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shock air pressure check

23K views 39 replies 24 participants last post by  dtmmil 
#1 ·
My wife and I made a little trip yesterday to a motorcycle event here in Arkansas. The bike drug ever so slightly dropping off the driveway onto the street. I didn't think much about it then as I usually back the bike off the driveway and have the wife get on afterwards. Later on the return trip, I drug left pipe on a very sharp downhill curve entering Batesville and one other time. We've been on these roads several times and this has never happened so once home I checked the air pressure in the shock and just as I anticipated, the pressure was low.... way low <20 lbs. I aired it up and checked it this morning and still at 50lbs. Has anyone experienced the loss in pressure with their airshock? I guess I need to check it more often but how often is everyone checking theirs. I check my tires before every ride.
 
#2 ·
Seems I may have the same problem with the air shocks. I do not check them often, but when I do they are always at zero. I use the hand pump to fill them. The other day I put 25 lbs in, going to wait a bit and recheck. You will loose a few lbs when you remove and attach the pump, will take that into concideration.
 
#4 ·
I check the tires once a month and always add air. Now with the hot weather I would check every two weeks and they would be down 2 to 3 pounds.
Yesterday I thought I would add air to the shock for a little stiffer ride. Guess what it was down 5 pounds. So hot weather affects any thing that holds air.
So from now on in hot weather I'm checking the shock.
Boy I was shocked
 
#5 ·
I'll be checking it more often now for sure.. I just barely scrapped the pipe or actually the bolt which holds the exhaust tip on.. Sounded like the whole pipe was dragging though.. "shocked" excellent play on words...! Lol


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#6 ·
I check my air shock air every three weeks or so, but that's probably not enough. It always needs at least a little air--and sometimes more than a little (maybe it's the crazy ass southern Texas heat playing hell with things).

Since I put a shorter windshield on (http://www.victoryforums.com/showthread.php?t=12525) I have noticed that if my ass can't tell if the rear end needs air, my line of vision over the top of the windshield can.

If you are agonizing over what height windshield you want for your XC or XCT, be sure to do your calcs with the rear end air pressure set appropriately.
 
#7 ·
Gauge reading incorrect.

I got curious a while back about the small FOX hand pump I bought for the shock. I use it when needed,always seemed a bit harsh the ride. I checked it with my Snap-On tire gauge which I do trust more. Apparently the Fox gauge reads 5 lbs to low, so I have been overfilling it since I got the bike. I subtract 5 lbs from the reading now on the Fox hand pump. Bike rides much better.
 
#8 ·
Not sure I know of any air shocks that hold their psi for much longer than a week or two. Can't think of any right now.

I did have an issue with the air shock in my 11 XC during the first year I owned it. Just out of the blue it wouldn't hold air pressure with 2 up riding. It was fine with just me but if I had a passenger it would go from aired up properly to bouncing on the stops by the end of the day.

Fortunately it did happen during that first year so it was covered by the dealer/Victory but it's entirely possible these days that a dealer might decline to honor that because it was such an off the wall thing.

The tech and I looked at the shock after it was replaced and could not see anything to make one think there was anything wrong with it. I hope your guys have the kind of good dealer I have when you bring this to their attention.
 
#9 ·
Knock on wood, but my shock does not readily lose pressure. Whatever I set it to, a week later, that's where it's still at. Without the tour pack, it likes 10lbs, with the trunk, it takes 20lbs. I only air it up to the 35-50 range when riding two up, depending on the passenger... I try to always follow the chart posted near the valve in the side bag door. 200lb rider, no trunk = 9lbs of air in the shock.
 
#10 ·
Hey, what brand air pump do you guys use? I just got my 2012 XC and, of course, Victory doesn't supply the air pump. Recommendations? Or are they all about the same?
 
#12 ·
Find one on EBAY which you will find is half the price of the Vic one. Just make sure you get one that screws on and off. Those don't lose air pressure when you disconnect them.

Just checked the air pressure in my shock on my XCT and it is the same as when I last aired it up in June.
 
#11 ·
I have a 2008 Vision Tour Premium, the shock went bad the first year I hade the bike. I was doing a Lake Superior Circle Tour with the wife.
when another bike passed me and pointed to the trailer I was towing. The chains were draging, no air pump at that time, so shortened the chains. When we returned I pumped up the shock and with in 2 days it was low again. The dealer replaced the shock and have not had any other problems with the shock. I normaly carry about 50 lbs all of the time because the wife is almost always with me and it is just easy to leave the pressure at 50 lb. I check the air preasure about 4 times a year, which when I put the trailer on the back and put about 5/6 pumps with the Victory gage into the shock. Mine holds up realy well. Not so for the fork seals, in the second time now for new seals.

Buster
 
#14 ·
Gunslinger, I was just clicking the "Buy" button on Amazon for the Fox pump when your response came in. Great timing!
 
#18 ·
I read this on another forum and I wondered if any one had heard anything like this. It's not a Victory forum but a general motorcycle forum about adventure riding, so you may can guess which one. This was in a thread about Victories.

Interesting development. Brother of a close friend had a new XCT lose the air suspension and dropped the rear fender on the rear tire at about 80mph. Don't know how he kept it up (!?) but went straight to the Harley dealer and traded it as soon as it was fixed under warranty.

He does 25 to 30k miles per year and absolutely loved the Cross Country, but this incident was apparently a deal breaker.
Now I am always dubious of I heard from someone who knew someone, but I wondered. I searched the forum and found this thread. Losing a little pressure over time seems normal, but losing it all at once could be a problem.
 
