Capit Tire warmers

Yeah, it's long. . .but it may help.

About two years ago, I bought a used set of Capit Maxima Vision tire warmers from Riders Discount as they were blowing out all their race team gear. Having owned Chicken Hawk and Woodcraft tire warmers (two great companies) I was curious to see if the hype around Capits was legit and since the price was right – decided to buy them. Over the past two years, I probably put about 35 track days on them and I love them – they got the tires hotter than my Chicken Hawks and Woodcrafts (heat gun) and I noticed that as a result, I wasn’t chasing pressures, getting good wear and was never worried about if my tires were “up to temp”. Throw in the added bonus of them being water proof and no more freaking about rain or dew in the morning on the warmers and I was sold these would be my warmers of choice.

Fast forward to about a two months ago and the front warmer went out on the Maxima Visons. I’ve had Chicken Hawk repair my old warmers before, and know of people who’ve had Woodcrafts repaired so I thought I’d roll the dice and see if Capit would repair these. Knowing that they were an Italian company, I was praying they had a US contact so I google “capit tire warmers USA”. . .it takes me to their Italian home page. Shit. Nowhere on that page is a contact for the US so I suck it up and hit “contact”. . .and there it is. . .Greg Arnold USA. On July 2nd, at 5:44pm, I send an email to [email protected] explaining I had a front warmer go out, and I was trying to get it fixed and could they contact me “at your earliest convenience” – give my cell to text and call it a day.

And this is where the madness began.

At 7:18 the same night, I get a text from a Vegas number – I don’t know anybody in Vegas so think to myself “what bullshit is this going to say.” Open it up – it’s Greg Arnold texting me about the email I just sent him. I think I said “what. . .the. . .actual. . .fuck” outloud. He says the Vision is most likely repairable but in order for him to see if they are still under warranty and to get the right parts for them, he’ll need the serial number. I tell him they’re in the trailer and I won’t be able to get to them that day but should be able to get to them tomorrow, and then he asks when I bought them, how old they are and if I bought them used or new. I tell I don’t know how old they are (found out they are close to 7 years old) I bought them used - and then proceeded to use the shit out of them. He says “no problem, just send me the serial number and we’ll go from there”.

Life gets in the way, I forget to go get the pics of the serial numbers and two weeks later, I get a text from. . .Greg Arnold “Hey, have you gotten a chance to grab the warmers to get a pic of their serial numbers yet?”. . .Feeling like an asshole, immediately hop in the car, go to my trailer snap a pic and send a text back apologizing for dropping the ball. He tells me from the serial number that, unfortunately, they are out of warranty, but it still could be a simple fix, so lets see if they actually have to go to him, because sometimes it could just be the power source that’s mimicking a problem so plug them in while I’m on the phone with him and see if a clean power source will take care of the problem. I was genuinely in disbelief at this moment. Let me get this straight, I bought them used, beat the shit out of them, they are out of warranty, you KNOW this, and you’re still going to try to fix them. . .potentially with no revenue coming to you?!?!?!?. Plug them in, they heat up to 190 degrees. . .excellent. . .and then, they start dropping temp. Tell him this in real time and he tells me to send them to him and he’ll bench test them - best case, the digital display has gone bad and it will be a nominal charge to switch it out, worse case, they’re done and then we can talk about what to do next. Fair enough.

The next two weekends I had to be at the track (and since the rear wasn’t dropping temp, I used it with a front back up) so finally got around to sending them to him on July 29 with him getting them Aug 1st. He tells me, he should be able to bench test them that week, and if they are repairable, get the repairs done by the end of the week (Aug 7th). This Monday, Aug 10th, I get the news “I ran them last week through about 20 cycles. They still heat up. . .but. . .the original controllers were struggling a bit and when I changed them out, the heating cable is offering about 60-70% resistance. Which means they will reach temp, it will just take a lot longer (which is not going to be good for what you need them for) Let me look and see what I got and give you some options tomorrow.” I call him on Tuesday (Aug 11th), we go over the options (which I happily bought, knowing the quality of product. . .but more importantly, what’s backing it up) and yesterday morning (Aug 14th) I had those options arrive on my front door. . .in a vacuum sealed bag. . . with an email containing a 4 page PDF on how to care for and use the warmers. . .sharing shit they learned in MotoGP, WSB and Formula 1 and why I should try to use the warmers that way (with separate suggestions given for Pirelli and Dunlop).

