Ok I need some help here... I ride a 99 1500 drifter ...so we went riding yesterday and with a total of 350 LBS. ( her and I ) and no accessories I noticed that after hitting a couple bumps we hit hard and bottomed out...this is the first time I've ridden the bike two up since I bought it last fall...anyhow I have the preload set at 4 and checked the air pressure and got a reading of 35 lbs. and oil sprayed everywhere what a mess ...they say in the owners manual don't use a tire pressure gauge because they are inaccurate ...so my questions are 1) how many psi should I run in the shocks 2) if they say not to use a tire gauge then what kind of gauge and pump do you use and 3) how do you get around oil spraying everywhere when you use the air valve to check the pressure. Thanks Rick
Well, whatever the pressure before, it ain't that pressure now!
You have to use a lossless gage... the mini-pump by Progressive is the one to use... its a pump and gage and it won't spew your oil everywhere...
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/blog/?p=590 (http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/blog/?p=590)
Here is some info:
- Raise the rear wheel off the ground to adjust pressure and make sure you have the same pressure in each shock.
- Use a loss-less pump only - like the one above.
- Max air pressure is 71 PSI. Normal pressures 0 to 43 PSI.
- Bike comes set at Atmospheric pressure intended for 150 lbs.
- Higher the load or the worse the road are, the higher the pressure should be adjusted.
- 43 psi = Heavy Load / Bad Roads
- 0 psi = Light Load / Good Roads
- Shock Pre-set (1=soft ride, 4=stiff ride)
- 1 = Light load, soft ride, good road conditions, low speeds
- 4 = Heavy load, stiff ride, bad road conditions, high speeds.
Personally, I replaced my air shocks with Progressive 440's... overkill now that I ride solo on the Drifter, but at the time needed it for two-up and luggage. Progressive 412's are used by some Drifters as well.
Well, I was gonna post this, too...now I don't have to. I'm running about 1 atmosphere in my shocks with rebound set at 4....I like it.....but then there's no accounting for some people's taste....Got one of those P/S mini pumps years ago for the air suspension on my TourGlide
FWIW I just replaced my factory air shocks with the 440's also. Should have done this a lomg time ago! The ride is greatly improved!
Thanks guys I knew I could get the answers I need here.....
What weight are the 440's rated for?
Don't know. Look on the Progressive Suspension site. I suspect it is far more than we would load our bikes!