Tuck Away Your EZ Pass for good!

Riding on the highway with little traffic and a good clip i notice something shift in my cockpit. glancing down i see my EZ Pass teetering on the gas tank after removing itself from the windscreen. My left hands attempt at grabbing it was about 1 second to late and i watched it do an 80mph skip across the asphalt into no man's land.

After paying the fines and reordering one i figured id try something a bit different. I never liked having to remember to remove it so noone steals it anyways. I always forgot.

I needed some place semi permanent (in case the battery wears out), out of site and accessibility, and requiring little fabrication (i'm all for being creative but its a freakin EZ Pass... no need for bracketry).

So i came up with in the nose! As you can see from the pics it rests nicely between the front headlights. I added a bit of velcro to make sure it didn't vibrate. i covered up a tiny vent whole in the lip, but it doesn't seem like a vital vent... so im not concerned. Works like a champ thus far. I'll let you know how it continues to work out.

Enjoy...

 

thats a good spot for it...... or you could even velcro it in the pocket of your riding jacket...

 

in florida our turnpike has the sun pass. you can get the traditional battery powered thing, or you can now get a sticker. im not really sure how it works. im not in a big hurry to get one, as ive yet to get a ticket for running them... lol
i think the bikes too small to register...

 

With EZ-Pass, ask for the one for cars with bronzed (heated) windshields. It is much smaller, weather proof and mounts outside. Just attach it at the bottom of your oil cooler and you are good. Permanent and out of sight.

 

heat not a problem?

 

I never liked putting stuff near the suspension travel. I know which one your talking about though. isnt it like another $30? I could be making that up though.

I found out that if your plate is registered to the account and you run the toll it just comes up as as ur plate instead of the tag number. no big deal... unless your at a gated toll lane.

FWIW it took me about 10 min to do this and i didnt have to deal with any state organizations any more than i had to so its a win win for me...

I dont like having stuff in my pockets when i ride and i'd most likely lose or forget it if it wasnt always attached to me or the bike. I suppose that would be handy if you used it for multiple vehicles though...

 

you'll never need to access those for battery replacement since they don't use batteries. they use transponders which become active when they approach the toll plaza sending your info to a receiver mounted on said toll plaza.

thankfully here in CA, you don't even need "The Toll Road" pass on your person at all. should you run through a toll pass only gate and no signal was detected they go to the video tape and bill to your license plate. Naturally you need to have an account with the toll road people first and that particular vehicle assigned to that account but i've actually run the gate and assigned a vehicle after the fact without cause. they're a little slow here in Cali.

i do recall in AU that bikes get a free pass on toll roads. there's a country that encourages people to ride, produce lower emissions and less traffic. when will the US figure it out?

 

Theres a battery in them. Its just not user replacable. They have a tag swag program where they switch em out with ones with new batteries.

"What is Tag Swap?

A Tag Swap is a proactive replacement of selected tags, which have been identified by us as nearing the end of their useful lives, before they cause our customers to experience a problem as they travel through E-ZPass lanes. The Tag Swap program will run from February 2007 thru 2008. During this time, customers who have these tags assigned to their accounts will be issued replacements for these tags. Prior to the mailing of the new tags in a replacement tag kit, a letter will be mailed to customers as notification that their replacement tags are scheduled to be shipped. The replacement tag kit will contain a letter listing the tag(s) to be returned, instructions for returning the tags, the replacement tag(s), and a prepaid return envelope to be used for returning the requested tag(s) back to the New Jersey E-ZPass Service Center."

Would be impossible without it. its too far away from the sensor to be a passive / magnetic device.

unfortunatly when crossing into PA there are gates that come down and block the road. if it werent for that i would just go tagless. Otherwise i'll be negating the whole reason for the lane if i had to stop for a person to raise the bar.

The joys of NJ...

 

2007 - 2008? sounds like the old one's used batteries.
here in CA, they all use transponders.
too far away? not possible. satellite's in orbit utilize transponders not to mention all passenger airliners use transponders so the control tower can maintain air traffic. or at least know who's in their airspace.

 

Just sticking with my argumentive nature i think your a bit off with transponders...

While there are passive transponders that are powered by radio signals we're talking like the one in your car key that talks to your car when you put it in the ignition (its why the tops of car keys usually have a fat plastic part and need to be programmed (not to be confused with teh FOB)) The Fastrak and EZ pass are not.

Many transponders (most of the ones you probably know of) are powered by an on board energy source (battery operated) or hardwired into a system. They dont require much power so they usually last a long time.

Make: Online : Fastrak autopsy


Theres your fastrack and battery. The ezpass is the same(ish)

Fastrak site:
Q: What exactly is a toll tag?
A: A toll tag is a small battery-powered device, programmed with specific customer account information, which is read by an antenna mounted above the toll plaza. There are two different types of toll tags: 1) Internal toll tags are mounted to the inside windshield using Velcro strips; and 2) External toll tags are installed on a vehicle’s front license plate using special tools and tamper-resistant screws to prevent loss or theft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ZPass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FasTrak#cite_note-0


Although none of this makes NJ roads suck any less...

 

Battery included.

There are battery on all of the device otherwise they cannot received data's
They have to have power (energy) to be able to work:tongue::tongue:

 

I thought they were more like very sensitive RFID's. Those do not require power. But I've never tried to crack open my EZPass.

I've also had hit-or-miss luck just holding the EZ-Pass up in front of my head as I go through the toll. If it's that far up off the ground with nothing in between the sensor and the unit, I have no idea why it wouldn't register.
And I really don't want to pay for two units, one for car&bike.

 

Thanks for posting this tip. I zip-tied the E-Z Pass to the instrument mounting bracket and tucked it under the instrument cover. Of course, now that I look at the pictures I've noticed I installed it backward, but it should still work.