I picked up my 2012 FLHRC a couple of weeks ago. After getting it home I checked the PSI for the shocks and found it was 0. I tried to add air, but found a leak near the lines coming out of where you add air. I pushed the lines back in and all seemed well. I rode and checked at PSI was 0.


Took it to the Harley dealership and they added air to 30 PSI and left it for a few hours and it held. I took it home and now it is 0 again. Seems to me that the act of riding is causing the air to leak out.


I will get them to fix this since it was likely bad when I bought the bike, but wanted to check with all on here to find out how hard it is to replace these lines/system?


Thanks!


Mike

 

They leak when they get a groove worn in wear the push fitting bites. Clip the ends back to clean tubing and smear the ends with vaseline. Usually works if you have enough slack in the lines. The best bet to prevent leaks is to throw the airline away and put shrader valves on each shock.

 

The lines are very easy to replace. They should be able to do it in less than an hour, You most likely have a tiny pin hole on a criese.

 

Cut clean ends with a new razor blade not snips.

 

Thank you everyone. I noticed that the line that goes to the right shock is pulled very tight - no slack there so I would need to replace it.


Could you please elaborate more on the above statement regarding adding valves to each? Is this easy to do?

 

Very easy. Napa carries the Shrader valves, I think they call them tank valves. I don't remember the exact thread size, I think it is 1/8" pipe thread. The best thing to do is bleed the air out of the shocks, remove the push fitting and take it with you to make you get the right size. Get one for each shock and be done with worrying about leaks. The only drawback is that you have to adjust air pressure in each shock. Small price to pay for the piece of mind and the ability to leave the air pump at home.

 

Great idea in my opinion and one that is more fool proof than the lines.


Thanks again everyone.

 

I wouldn't rush to fit individual valves. My air shocks worked fine with no problems for over a decade before I replaced them.

 

I think I'd be a bit cautious about putting in separate Schrader valves. If one shock happens to leak your going to end up with one shock with air and the other without. Seems to me this would cause a distinct handling problem or at the very least uneven wear on the rear tire.

Not to be insulting but how are you checking your pressure? The Schrader valve on the shocks are deeper than the ones on your tires. They require a special fitting and pump as the volume of air in the shocks is very small. A normal bicycle or hand air pump is liable to harm the shock. You can get the shock pump at the dealer. If you are using a bicycle pump it will show air pressure until you until you remove the fitting on the valve. The HD pump is designed so as a very small of air is released when you remove the fitting from the Schrader Valve.

 

Of course if the hose leaks, which is much more likely and frequent, then both shocks are out of air. I would prefer some suspension to none. I'll trust a brass Schrader valve threaded directly to the shock body over 4 $0.50 push fittings and flimsy plastic line any day. To each his own but I've always found the quality of the shock plumbing to be completely mickey mouse and decidedly out of place on a $20K+ motorcycle. At the very least, they could have used compression fittings.

Not sure what the point is on checking pressure?? You use the Harley pump just like with the POS plastic manifolded Schrader valve. The biggest change for me was that they became set and forget unless I was changing loads. Before, I was adding air almost weekly and the pump never left my saddlebag. I've since gone to the HD Prem Hand adjustables.