Thinking of either putting on a raked fatboy front end or air ride. Tricky air ride said they would build me a complete front air ride kit for my night train. I think the air ride is such an awesome design just kind of wanting to hear your thoughts on the the front air ride good or bad or if I should just stick with a raked fatboy front end. I'm pretty torn between the two and need some input.

 

Does the front air ride system work in the real world or is it just for show bikes?

 

That was one of the questions I asked them. I told them this is not a show bike it will not be tailored everywhere and I want it to be reliable. They told me that is very reliable to take on long rides. Just a little skeptical because I've never seen this done on anything other then on show bikes.

 

I have some questions that you might not have thought about.

Where would the compressor go? Unless you plan on making a cubbyhole in the gas tank, I don't see any clean mounting points. (This assumes that you already have a Shotgun Shock or other air ride system with the compressor mounted behind the transmission.)

What happens if the air pressure is not equal on both sides? Would it effect handling in a negative way?

If one was to hit a pot hole big enough to damage the rim, would the air suspension survive from the impact like the conventional suspension?

 

Sounds like more to go wrong. Does this air ride have damping, valving, unlike other air systems? Their are some really nice front suspension upgrades available without the extra equipment and reliability issues of air.

 

They told me the compressor would mount between the two frame points on the front of the bike. They also said if the air was to go out from a pothole or anything that you could still ride it home with 0 psi in it and it would not be damaging to the system. It would just make it a rigid front end. I'm not sure what would happen if the air wasn't equal in each tube for what ever reason.

 

I didn't ask if it had a damping valve. You are right though, there is some reliability issues with front air ride. After giving it some thought I think I'm going to stay away from front air ride and have something a little more practical.