Homemade Air Ride

[OutlawBagger]

I got my air ride installed and ready to ride. It took about 7 beers and a couple hours. Pretty basic install. I have about 1,000 miles on this set up and no complaints yet. I did have the original solenoid fail on me so I replaced it with my extra one. I rode 2 up for about 50 miles and no problems there either.

Had to cut a little off the bottom of the shock hole spacer (stuck out to far) and added a 1/2x5/8x1 insert to have the bolt fit right. The top shock hole I just drilled it out to a 1/2in. I added longer grade 8 bolts top and bottom just from piece of mind. Total cost was under $150. I got all the air fittings from work and had a extra Nitrous solenoid laying around which saved a little money.

I mounted the compressor and solenoid on the left side behind the cover. The switch is mounted on the down tube above the trans and below the seat.

Rolling it around the garage with all the air let out nothing rubs at all.

This is what I have.

Monroe MA785 Max-Air Corvette Air Shocks ($60 Amazon) Max height 14in, no air height 9.75in.
Viair 92C 12 Volt Air Compressor Kit ($65 Amazon)
used NOS solenoid (Leftover from my racing days)
Lines are from the shocks and extra from auto parts store
Fittings I got from work (push lock style)
Universal 12 Volt Remote Control Kit (just for fun) ($20 Amazon)
3 position switch from auto store ($5 Autozone)

I don't have the remote hooked up yet but it will be next on the list.

You can ready the original post from 999 customs and get all the info there.

http://www.hdforums.com/forum/touring-models/582587-air-ride-installed.html

Mounting the compressor

Hoses, Solenoid and fittings.

Video
[video=youtube_share;y1siny2GQmQ]http://youtu.be/y1siny2GQmQ[/video]

 

[bagger specialties]

very nice. how does the compressor know when to chut off. or do you have a gage that you watch and turn it off when it gets up to pressure
.

 

[Chad263]

Man that looks like it works good. How much does it drop? it looks like more than the regular air rides out there

 

[Bill]

Damn good tech right there!

 

[OutlawBagger]

very nice. how does the compressor know when to chut off. or do you have a gage that you watch and turn it off when it gets up to pressure
.

I shut it off when I get the right ride height. I just sit on it and when I feel comfortable I stop it. I'm going to replace the factory POS air temp gauge with a air pressure gauge so I know what's going on.

Man that looks like it works good. How much does it drop? it looks like more than the regular air rides out there

Arnot say's their shocks are 12in extended and 9.75 w/o air. Monroe say's 14in extended and 9.75 w/o air. The number's look the same but I agree this homemade system looks like it SLAM's the bike.

 

[Sonic69]

I like it and for the money you can't beat it.

 

[OutlawBagger]

Coolerman69 just joined. He is responsible for me doing this to my scoot. He really helped me out a lot. He has many more miles on his set up.

 

[Classic$98]

This is the kind of shadetree mechanic stuff I love!

 

[coolerman69]

Outlaw get that remote installed!http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=ULXEsIrKu-8Gw&v=XEsIrKu-8Gw

 

[coolerman69]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=ULh-xFfTp-GyM&v=h-xFfTp-GyM

 

[bdog]

Nice set up man, I was thinking of doing the same thing.

 

[OutlawBagger]

Outlaw get that remote installed!http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=ULXEsIrKu-8Gw&v=XEsIrKu-8Gw

JERK LOL, Nice warning light's when it's airing up HAHAHA.

 

[TNTCC]

Looks great, and a great idea. How is the ride compared to stock or an Arnott?

 

[OutlawBagger]

Looks great, and a great idea. How is the ride compared to stock or an Arnott?

To me the ride is a little better than stock but it depends on how much air is in the shocks. All the way down and it's a little rough, all the way up and ehh it's ok but UMMM right in the middle and it's good. Rode 2 up and it's a lot better than stock. I can't comment on the Arnott's never had them before.

 

[Slowbagger]

One of these days I'll get to take mine out for a ride to see how it feels....just not sure when that day is going to come....

VIDEO

 

[OutlawBagger]

Slow is that a CVO switch?

 

[yardsale]

Let me know if anybody wants to try this. I watched Outlaw's video a few months ago and bought the Monroe MA785 Max-Air Corvette Air Shocks but decided to go with Arnott's. Never opened the box. PM me and we'll figure out a price (something less than Amazon)

 

[Slowbagger]

Slow is that a CVO switch?

yes it is

 

[Opunui]

Been riding with this air ride for a couple of thousand miles. Love it. I silver soldered all fittings from compressor. Wired it to my acc switch and my dump is on the right side frame.

 

[Slowbagger]

Finally rode mine today. I was pleasantly surprised with the ride. The valving felt stiffer than I expected which I wanted because I've been known to ride my bike hard at times.. Definitely need a gauge because I couldn't keep track of how much air was in it while ride.