| Author | Message | ||
     Crmike |
Does anyone have an EZPass on their CR? If so, where did you put it and does it ruin the look of the bike? I live near a Toll road and it isnt safe to keep pulling it out of my pocket and replacing it mid flight every time i want to go through the toll. Thanks, Mike | ||
| Froggy |
Either leave it in your jacket or put it under the flyscreen. Make sure your license plate is on file that way you don't get fined if it doesn't always read. | ||
| Timebandit |
We have I-Pass around here. To my understanding it is compatible with EZ-Pass. If you have one type of pass or the other, either will work because the people who do the debiting will transfer the money from one entity to the other. for example, my Illinois I-Pass works on the Indiana toll road, which uses EZ-Pass (IIRC). As long as your pass isn't confined inside of something that provides RF shielding, the RFID devices in the tollbooths should be able to read it. I think there shouldn't be any problem having it get read from within your coat pocket. So that I don't have to put it in my clothes, I just use the heavy snap-lock velcro that comes with the I-Pass to hold it under the fairing on my 1125. With a CR, I guess you have to be more creative. | ||
| Crmike |
Thanks for the input. I was wondering if it was line of sight or what, because i left it in my jacket pocket yesterday and went through the toll plaza but the green light did not go on as i passed through. Maybe that means a fine is coming. Mike | ||
| Timebandit |
I don't know anything in detail about the RFID system, haven't really studied it. but I understand that a transmitter at the tollbooth, is used to excite the RFID inside of your EZ-Pass, and the EZ-Pass responds by producing a weak radio which is received in the booth. The result of not getting the green light could result from either: A) impeding the booth's transmitting signal, such that your EZ-Pass doesn't get exited and respond, or B) impeding the booth receiver's ability to pick up your EZ-Pass' response to the transmitting signal. Like you say, the bottom line is that if you don't get the green light, then one of the two stages went bad and you'll probably have a problem. On those times that I've made the mistake of letting my I-Pass run dry, or when I've driven the vehicle without remembering to bring my I-Pass with me, I've been able to go to the website and either re-charge the I-Pass with a credit card, or verify that I've kept up to date the list of my vehicle plate numbers that are associated with the I-Pass account. Don't forget to keep the list of plate numbers up to date. I change vehicles often enough that I have been bitten that way. | ||
| 1313 |
My first experiences with an EZ-PASS were going up to NJ to see Eslick take the Championship in 2009 aboard my XB12XT. In my jacket pocket, it worked fine. Then on my CR, it fit great and worked just as great in the map pocket of the tank bag. This was in 2010 trying to get to Homecoming. In 2011 I didn't make it far enough on the CR to experience any tolls. This past Homecoming I rode the XB12XT with the EZ-PASS in my jacket pocket at first. After a couple of tolls where I don't believe it worked, I zip-tied it to the carrying strap on the triple tail backpack, where it worked great. And, yes, Timebandit EZ-PASS is compatible with I-PASS. 1313 | ||
| Baf |
I have an ezpass on my CR. Take the flyscreen off, and stick it to the back of that. Can't see it, and it has never failed to read for me in that location (have used it all over NY, on the masspike, in DE, MD, on the NJTP and atlantic city expressway, and probably a couple other places that aren't coming to mind right now). Jacket pocket, on the other hand, was very hit or miss. (Message edited by baf on June 12, 2012) | ||
| Timebandit |
thanks. | ||
| Kc10_fe |
I keep mine in my backpack in the top pocket. Never had an issue yet and I travel the NJTP,PATP, Parkway, AC Expressway, and all connecting bridges to the Peoples Republic of NJ. Its a North Face backpack with the upper MP3 pocket on top by the handle. perfect fit. | ||
| Crmike |
Thanks for all the good ideas. Its surprising that it works inside the flyscreen but not my jacket pocket. I must have the special "radio jammer" lining in there. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Like Froggy said - if your license plate is on file in their system, they just bill your account. | ||
| Crmike |
Yeah i do understand. Thats the easiest solution looks like. | ||
| Kusib |
Mine is in my Tail section next to the battery. Reads without issue here in NJ | ||
| Dannybuell |
Living on the left coast in oregon, I don't know too much about toll roads. How do governments justify toll roads? | ||
| Mickeyq |
Here in Texas, it was recently reported that the toll road authority in Houston had made several Billion in profits--AFTER--the toll roads payed for themselves. It was promised initially that the tolls would be lifted once they were payed for. So, what they did was revise the original declaration to read to the effect of, as long as toll roads are being built tolls will be collected. | ||
| Nuts4mc |
Here in California - we ride for free in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle)lanes - but I'm sure that won't last for long as the state is broke big time... -Like Mickyq sez - the best job to get here in California is with CalTrans - they never stop building/changing/repairing the roads - no fears of layoffs (Message edited by nuts4mc on June 13, 2012) | ||
