Yesterday we had a ride and part way through a guy was admiring my bike and asked about the air ride. Being proud of my bike I was obliged to give the run down so I decided to dump the air, raise the bike up and then demonstrate the rebound adjustment.

I had found a good adjustment so the switch's had not been touched for a week or more.

My switches are
Front- adjusts rebound, firmness
Rear- adjusts height

I pushed both switches down to "dump" all the air out and quickly lower the bike all the way down. Normally this just dumps the air and the only sound heard is the air hissing out. This time the bike started going down slowly and the compressor came on. I could hear air hissing out but also hear the compressor only the compressor sound wasn't exactly right? It sounded like it was in a bind?

I released the switches and everything stopped. At this point I went to the rear switch and pushed it up to raise the bike. Usually the compressor comes on and the bike raises. This time nothing happened. I could hear the relay clicking but the compressor did not come on. At this point I'm wondering about the relay. I had one go bad before and it gave weird symptoms. The ride was continuing so I hoped on and rode with a very mushy suspension to the next stop. This stop happened to be right beside an Auto Zone. I managed to wiggle my hands behind the splash guard and cut some tie wraps with my knife. I got the old relay out and installed a new one. I still had the exact same symptoms.

Since the suspension was very mushy I decided to try the front switch thinking maybe I could at least stiffen it up where it was? I pressed the front switch up and the compressor comes on but it sounds like I described previously. It just sounds wrong, about half as loud and like it's in a bind. I let it run a while and it is doing nothing to the shock. No firming up at all.

I did continue on the ride but it was not pleasant. I can pull my rear fender up and it will stay there until I sit on it and it then goes down to about 90% lowered. There is about 10%shock meaning it is not on the frame stops. There is some suspension travel but very little and very soft. Any decent bump simply bottoms out.

By now we are half way through the ride so I stay with the group and head for home. I am very sore today but glad I was at least able to ride home.

I am wondering if any of you that have experienced a similar issue? It seems to me it is in the shock body itself?

I called JD yesterday and left a message. I am sure he will get right on it and make it right as he has in the past. The only reason I even put it on here is I am supposed to ride in The 2 Million Biker to DC Ride and we are supposed to leave Wednesday. If it is an issue that I can solve here I'm trying to get a head start. There is NO WAY I am riding this thing from NC to DC like this with the back issues I have it would probably put me in the hospital.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Sounds like the compressor went on you.

 

I don't think so. The compressor doesn't even come on when the rear switch is pushed up to raise the bike. The relay clicks calling for it to come on but it doesn't.

The compressor will come on when pushing the rear switch down or when pushing the front switch up. It just doesn't impact the shock movement.

I thinks something has went wrong inside the shock body. If I'm not mistaken there are internal solenoids inside. It's either a wiring issue or inside the shock. Without a complete wring schematic I can't tell?

 

Might be a simple wiring problem. Since you have limited time, I have a solution. Wanted to go to the 2 million biker march, but can't get out of shop, so I can kill two birds with one shotgun. Will ship you a new kit, solves your problem and let's me contribute to this event. Email your shipping info.JD

 

Disregard, see JD is already fixed ya.

 

and that is way all my bikes have had his shock!!!!

 

Well if you have backup rides that's great but if you have only one its another potential problem. IMHO of course.

 

Wow.

Just wow.

 

As I said earlier, I never doubted for one second that JD would not make it right whatever it took. The only reason I even mentioned this on here was in case someone had a similar issue or advice to help me get going before Wednesday.

JD, I sent you a private message with shipping info. Thanks!

 

I am not even, and no longer surprised or amazed at JD's customer service. My advice was going to simply be to give JD a shout and he would have you up and running in no time. I would like to see you ship the defective one back to JD so he can dig into it and find out what the issue is. He can resolve any future issues if he is given the chance to dig into it and find out what is wrong or what the problem is. I am betting its something electrical too but JD is the man and he will find out what is wrong and address it. Again, the warranty and customer service is one of the reasons I went with JD's product over any other that is out there. I would bet every penny that no other air ride system out there today or it's vendor could or would match such service. SS 1250.00, customer service, priceless. I want to stress again, NOTHING is perfect in an imperfect world but how a vendor treats me after the sale when something goes wrong is what sets them apart from all the rest. JD, another guy named Brian from out here in illinois should be calling you soon. I demonstrated your SS on my bike for him last night. He's sold and is interested in talking to you and then getting one put on his Fatboy. I think he wants to ask you a few questions, questions that would best be answered by you rather than me.