CPAP and motorcycles...

Being an avid motorcyclist traveler AND newly diagnosed with OSA... I'm wondering if any of you have an experience with packing your machine along with other gear, etc. on motorcycle trips?
How sensitive to vibration are they? Any damage occur? I have an S9...

Thanks and keep the rubber side down!

-Z

Hi ZZZZ
I don't ride but there are a bunch of the guys that do here on the forum. This will bump the thread for you and I'm sure a couple of them will chime in. My son has a Harley and he tells me its not "if" you will have an accident....its "when!" Do be careful.

I am a rider, an MSF certified RiderCoach, and still pretty new to being a CPAP patient. Part of the classroom portion of the Basic Rider Course touches on when not to ride, and when you are overly tired is one of the specific examples we point out to the learners. With that in mind I have traveled twice with my CPAP when I have taught at our Colorado Springs locations; I live in Denver, so I stay with a friend for the weekend when I teach down there.

So far my PR System One seems to have handled the trips well. Make sure the water tank is empty, and everything is packed in the carry case correctly. It is bulky, so it goes in my tail bag, and I make sure to not overload the bag to prevent compression damage to the plastics.

No damage, weird noises, strange smells, lost performance, etc. Hopefully that will be the same case after 200 trips as it is after the current count of 2.

As far as the quote about having accidents. Ride smart, always assume no one else on the road can see you, and wear good protective gear. The quote most riders use is... There are only two kinds of riders. Those that have dropped their bikes, and those that will drop their bikes.

Before putting the humidifier chamber in the machine and traveling, i scrunch up some paper towels and place them in the chamber. Hopefully that catches any drops of moisture left in the chamber before it gets to the machine.

Blindrage wrote:So far my PR System One seems to have handled the trips well. Make sure the water tank is empty, and everything is packed in the carry case correctly. It is bulky, so it goes in my tail bag, and I make sure to not overload the bag to prevent compression damage to the plastics.

No damage, weird noises, strange smells, lost performance, etc. Hopefully that will be the same case after 200 trips as it is after the current count of 2.

All I asked, and needed to know. But appreciate the sentiments. Thanks!

Z

I fear vibration and traveling on a motorcycle could be hard on XPAPS. Even on a Goldwing I found it to be hard on me to take the vibration. One other thing is if you are tired, you can fall asleep anywhere, I have falled asleep on guard duty while standing up, (It's painfull falling asleep and landing on your rifle), I have also fell asleep driving trucks that weight over 250 tons, and my motorcycle at 50 MPH, and of course my personal vehicle, not anymore..... Jim

Zzzzz I am thinking it may be best to get a pelican type case and cut the foam to fit around the cpap and hope that reduced the vibration enough.

It's a machine; electric motor, ciucuit board, metal, plastic, etc., basically not much different than your motorcycle. Put it in its case, put the case on or in the bike and go.

A co-worker and her husband use the trailer behind one of their hogs, I think they leave the humidifiers home.
Not sure how they handled power at Sturgis, but I assume they planned ahead.

SMenasco wrote:It's a machine; electric motor, ciucuit board, metal, plastic, etc., basically not much different than your motorcycle. Put it in its case, put the case on or in the bike and go.

The difference is It's not a machine that is meant to be exposed to vibration, something that is expected on a motorcycle. I like the trailer idea, also a fitted hard case to dampen vibration. Jim

I have been taking my CPAP on our Harley Ultra Classic for the past 4 years my CPAP has logged 10,000 miles and NO problem I use bottled water I buy at motels and them vinegar to clean my humidifier when I get home from long trips . I do notice some mineral deposits on the humidifier plate thus the vinegar. My CPAP works without any problems and I use it nightly 8-9 hours a night. You will be safer continuing your CPAP treatment and much more alert. Ride Safe

I did 8000 miles in thirty days (coast to coast and back again) killing a deer along the way. Totaled the bike (cosmetic damage only) and the bipap still works fine almost two years later. Of course it wasn't a Harley but a flat-six Honda, which rides as smooth as a car, but it still handled all the bumps better than my backside did. I have no qualms about taking it on my current Harley.

A trailer sounds great but a sidecar would be fun. I understand that pin holding the two together isn't that hard to pull out when rolling down the road. The should call it a mother in law car not a side car.

BadBreath wrote:I did 8000 miles in thirty days (coast to coast and back again) killing a deer along the way. Totaled the bike (cosmetic damage only) and the bipap still works fine almost two years later. Of course it wasn't a Harley but a flat-six Honda, which rides as smooth as a car, but it still handled all the bumps better than my backside did. I have no qualms about taking it on my current Harley.

You need to wash your mouth out with soap!!

J/K. I used to hate Harleys, and I rode and raced (track) sport bikes. I would always give the Harley guys a hard time about all the "black leather, potato pipes, and vision blinding chrome." Well add a few years, a wrist surgery, and knees that just can not stay in a tuck for more than 2 hours if I still want to walk when I get off the bike, and I had to give up sport bikes. I actually managed to go without a bike altogether for about 8 years, and then I made the mistake of just "dropping by" a Harley dealer.

My wife knew she was SOL when I had walked past eight bikes with no more than a glance but then stopped dead in my tracks in front of the ninth bike. It was a dang Heritage Softail, and I bought it the next day. Now I have black leather chaps and jacket, and I have added some extra chrome when I did the Stage 1 upgrades. My only hold-out is that I refuse to put obnoxiously loud pipes on the bike, but it is a crime to run a bike on stock pipes; so I do have a Screaming Eagle set on there. It impresses the hell out of my students when I can do the smallest U-turn box, albeit with the floor boards scraping during the entire exercise, during BRC2 courses.

To bring this back to a CPAP discussion... The only issue having a CPAP on a bike could cause would be vibration or impact causing any moving parts to lose tolerances and get sloppy. Since the CPAP is packed in a case, and benefits from the bike shocks, the vibrations should be minimal and gentle in nature. It should not have to suffer through any solid impact type shocks, so any transferred effects should be minimal. I am glad to hear from those that have logged many more miles than I have with the CPAP in-tow have had practical experiences that match that assumption.

It's a machine. If you wish to treat it as a labratory instrument, that's fine. To me, it's a machine.