| Pgh_biker |
Yeah in PA they call it the Turnpike commission so I think that puts it above any law and accounting either. They are really trying to make Interstate 80 a toll road too! | ||
| Baf |
Ratbuell - that works at the flat rate toll booths. Doesn't work so well when they bill by how far you traveled (like on the NY thruway). They find your account by the plate fine, but they assume you drove from the furthest away toll booth! When my pass wasn't reading in my jacket, I got hit with a huge toll bill from a short section of the thruway (got on, off, back on, and back off). They corrected it when I called it, especially once I pointed out that there was no way to drive from Buffalo, NY to 30 miles east of Albany twice within a 2 hour timeframe. This was on my Blast though. I've never tried the jacket pocket on the CR; it never worked on the Blast so I put it in the flyscreen on the CR from day 1. (Message edited by baf on June 13, 2012) | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Coming at this not knowing how big we're talking about. However, I'm doing another rfid project and Buells have an advantage with our plastic tanks. If it fits, it should be working under it. (Is this the toll thing, that's my one challenge visiting my brother stateside? Stopping at the tolls terrifies me in a car, nevermind on a bike. He suggested I get one but I don't know how practical that is for a couple of times a year.) | ||
| Timebandit |
They are implementing a philosophical construct that says that the people who use a resource should be the people who pay for it, rather than forcing a majority of people who may never use a resource to provide a free ride for those people who do. Isn't that the fair way to do things? the people who actually use the roadway, and place wear and tear on it, are the ones who should be paying for it's maintenance and upkeep? | ||
| Dannybuell |
TB ~ It seems fair at first glance. Doesn't everyone benefit from the freeways that bring goods and services to our local stores and homes? | ||
| Timebandit |
Fairness doesn't mean that everyone should have to pay equally for a resource that undergoes asymmetric utilization/consumption. There are people who use these resources extensively, commuting on them every day, and people who use them rarely, if at all. Fairness doesn't socialize the cost of a consumable resource symmetrically upon everyone, when the resource is consumed in an asymmetric fashion. Fairness doesn't require that someone who never gets on the toll road should have to pay as much to support it as someone who commutes on it. Fairness requires that someone who uses the resource the most should pay more for their fair share of use of the resource. That's the idea behind toll roads. As far as the idea of commercial delivery of goods and services is concerned, that problem is taken care of when the delivery truck dispatchers make the decision of where they want their trucks to go. They have the option of choosing the freeway, or to choose to use a toll road, paying extra for their choice to utilize a different, limited access resource that may benefit their business. The delivery trucks pay tolls, and consumers who buy goods pay to support the delivery costs when they purchase goods. It's a business decision, in which people use money to vote for which infrastructure is more suitable to them. In this case, the amount you pay to use the toll road is tied to the amount that you consume. Participation in use of a toll road is a voluntary decision that people make of their own free will. How is that unfair? People who want the privilege of driving on a limited access roadway pay for privilege of doing so. If you don't want to pay, then you have the choice not to use a toll road. If you don't like the philosophy, you have the choice of driving on the freeway instead. Around here, people who don't want to contribute to supporting a resource still have a freeway that they can drive on -- they're just not allowed to consume a resource that they refuse to help to pay for. That's not at all unfair. Philosophically there's nothing wrong with having the freedom to chose whether you want to drive on a publicly subsidized freeway or a privately subsidized toll road. Freedom of choice is a good thing. Of course, it goes without saying that there always going to be people who want a free lunch, and feel entitled to consume more than their fair share of resources while contributing the minimal amount possible. Toll roads tend to discriminate against social leeches. Some people like that. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Historical perspective: one of the few real purposes of government is to maintain roads. They're going to do it by taxes or tolls. Tax cuts are service cuts. Tax goes down, tolls go up. Depending on your particular politico/economic bent, it's all good. Here, Americans take a short cut through my tax paid road. When I visit my bro in NY, I ride on your tax and pay a small toll. Oh well, not a huge difference in the roads. Yours have wider medians, ours have concrete median. Random users pay as much as commercial users per use, there you go. Until… some bright spark invents Just In Time delivery and the warehouses are emptied and the highways are converted to temporary warehouses. That was not part of the original equation and it was designed expressly to transfer a business' costs to the general populace: to unload a private expense onto a public purse. That should be addressed. | ||
