The benifit of a really long, multi day ride is you get the chance to note all the quirks and try certain tests.

I bought the HD shock pump just before leaving with a view to trying different pressures as I was heavily loaded. Started day 1 at 18psi and noticed a disconcerting speed wobble at 90 mph (not life threatening but irritating)

Next day pumped her up to 22psi, it was a different back and she sat down beautifully.

Not saying this will remedy all wobbles, but it certainly made a massive difference in my case

 

I was about to trade in my '08 Ultra because it handle so poorly it was borderline dangerous. I was just about to purchase a bagger brace to see if it would help. One night I was looking through the manual and came across the suspension section. So on a hunch I bought one of those air pumps as well. The stupid dealer I bought the bike from only had 5 psi in the shocks. I am fat (6'2" 300lbs.) so I pumped up the shocks to 20 psi right of the bat. Man what a difference! it was like a completely different bike. I now ride between 25 and 20. I no longer feel the need to purchase the bagger brace. ( I am not saying that it is not a good product or not needed so don't jump on me). I carry that little pump with me everywhere. Now if I can just get the issues in my front suspension figured out. Good post sgdiesel.

 

I have a '09 Ultra and 2-up I need to run 40 psi or I seem to bottom out all the time. Im 200lbs and the GF is tiny....my '03 Classic never seemed to have this issue. I also have the HD pump. Anyone else have a 'bottoming-out' issue?

 

Yup, ride with 40psi on my Street Glide solo is good and 50 psi. two-up. I am 235 and wife at 135. This thing bottoms like crazy on our roads at any lower!

 

seems like you have something else going on here. there is no reason you should be bottoming out with less pressure than that.

i replaced the stock fork fluid with the se heavy (not the race) and am really liking that. give it a try and see. i followed iclicks post on changing the oil without having to tear the forks apart.

 

The pressure WILL leak out over time. So, the dealer may not have been negligent. The suspension pressure should be checked on a regular basis. It is also my opinion that the pump should be supplied as part of the purchase price since the pressue is a critical maintenance item - bordering on a safety item.

 

yes it does, and actually quicker that people may imagine. Also important to stress that this should be done with the bike cold, pressure varies significantly with temp of course

 

I run 30 PSI with the wife on board, no problems for us. Combined weigh about 400 lbs.

 

OK, here’s my question… I weigh about 140 soaking wet, yep, I’m a bean pole. So, I’ve been running it at zero psi per the HD manual. Any other skinny guys (or gals) out there running any pressure out there? The ride has been so good that I haven’t bothered playing with it yet.

I have also not purchased the pump yet… it’s on the list, but to be honest not at the top. I have a compressor that allows me to set the max pressure, so I’m thinking I may use that, but haven’t so far.

- Jerm

 

Agreed - the pump should come standard, but otherwise, everyone should have one. There's so little volume of air in the system that you can't use any ol' bicycle pump to get it right. Most pumps will bleed your air out when you detach. I run about 20 psi (200 lbs) alone and 30 when 2-up (maybe 330 lbs).