My 96' Road King has the air reservoir forks. Never had a problem with it until now, it fact I had new bushings and seals installed just last year.

I noticed that the front forks were bottoming out on my first ride of the season. Checked the air and there was no air pressure in the front. No problem, added 10 psi to the front and all will be well. Second ride had the same problem. No air. Tried to add air with my "HD no loss pump" and it went from 12 psi to 0 in a matter of 30 seconds. Looks like a leak in the system.

Here's my dilemma: the front forks have been lowered at least an inch by the previous owner. (not sure what spring is in there) I am about to install a set of 2-2B's (12 7/8") from Motorcycle metal. My rear currently is running 12" HD air shocks with a one inch lowering block. Because of this gain of 1-1.5 inches in the rear I was considering going with a new spring in the front to bring the old girl back up to near stock height.

My question is this: is it worth fixing the leak or am I better off ditching the front air Ride and going with something different?

 

Here's a picture of my Road King next to my buddy's (stock height)



Mine on the left (lowered)



Mine on the left (lowered) vs stock

 

I you're already dealing with Howard, you're already getting the best advice to be had.

FWIW, I just pulled the air system and stock internals out of my Electra Glide and replaced it with Progressive cartridge inserts. The results are fabulous. Can't say enough good things about those.

 

I replaced the air system with RaceTech single-rate springs with Emulators. Huge improvement. So there are multiple choices out there that are easily better than the stock system.

 

I skipped the emulators but did what Rivercity did
More than happy with it.

Oh went with 15 w oil to begin with then changed to 7 w. Much better for me

WP

 

I appreciate all the responses so far. Leaning towards new springs instead of fixing my air forks and now need to decide how much to spend.

I totally missed the Race Tech kit. Leaning towards that.

Thanks again.

 

There are several places your air system can leak from, such as the rubber hose itself, or the clamps at each end of it, or the copper washers on the unions. I also replaced mine recently, but never had any difficulty keeping it servicable, having bought the bike new in '90. As an additional upgrade option there are Ohlins FKC101 cartridges, available from Howard - a one stop shop!

 

You won't be sorry. It's a huge bang for the buck.

My first attempt (a few years back) was to replace the stock air system with Progressive springs (got them for free as part of a deal buying Progressive rear shocks) and Ricor Intiminators, which gave me the handling upgrade I was looking for, but a rougher ride. I was OK with it for a while, but started looking for improvement. The Race Tech spring/emulator kit was just what the doctor ordered -- I still have the handling advantages with a much smoother ride.

 

Pitch the lowering blocks in the river. They are known to cause damage/failure of the swingarm.

 

Too true - don't mention them in the same sentence as Howard's fine products!