Whats the best and most affordable air ride out there, i want to lower my train but dont want to scrape in the twisties when 2-up, the shotgun looks nice but its a little steep at $1500.00 especially when i just finished my ape install, what are some other air ride systems?

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/air-suspensions-155/

 

Love my Shotgun shock. Drew at Drvtwin can help you out with a good price. It will be less than 1500 including shipping. Most air rides have an up or down but no rebound adjustment. Shotgun shock allows for rebound adjustment.

Check my sig for a link. Pretty sure he will respond here too.

 

The shotgun Shock is by far the best air ride available for a softail. Best and most affordable don't usually belong in the same sentence. Other systems include the Hi Lo, Platinum Bleed Feed, Legends, and a few otehrs. I have run teh Hi Lo and the Platinum as well. There is no comparison between either of them and the Shotgun. My advice having had all 3 of these is to save your money. You do get what you pay for.

To go a little further into explanation as to why one is better than the other, read on. The Hi Lo consists of two single cylinder shock bodies and a small compressor that raises and lwoers it. It only allows adjustment of the ride height and the pressure in the shock for the ride height. There fore youc an put as much air pressure in the shocks as you wish, hwoever you cannot regulare teh rebound of teh shock. So, if you hit a bump at 80 MPH with the shock filled with too much air you will get what is referred to as the pogo effect. You will get bounced off the seat as the bike jars your lower back due to the excessive amount of air in the system. There is no way to adjust how much travel the shock has to saok up the bump you hit at that air pressure.

Now on to Platinum. Platinum offers the same adjustments as the Shotgun Shock but consists of two separate shock bodies and and a splash guard which mounts the controls. Each shock body has two connections for air lines which run to y's and all connect to the controls on their splash guard. The two separate shock bodies are not nearly as durable as the single piece shotgun unit and the excess of air liens that connect the system, together are prone to leaking due to the fact that the splash guard moves with the swingarm as it modulates up and down. This mvoement can cuase leaks, as can the connectors on the shock bodies. These can be problematic to chase down and fix, and after a while became a serious hassle to me. Also, should one of these air lines break while riding your system will lose the air in whichever chamber the air lien breaks cuasing teh shock to drop down. It happened to me on the freeway once. Not fun.

Now to the benefits of the Shotgun shock that actually explain why it is worth the money. No external airlines with the exception of the air line from the beefy compressor to the shock body itself. No need to worry about air line leaks as the shock body has a check valve that holds the air in the shock body even if the air line should break which is virtually impossible due to the design. Designed to be easily removable for transmission oil changes. Ride height and rebound adjustments to allow the shock to be fully adjustable and set perfectly for every type of riding. They can all be adjusted on the fly, but once you find your sweet spot set it and forget it. Lower it with the rebound setting and you can raise it back to the sweet spot in a second.

The single piece shock body makes the bike so much more stable than either of the other two systems that I was really surprised. I did not realize that this would affect the ability of the bike to feel so stable.

So no leaks...
On the fly Adjustable rebound and ride height
5 year warranty which will never be needed
Simple install compared to either of the other two above
check valve and no external air lines
Simple tranny oil changes, etc!

Drew

 

custom cycle controls, compressor built into shock block 4 wires and nyou're done, no lines no compressor to mount, no nothing, best unit by far on the market, and best for clean install

 

The problem with the CCCS is that the rebound is not adjsutable on the fly and requires and allen wrench. It also does not allow the same amount of adjust-ability as the Shotgun Shock. I am not knocking the product, it is a beautiful unit, but having the switches at your finger tips makes things much simpler. I don't want to have to get under the bike with a tool should I pick up a lady at the bar. I sell this unit as well and have found that it is not as popular for this specific reason. If I am spending a lot of cash on something I want it to be EASILY adjustable and ready to go at all times.

The only other possible issue that has been brought up with this is should the compressor go out how difficult is it to change since it is in the shock body?