| Timebandit |
Some would argue that government became too big when it started building roads, but that's another issue entirely. the idea behind taxes on gasoline (at least here in the USA) is an attempt by federal, state and local governments to charge people for road maintenance based upon how much gas they consume, which is supposedly related to how many miles they're travelling on the road. it's essentially a use tax, an indirect method of collecting toll revenue. in that respect, the trucks on the highway are paying their fair share of taxes for "temporary warehousing" and just in time delivery. they consume a lot of fuel, so they pay more tax for their use of the roads. at least that's the case around here. when i choose to drive on a toll road, i still have to pay the gas tax that supports the freeways. so in some respects, someone who drives on a toll road is paying the taxes twice, and the guy on the freeway is paying only once. that's a good thing. those people who can't seem to wrap their mind around why governments can justify toll roads need to consider this: people who drive on toll roads are paying taxes to support your freeways, while they aren't using them. that's a good thing for the people who are always looking for someone else to buy their lunch for them. | ||
| Nightsky |
We have toll roads in Texas, and the building of them is rife with corruption. Roads with little use financed by foreign interests. Roads built to places no one lives, but where political donors own much of that land. Proposed tolls on roads already built with taxpayer monies. Tolls don't cover cost and operation, so there's subsidization. Limiting exits on freeways to encourage toll road use. The principle of pay for use is a good one, but like everything government involves itself in, there's theft of public monies. (Message edited by Nightsky on June 14, 2012) | ||
| Timebandit |
sounds like you fellas in texas need to rope, throw, and brand your politicians. around here the toll roads have traditionally been developed as privately funded enterprises through the sale of revenue bonds, or as municipally managed enterprises funded through the sale of municipal bonds. lately, there is a trend to privatize the roads through long term leases to private enterprises. i don't think that private roads are necessarily a bad thing. why should the government have a monopoly on roadways when history has shown that they're so bad at managing them? | ||
| Dannybuell |
THX guys. Oregon has gas taxes so the consumption argument is what builds and maintains our roads. TB~ "people who drive on toll roads are paying taxes to support your freeways, while they aren't using them. that's a good thing...??? The whole thing sounds like a privatization 'con job' to me. | ||
| Jaimec |
Back on topic: The CR flyscreen looks pretty similar to the flyscreen on my old 2000 M2 Cyclone. I had the "velcro" strips up inside the flyscreen. When I took a trip that involved tolls, I just stuck the EZ Pass up inside the flyscreen and it worked fine, even though it was invisible to the naked eye. If you have any kind of metallic paint or stickers on the flyscreen it will interfere with getting a good reading but I doubt that would be an issue. The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is whether or not there's enough room behind the flyscreen for the EZ Pass to fit. Another option is a "Badge Holder" worn around your neck. I've seen that technique successfully used by many riders too. I typically wear either my one piece Aerostich Roadcrafter suit, or my Darien Suit. Both of them have velcro on the left forearm that you can securely attach a transparent carrying case which is just the right size to hold an EZ Pass. This works for me when I ride my scooter, but I do have to take my hand off the bar and extend it to the left, because otherwise the left mirror blocks the transmitter. | ||
| Crmike |
I tried it again this morning on my commute to DC by putting it in my breast pocket of my jacket and tilting it toward the transmitter. No green light but i had coins as a backup so i used those. Next thing i am going to do is go online and put my plate number in as suggested before. But can anyone possibly tell me how it would work through a fly screen but not a jacket??? | ||
| Crmike |
Well this thread kinda went around the block on a few things but I thought I would end it on a good note which is that I got it working with the jacket pocket. Not that everyone would care that much but thanks for everyones input and all is well that ends well  | ||
| Timebandit |
so what's the secret? | ||
| Baf |
My guess on flyscreen working while jacket didn't had to do with the pass being further back from the front of the bike while in the jacket, and angled more towards the ground. Behind the flyscreen, it's angled towards the sky and near the front of the bike - so much easier to read. | ||
| Crmike |
I'd say Baf is right. I leaned back and grabbed the ezpass thru my jacket and tilted it directly towards the toll transmitter. I still have to take the clutch hand off the grip but im not fumbling with my pocket mid flight and I can put my hand back on the grip without worrying about losing the ezpass. |