What. . .the. . .actual. . .fuck.

Oh yeah, while going through the options, I bitched about the chain getting my single temp set dirty (which I also bought used here) and I shit you not, this was his reply “they’re water proof – Dawn and wet towel should get that right out, I do it all the time”.

I honestly have been blown away by the experience – both with how good Capit tire warmers are. . .and the amazing support they have from Greg – the product and support are so fucking worth it.

 

Always good to hear of good customer service and folks who stand behind their product!

 

Thanks for this...been thinking I’d like to try these at some point now I most definitely will.

 

Wow, when you told me that you were going to put your inability to be concise to good use and write this long-ass post to give Broome something to beat in his time of need, I thought you were kidding.

As an aside, this sounds like top-notch customer service experience.

 

Good to know about Capit. Its another option in the toolbox!

I was afraid to take the plunge to them but now I will.

 

There's a "Capit? You late!" joke in there somewhere...

 

At the end of the day, the work really well for what they're supposed to be doing and it seems like they put a lot of development into it - but the experience totally solidified it for me. I have the utmost confidence in recommending them (and Greg in particular) to my friends who ride. . .and they know how to find me if things went bad.

I had to check my leathers to make sure I wasn't getting factory support I wasn't aware of. . .he's definitely good people (and a lot of fun to talk to about the industry, racing and riding). The whole time I thought there was going to be a catch - no catch. It actually makes me feel even better that you know him and came away with the same conclusion!

fucker.

 

So, your warmer went capit )))

 

Always nice to give credit where credit is due.

Local HVAC guy was great to me when ex-wife let our house get to 50 degrees before noticing the furnace was dead, on a Friday night in January... i BLEW UP his google reviews.

 

Wow what an awesome post! Buying a good set of tire warmers was a must for this upcoming season and I was sold on the chicken hawks, as I see almost every fast rider using them. But then I watched a Josh Herrin YouTube video and he was talking about the capits, and it got me curious. I then talked to Freddy at SBKunlimited, who sells both chicken hawks and Capits; he recommended the Capits as they are a better tire warmer overall. They were about the same price so I got the maxima visions, about $750.
I don't mind deviating from the rest of the blind sheep if a good source points me in that direction.
The warmers are definitely a quality item just by the feel and packaging, though I didnt get to use them yet, I'm excited to.
Motorkas, if you wouldn't mind sharing the PDF on how to use them, I would appreciate it. Our local track had dunlops forever and now they will be using pirelli for this upcoming season (NJMP).

 

I really hope CapIt can repair this… ugh..

2nd time using them and I came from the WoodCrafts (which have the plug so it’s impossible to leave them plugged in when taking off the wheel)

what a lesson to learn.. This has not been my year at all..

I emailed them this morning.

 

I did that to a brand new front. That parachute nylon they use melts in no time. For us, Chicken Hawks single temp is the way to go. Keep it simple less to break.

 

I was prepared to read a shit show, and was pleasantly surprised.
Might have to consider a set of these next time. (Currently using the single temp chickenhawk STG warmers with success.)
Thanks for sharing your positive experience.

 

only issue i found with the Capits is it makes the eco throttle on my honda generator surge and they pull a lot of power my guess is 750 per warmer.
2 sets will over load a honda 2200.

They get up to temp so fast though!! I have had one set for 3 years not one issue.

So awesome there serviceable .

 

Yeah, I run these warmers off a separate genny (Honda 2200) than what I run my RV on and they are THIRSTY for fuel. I would be able to get most of the day off my Woodcrafts, but these get about 4.5 hours per tank of fuel. lol Maybe that will improve as it gets warmer. But at ACC and PITT that Generator was screaming.

 

There's a reason you never see Woodcraft warmers used for Dunlop tires in the MA paddock.

 

Because they don't get hot enough?

 

Can you share these details with us?

 

i've had better service with CapIt in Italy and not from Greg in Vegas.