As far as the wiring compared on these two units, the hand built wiring harness for the shotgun shock is completely plug and play. No soldering, crimping or anything. Plug it in, heat shrink over the connections and go. By far the simplest on any system I have installed.

Drew

 

To each their own.

I personally feel the Platinum Bleed & Feed system is the best. That said I honestly never rode a bike with the Shotgun system on it.

And until that day comes my vote is for Platinum 100%!

 

As I see it, air ride is mostly for one reason, looks. people want that slammed look in the parking lot, or wherever. but you can't ride it like that so enter air suspension, If I'm worried about picking up a babe at the bar, Its not really about the ride hme quality I'm thinking about! know what I mean?! I do see your point, though trying to get the best of both worlds, and comprimising as little as possible at both ends, to me, (as someone mentioned, "to each their own") not having to deal with the compressor mounting, and the hiding of it the cccs hits all the marks, If you are running a one up bike, you set the ride rebound for yourself and thats it, again air ride is for that profiling thing, more and more bikes are becoming one up, I haven't missed not being able to adjust anything else but height, so I don't know about the advantages of being able to. If the compressor goes out you remove the shock block, send to ccc, and the fix it fast and its a reinstall, no harder or complicated than any other air ride. if the comp. goes out on the shotgun you remove it , get it repaired and reinstall it same difference, in fact, as easy as it is to get to the 4 shock bolts, and drop it out the bottom, it might be easier depending on where you mount the comp, with the shotgun. (trying to hide it, ect) I know the shotgun is a little cheaper in price, and does offer a little more versitility, that being said, looking cleaner (install, no comp) is all about what air ride is for, Looks!!

 

Having ridden both and sold many of both systems, I have a few things to point out. First off the Platinum's design is poor at best due to the excessive amount of air line and their need to attach to the controls on the splash guard which moves. The movement of the splash guard is prone to cause leaks in the air liens which wear as the guard moves. Next is the thickness of the walls of the separate shock bodies. They are half the thickness of the shotgun shock. Third is the 2 air liens that come off of each shock and the connectors. They are extremely difficult to route properly and mine leaked several times out of the fittings on the shock body. Should an air line (there are many) break while riding the unit will lose air in whichever portion of the shock that has a broken line. Next, the dual shock setup is not nearly as stable as a single unit piece like the shotgun shock. that was the very first thing I noticed when I put the Shotgun Shock on my ride. The bike felt very solid. If it is to have an airline break (there is only 1 from compressor to the shock) the check valve keeps the system where it is. The design is so well thought out compared to what else is available that it is not even funny. The isntall is so much simpler than Platinum that I was scratching my head as to why I ever got the Platinum in the first place. Bear in mind I will sell you a Platinum if you want, but no longer recommend it as I used to. Pardon my lack of paragraphs, I was definitely not an English major.

The last thing I want to say about Shotgun Vs. Platinum is that Shotgun is easy to work with and will help should there be an issue. Platinum will help too but charge you where as 99% of the time Shotgun will send whatever you need free no questions asked. Good luck finding that kind of service anywhere else.

Contact me for pricing on the Shotgun Shock and feel free to give us a call if you have questions that need more explanation.

Drew

 

I had the Legends on my Softail - what a disaster. First of all there is way too much air line routing and it took me many attempts to avoid getting the line pinched and or touching something that would eventually lead to a leak. It ain't my first time at the rodeo I know what I am doing - it is a pain trust me.

Furthermore the compressor body/electrical connections are of a very cheap quality. I used it in Europe and unlike for example California we do have rain there pretty frequently. This system is NOT made for rain! within one season both compressor parts as well as electrical parts had corroded and broke.

All in all I probably tried 5 - 6 times within only 2 seasons that the system failed ending up in a collapsed bike with no suspension. In my view this system is for bike show show off's and not for real riding. It is a coupe of years back so it could have changed - but their support/warranty was useless.

I sold the bike and I now have a Street Glide with the Arnott system. So far I have had no issues with it, and even if all the air should disappear it will not collapse as the Legend.