adding air to shocks

chiaronate wrote: Also, why let out air after taking it off the stand? The manual doesn't mention that.

It was simply given as an example to help clarify the fact that with the forks elevated and fully extended even if you started with the top bolts out (or in, it DOES NOT MATTER) if you adjusted the air pressure within the forks to 7 psi the pressure would rise when you applied the weight of the bike to the forks. Think about it. If you start with the pressure at zero and adjust it to 7 psi, or if you start with the pressure at 50 psi and adjust it to 7 psi, you will have 7 psi after the adjustment. Then when you take the bike off the center stand and the jack, the weight of the bike will apply additional compression to the air in the forks which will raise it above the 7 psi that was in there. Again, we're not talking about the weight of the bike adding hundreds of psi, but it will in fact raise the psi somewhat. Ed

When was the last time the fork oil was changed? Old, contaminated fork oil, which may not be set at the correct level and/or may not be the correct viscosity, will seriously affect the performance of the front forks. Ed

I don't know when the fork oil was changed, I just bought this bike a few months ago. I'm just going to put air in them first when I get that air pump in the mail. That Harley dealership has a digital one for sale for more than $60, but I'd rather pay $30 on e-bay and wait. Even the pump with the analog gauge is $50, which isn't even in stock.

Including information about bike year and model is helpful to viewers and usually elicits better responses.
It's easy to put the information in your signature where it shows in all posted messages, past and future.
And may be changed whenever and as often as desired.
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Another thing to be careful about when dealing with air shocks is not to inadvertently remove all air pressure from the shocks while the bike's on the side stand, because the rear suspension may collapse and cause the bike to tip over onto its right side.


Good Fortune!

I was way off about it now being necessary to use the center stand when adding air to the shocks. I got my air pump in the mail today and put air in the shocks. When I lifted the motorcycle up afterward the air pressure decreased probably about three pounds. I need to get that center stand on there when I get a chance, although it doesn't really matter right now because the shocks leak air. I'm going to see about getting the forks and rear shocks rebuilt.