I have air ride on my 13 SG. Talking with someone that works on Harley's he suggests I get an air tank for the suspension. But he said if this was his bike he would make the swingarm into the air tank.


Has anyone done this?


Is this the swingarm or should this be the main frame of the bike?


Any pics on this if someone has done the air tank this way?

 

I suppose it could be done using the swingarm but only with a lot of welding and work. I would think the frame would be too difficult to do.

 

Reservoir tank would soften the suspension I would think because it would be a bigger volume of air to compress meaning you'd have to run a higher pressure to compensate, if anything an onboard pump would be preferable. Being able to adjust the shocks on the fly is a huge advantage. Loved the one I ran for a while.

 

using frame as an air tank is regularly done on drag bikes to store air for an air shifter. As mentioned it would require a bit of welding and even if you utilized the entire frame and swingarm you would have limited capacity. Best to use nitrogen as a fill as its less prone to pressure fluctuations due to temperature.

 

Buy the Harley air shock pump, set the air shock pressure at the beginning of the riding season and forget about it.

 

I've heard of people using their engine guard.

 

Thanks all. I figured the swing arm was all concealed already and I could just tap a line into it? I take it that is not all that can be done?

 

We don't know the swing arm is a sealed cavity, to my knowledge (which is limited) most frames and frame parts are actually vented on purpose,, a small hole is drilled somewhere to allow for temp swing expansion/contraction of metals and air to avoid condensation forming inside that could start rust/corrosion.
As already mentioned, a reservoir of air (like an "air tank") has limited use. Once the air is gone from the tank you can't do anything until the tank is filled again.
Most bikes with adjustable air suspension have pumps.

 

I do have a compressor already installed. I was thinking of adding a tank for faster input of air into shocks as I ride and change the stiffness.

 

Air tank doesn't work that way sorry , more volume just means longer recovery times at a given pressure you'd stepping backwards.