeeds at meeting all of its intended users' needs and has no meaningful drawbacks. | |||
| *Out of a possible 10 points | |||
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How many times have you returned from a long day in the saddle only to discover that your remote is lost, damaged, or just inconvenient? You may have had a leisurely day ride with friends, or you completed an iron butt ride, or perhaps you are returning from a couple weeks of the most enjoyable vacation you’ve ever had. If you store or park your motorcycle in a garage, what is common to all of these trips is that you must exit (open and close your garage door), and re-enter (open and close your garage door), your garage.
If you are like most people, opening and closing your garage door from a motorcycle seat, can be complicated. Questions like these come to mind: where is my remote? Where do I store it so it is convenient when needed? How do I assure that it is not lost or stolen? How do I make sure it is not damaged during the ride?
The remote is a strange little device. You need it when you leave home and you need it when you return home but it doesn’t matter if you are on a five minute ride or five month ride, you don’t need the remote any other time. But you have to manage it in some way and if you don’t, you could lose it or waste it and suddenly it is not available for 50% of the time: i.e., the return home part of the trip. Flash2Pass solves that problem.
As an example: several years ago, I thought I had a good place to store my remote. Here is the scenario: the trip plan was to travel 1250 miles in less than 24 hours (IronButt Saddlesore), then a leisurely return trip. Total distance was 2900 miles. I placed the remote in a Ziploc among several additional items in the cubby of the lowers on the H-D Ultra. The result was that the remote was packed to travel among items that provided a cushion against bouncing off the walls of the cubby. On the second leg of the trip, we had 600 miles of rain. The last thing you need to do upon a return trip is open the garage door and park your motorcycle. The last thing you want to do is search for the remote, only to find that it doesn’t work. In this case, that is exactly what happened. Over the course of the trip, everything got wet and the remote didn’t work.
With Flash2Pass, this will no longer be a problem.
Flash2Pass is a radio frequency garage door opener that is activated by a double click of your motorcycle’s high beam. The Flash2Pass is receiving accolades from around the motorcycle industry…including word of mouth on one end of the marketing continuum and runner up for innovation products at the recent Dealer Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana.The primary reason attendees come to Dealer Expo is to see new products so organizers created the Kickstart New Product Contest.
Now in its second year, the competition recognizes the hottest new products. Any exhibitor that launched a product after July 1, 2008, was invited to submit pictures and a description. A judging committee whittled down more than 150 submissions to 26 finalists. These companies then submitted actual product for judging.
Flash2Pass was a finalist in the Dealer Expo competition.
First Impression…
Does it work? The answer is yes!
The Flash2Pass is made up of a Receiver and Transmitter. The Receiver is 3”w x 4 ½”h x 1 1/8”d or about the size of a standard electrical outlet box. The Transmitter is 2”w x 2”h x ¾”d.
The Flash2Pass is a practical and functional accessory that simplifies your coming and going. Why? Because you never need to go into your garage, push the garage door button, and run to exit without either reversing the direction of the door or having it slam into you on your way out. Now you can be cool. Simply back your motorcycle out of the garage, start it to prepare for your departure, and flip the high beam switch twice. The door will close and you are ready to roll down the highway.
Features…
- The Flash2Pass™ transmitter and receiver are packaged as a set that is pre-programmed at the factory. The package includes the transmitter, receiver, wires, and Posi-Tap connectors.
- It works with motorcycles, scooters, automobiles, trucks, riding lawn mowers, snowmobiles, golf carts
- It works with any garage door openter
- It receiver can accept up to 6 transmitters
- It has digital rolling code technology
- It uses no batteries, and
- It is waterproof
Operation…
The Flash2Pass is made up of a transmitter and a receiver.
The transmitter is a radio frequency device that can be mounted in your motorcycle’s fairing, headlight bucket, a glove box, or strapped to the frame with zip ties. It is relatively small at approximately 2” x 2” x ¾”. The wires are attached with Posi-Tap™ connectors to the headlight high beam positive wire and to the ground wire. The Flash2Pass™ transmitter is non-polarized so you can attach either wire to the headlight wires.
The Flash2Pass receiver is designed to replace the pushbutton inside your garage. If you have additional functions on your pushbutton that you would like to keep, the receiver can be installed next to your original pushbutton and “piggybacked” to it.
Installation: At the suggestion of my good friend Joe, the premier custom pools and spas contractor in Metropolitan Denver, Colorado, and drawing on his electrical wiring expertise, we mounted the receiver inside the overhead door opening so that we could stand outside of the door when open and have the option of reaching inside to close the door by pushing the receiver’s button.
Installation of the receiver and transmitter took approximately one hour. While it can easily be completed by one person, we had three. Joe did the majority of the work while the remaining two fetched tools and held the ladder. This part of the process produced about all the fun we could tolerate in the dead of winter! Our primary concern was keeping Joe from falling from the ladder onto the nearby motorcycle.
The receiver was hardwired to the power unit by running a wire from the power unit along the ceiling and wall to the mounting plate, located on the wall just inside the overhead door. There are two wires to connect to the terminals – either wire to either terminal. Once wires are connected, snap the front of the receiver to its back plate. When power is restored, an LED light will blink indicating the receiver is activated.
The transmitter was installed in the fairing of a Harley-Davidson FLHTCU Ultra Classic Electra Glide. We removed the fairing to mount, with two zip ties, the transmitter to the exterior of the radio/CB/intercom power unit. This eliminates any possibility of bouncing during travel.
There are again two wires to connect to the headlight high beam. Behind the headlight, locate a connector with three wires. Unplug the headlight and note that the connector has one horizontal and two vertical slots. You will connect the transmitter to the wires going to the two vertical slots. Use the Posi-Tap connectors, included with your Flash2Pass, to attach the transmitter to the two headlight wires.
Your Flash2Pass is now operable if installed properly. You can test it by flashing the high beam on-off-on and the door will open or close. Replace the fairing and any surrounding parts and you are good to go.
Value…
I have been using the Flash2Pass for several months. It works every time and there is no need to search for the remote when moving from or returning to the garage with my motorcycle. It is convenient and practical!
At a price of $79.95, motorcycle operators can enjoy the benefits of a safe and reliable door opening system. The Flash2Pass is covered by a Limited Warranty (covers all parts for a period of one year from the date of purchase), that is fully transferable provided the original owner furnishes proof of purchase from an authorized Flash2Pass dealer.
Final thoughts…
The Flash2Pass is an electronic device designed to open and close an overhead garage door from the seat of your motorcycle. It integrates the process of opening and closing the garage door into your motorcycle’s existing capacity. We think it is ingenious!
Click here to visit the Flash2Pass website.
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