#24 ·
I read this on another forum and I wondered if any one had heard anything like this. It's not a Victory forum but a general motorcycle forum about adventure riding, so you may can guess which one. This was in a thread about Victories.

Interesting development. Brother of a close friend had a new XCT lose the air suspension and dropped the rear fender on the rear tire at about 80mph. Don't know how he kept it up (!?) but went straight to the Harley dealer and traded it as soon as it was fixed under warranty.

He does 25 to 30k miles per year and absolutely loved the Cross Country, but this incident was apparently a deal breaker.

Now I am always dubious of I heard from someone who knew someone, but I wondered. I searched the forum and found this thread. Losing a little pressure over time seems normal, but losing it all at once could be a problem.
Can't see how this happened just by losing air. When I bought my X/C, dealer did not put any air in suspension. I took off out of the parking lot 2 up with my wife ( That would be a total of 470 lbs) The only thing that scraped were my D&Ds when I hit a couplr of deep dips in the road. When I got home I checked the air for the suspension and added some to specs. The only way I could see the tire hitting the fender is if the suspension link may have broke, or came off some how.
 
#21 ·
look for a bicycle pump with a gauge on it. You really should run 20 psi in the shock so it works for you. It will not raise the bike but you will corner better and have a smoother ride
 
#20 ·
Generally you will gain/lose 1 lb of air pressure per 10 degrees of air temp. So if you check your tires and its 80 in your garage you will lose 4 lbs if its 40 outside. I parked my bike in january with the tires at 40 and the shock at 7. I got it out the other day to get it ready for riding, tires were at 39.5 and the shock was at 6.

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#22 ·
#25 ·
negatives

People always find something negative to say about any type of bike out there. Just seems some riders of certain brand(s) always seem to find negative things about other brands of bikes. I know we do it on this site also. Just seems like somebody always has to be an ...hole and say some garbage about what you ride. I had some good looking blonde say some bs the other day to me when I was turning right from a stop on my XRs. What she said I do not know, could not hear her, had my helmet on ,and really I don't care what her remark was, just blew it off. ---Oh yes and yes my air shock does loose a small amount of air overtime and temp change. Yes I have ran it without air pressure and no the back tire did not hit the inside of the fender.:crzy::rolleyes:
 
#33 ·
Is it possible to have too little air in the shock?
My weight is 165# and my wife 110#
I'm 5'6" tall and it's hard to reach the ground therefore I like to keep
the air pressure under 10# to keep the bike lower.
Can this low pressure cause trouble?
Yes it is possible to have too little air in the shock. It can lead to stability issues. High speed wobbles, while not common on our bikes, are often attributed to too soft of a rear shock preload, too much or too high of a packed load in the rear, or an unbalanced load (too much weight to either side) in either rear bag. Less extreme symptoms might include a "wandering" feeling at freeway speeds or severe rear squat while under acceleration or bottoming out on big bumps.

Additionally, when packing, try to keep your heavier items down low in the bags and the lighter items in the trunk.

I always follow Victory's recommendations when riding solo, two up, etc and have noticed the difference on those occasions when i have forgotten...

BTW, my rear shock holds air pretty well, way better than my Concours did...




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#29 ·
You should have a little more in it but you should check into a lowering link for your bike. You can easily drop the rear 1". You should be able to have good footing on the ground at stops for safety.

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#30 ·
Reading this had me check mine. Been since I bought it and well over 5000mi ago.

Got 35lbs in it now and I think that's about were I set it way back when for 2up with gear. (350lbs or so)

Got me thinking...might drop it to 20 for myself and see how it plays out. Never seen it lose any pressure by itself tho.
 
#31 ·
Also you may want to check the bottom mounting bolts of the shock for oil leakage. Mine went out a couple of months ago but never lost any air.
 
#32 ·
Curious if any one has tried putting dry nitrogen in the air shock ( and/or their tires for that matter but I suppose that should go in another thread)? If it is more stable in an air craft tire and car tires I wouldn't see any reason it wouldn't help with keeping the air shock from leaking down as much as some seem to have troubles with.
 
#35 ·
I have the tools and bottle to do just this from charging my race car shocks and had considered it. Not sure you'll do well fully evacuating the old 'air' tho. The only reason I'd consider it tho is the lack of moisture contamination. I don't think you'd see it leaking down any more or less. Nitrogen is put into tires not for life or durability but for stability- it won't expand and has no moisture content.
 
#37 · (Edited)
I LIKE to lean my bike over so I run my shock up according to my weight + I am 195 lbs + riding gear and carry tools, etc in my SB's. I normally run 40 PSI in the shock and with S/O aboard 72psi as required. I also ride rather spiritedly...:^)

How some of you ride with little to no PSI in shock is a mystery to me.. Reminds me of the HD guys in single vehicle accidents who run wide in the curves and crash as is the norm around here...
> http://www.khq.com/story/23309917/m...lle-county-life-threatening-injuries-reported
 
#38 ·
There is no real reason to run more pressure in the shock then needed. It still works as a shock, the air is extra, like a coil to add preload for extra weight.

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#39 ·
There is no real reason to run more pressure in the shock then needed. It still works as a shock, the air is extra, like a coil to add preload for extra weight.

I don't believe that is correct ; add air - according to weight. (going by what the manual recommends)
 
#40 ·
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