Looking at the Owners Manual, it says that anytime I ride, either by myself (because of my weight) or with my wife, I should have 50 Lbs in the shocks. I do, and when we hit a bump, it feels like the seat is welded to the axle, just a he** of a jolt.

Should it feel like this, or should I have the pressure lower.

Full disclosure, wife & I together are around 500 lbs.

 

Do you have a lift kit? 50 psi is the max, I run 25lbs with a lift kit and 24 psi in the tires.

 

These pressures seem to be all over the place...I've seen any where from 10 to 50lbs for shocks...and do the tires have a minimum?

I would listen to the people who are happy with ride comfort and what they are using?

The lift kit seems to be a must have for a lot of reasons.

Keep us informed to your discoveries
Hap

 

The psi for the rear shocks in the manual seems to have no relationship with reality. Not sure what HD was thinking. You should lower the pressure....but you will need to find the "sweet spot" for your riding conditions.

Check out post #5 in the following thread.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/tri-g...on-a-bump.html

 

Progressive Suspension or someone like that may have a set of replacement shocks with better load/comfort control than stock Tri-Glide. Might be worth checking into.

Progressive's 416 model for the Tri-Glide shows max pressure setting of up to 100psi.

http://www.progressivesuspension.com...ies/index.html

 

Just something to think about. Your shocks have a limited amount of travel, your trike, like a softail only has a few inches of total travel. Your stock shocks were designed to allow enough movement to keep your trike from 'bottoming out', and valved to stop bouncing. Air pressure adds additional support for the shocks to compensate for weight, not to soften the ride. Adding shock extensions, lift kits, or anything else to raise the body won't alter the valving or motion of the shocks. I'm not sure where you heard that Harleys had a soft ride, they don't and never have. When you see railroad tracks or speed bumps, stand up on your pegs or floor boards, sitting down will only rattle your teeth. Check out after market shocks for your tri-glide, you are looking at $700+ to alter the ride characteristics. I weigh 250#. Wife rides her own trike. I usually run 40psi in my rear shocks and 22psi in the rear tires. I don't bottom out when riding. On trips with luggage on the back I run it up to 45 - 50 psi.

Good Luck

 

Maybe you have found your sweet spot for your trike, you definitely have the seat time but IMO (and just what I have found with my '14) that's way too much PSI. I'm 220 and run two up a lot and even with luggage I wouldn't run more than 30-35 unless I was doing the haul road. I'm not riding a dirt bike, I don't feel the need to stand on the floor boards.

Stay safe!

 

Everyone's roads are different, weights are different, and perception of acceptable comfort is different.

On our 11 TG, we run 22-24 psi in the tires, 22 psi in rear shocks when two up, and 32 in rear shocks when loaded down.

2-up rider/passenger weight 340
Loaded down total weight a bit under 500

I don't stand up when going over a bump or rail-road tracks.

We have Never bottomed out the suspension, and we have ridden the Haul Road.

 

 

Stand-up???...... Don't do it!!