Hi Folks:

A few questions for those of you with Air Ride Suspension up front. Admins, if this more appropriately belongs in the "Suspension" forum, whoops, and feel free to move the thread.

Doesyour air ride suspension up frontstill work?

What pressure do you run in it?

Have you had it worked on, and if so, how many miles did you have on the bike when it failed? Which components caused the problem?

Thanks in advancefor your responses.

Mike

 

I completly removed the air suspension on my 'Glide. Every single o-ring leaked, it would not hold air and rode like hell. I looked at rebuilding it and listened closely to those that told me It would make changing the fork oil easier. if I did.

In the end, I went with Progressive Suspension springs, and 20 wt. fork oil in each leg. I removed all the electircal connections and ran new grounds and removed all the mechanical components as well. For the top of the fork tubes, I simply ran a bolt with some thread sealer into the top of each fork cap.

Is it primitive? yes
Will it take longer for me to change the fork oil? Yes
Did it help clean up all the wiring? Yes
Does it perfom a million times better than the stock set up for me? yes

 

on my 85 flht i don't run any air at all. the last time i changed the fork oil i used straight 30 weight motor oil. no leaks yet. all the seals are stock origional. the forkshave never been apart.

 

8-10 lbs, depending on if it is just me, or I am two up.....

 

My 98 still works but I don't run pressure in it. I run 8.5 oz. of 20wt and no air. Works fine this way.

 

have had 3 fxrt, 10lbs in forks ,10lbs in brake, and 12lbs in rear.had 1 front brake switch go bad . 84rt had63000 second 84 had 112000 86 has54000 all bought new.(2nd 84 was a leftover from broke dealer)

 

The fill valve for the anti-divesystemon my'87 FLHTC was missing when I got the bike, but I hear the switch activate every time I hit the front brake. It was probably removed during the installation of custom grips.

The front and rear air suspension work perfectly, with no leaks whatsoever at 53,000 miles. I keep 12 psi in the front and 15 psiin the rear, as I weigh over 300 lbs. I have found that theair suspension pressure can be critical in making a good ride a great ride, second only to proper tire pressures. If it ever became financially impractical to repair my air suspension, I might try alternatives such as different fork oil, etc.

 

1)Eh...Don't really know. I haven't put any air in it for a number of years.
2)The last time I did put air in it I think I put around 10 lbs.
3)No. But to completely answer Q's 3 & 4:

The system is really an Anti-Dive system (at least on my 1993 FLHS). Where the air is 'supposed' to provide additional dampening force when thebrakesare activate (weight moves forward, fork compress, air pressure is added,yada, yada). Itdoes all this by means of an electro mechanical valve activated byusing the brakes. In an ideal world it would be a 'closed system', that is, you would fill it to a given pressure, and not have to add more air to maintain that pressure. It unfortunately doesn't always work out that way. If you read the FSM they will 'detail'what's all envolved in changing fork oil...It's a lot of work if you do it that way. Most dealers/indys drain and fill from the bottom of the forks, not from the top as the FSM describes. Likely componet failures are the solenoid, the cheesy seals under the fork caps,theSchrader valve, and the hose.I don't believe the front 'anti-dive' systemhas anything to do with the ride quality up front other than to help eliminate extreme 'nose down' while braking. And The MoCo abandoned the technology sometime in the late 90's. Obviously they engineered 'better' forks with progressive springs/dampening.

Now the rear 'air shocks' do contribute to the overall ride of the bike, depending on how heavy is loaded.

A word of caution: They, along with the front, are not designed to handle either extreme pressure or high volume...In other words, don't go to the gas station andadd air to the shocks or anti-dive. You will blow the seals out. Use a small bicycle pump or get the HD shock pump.

 

I spent the $30 on the hand held pump designed for the system. I currently run 20 pounds in front and back. I will be trying 15 next week.

 

20 lbs sounds really high; the max I think. According to my mechanic run no air in front to allow the suspension to do it's job. I run zero in front and 4 lbs. in the back of my '91 Electra Glide Sport. Am going to Progressive Springs in the front as it slams to bottom with old springs on any little bump. Changed the handlebars so can't put air in the front even if I wanted to. I weigh 260 lbs.; ride one up, and the 4 lbs. seems perfect in the rear shocks.