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I recently did a three day trip with a good friend and he brought along his HD air suspension pump. I've only had my bike for barely two years and honestly thought the dealer would have checked what it was filled to when I service it last but very much to my surprise it was very low at just over 8 lbs. I never have a passenger with me, just myself at about 195 lbs. We bumped it up to around 25 lbs/psi and headed out for our trip. The bike seemed to handle the railroad crossing much better and sunken manholes weren't as bone jarring as before. The bike never came with an owners manual, just wondering what you guys would recommend for the rear air shock setting on this bike: 2012 Ultra Limited.
My bike, 09 Electra, calls for a max of 50 psi.....I usually run 2 up and run the pressure at 40, unless we're loaded, then I raise it to 45 psi...
You can Google up a pressure chart for your bike to be sure but I think a solo rider, no load, was 20 psi.....25 is ok....
I know you weren't asking this, but for what it's worth, my buddy has a 2014 FLHTK that had the original air shocks on it. He had an H-D hand air pump and occasionally added air. When I upgraded the suspension on my FLHTP I gave him my old take-off OEM shocks. He's happy not to have to be fussing with adding air and believes the ride is much improved over what he had. Another buddy just switched out his OEM air shocks on his 2003 to inexpensive Progressive 412's and is equally happy with the results. Both are heavier riders who ride two-up. So if you are considering buying a pump of your own you may want to consider just switching out the shocks as it can be done quite inexpensively.
Last edited by UrbanRunner; Sep 25, 2023 at 01:13 AM.
I am a heavy guy at 360 lbs on my 2011 FLHTX ( same bike as yours ) and I always have the tour pack full of junk. I run 40-45 in the shocks and 38-40 in the tires, once in a while I will bottom out on a man hole cover in town but the max pressure on these is 50 psi and I want to stay under that , If you decide to stay with the factory shocks you are gonna want to get yourself one of those hand pumps as I personally have never had a dealer check / change my shock pressure and the pressure will vary a bit with air temp ( I usually check and adjust mine 3-4 times a season ) Do not use a big air compresure on these shocks, It does not take a lot of " volume " to get them to max psI. and the last thing you would want to do is rupture one of the bags or plastic tubing.
The dealer is not going to check the air pressure.
Its a rider preference as to what pressure they want.
Im 260 and normally have the shocks at 45lbs.With my wife on the back 50 lbs.
The bottom line is the stock shocks suck.
I guess I don't understand the big deal with the stock shocks. I've had 3 Ultras and never had an issue with any of them. I'm a big ol' boy and travelled two up a bunch with my wife. Only thing I've done is rebuild the forks on the current bike as I was in there adding chrome lowers anyway.
I ride pretty hard - don't scrape the floorboards as much these days since I moved them up an inch - the brackets are taking a beating and the kickstand is much lighter than it used to be though.
What's SO bad about factory shocks? I wonder if people blame them instead of their lack of riding skill.
On my third touring bike and all had the stock air shocks.
I think they are very harsh when riding over bumps.
Even worse when 2 up and pressure set accordingly.
What is wrong with the stock air shocks?" Everything. "Harley should be ashamed for putting those pieces of crap on an expensive bike. I bought a new R.G. in 15 and could not believe how bad they were. I replaced them immediately. They swayed and bottomed out (especially with 2 up and a load). My current bike is a 20 Limited and the stock adjustable shocks work great. I have owned Harleys for over 50 years so I'm am pretty confident about my riding skills and my ability to judge equipment.
Air pressure in the shocks and forks, is to set pre-sag on the bike. Not to adjust dampening
So granted that you would have min/max label on the inside of the right bag, really should be adjusting the sag (air pressure amounts) for what you will have on the bike. Hence should be a base line for one up that you use, base line for two up, and then fully loaded for a trip for two up. Hence 25 mm of sag for both front and back.
Does not cover the air shocks, but pressure is used, isntead of adjusting the spring tension.
As for oem stock fork oil is 10wt, while rear shocks is 7wt. If more than 200lbs of rider, then this can create a mash mellow effect even with the correct sag height, and would want to increase the weight of oils used for the back isntead. Myself, at 240lbs, run 15 weight oil in the forks, and 10weight oil in the rear shocks to get the correct dampening in the system instead. Hence oil weight change, but still running the stock amounts.
As for air lines, when you reinstall them, make sure to pull back on the lines until you see the lock collars come out the way back out. Also, since air can leak around the fork and shock seals over time, best to check your shock pressure every few months, or before and during a long trip. Most shock pumps are self seating with pressure gauge, so easy to check the pressures just using the pump.
Note, take a look at your max pressure for the shocks, and get a pump that is max pressure is just slightly higher than that max pressure. On some of the older bikes, max shock and fork pressure is much lower (30lbs) and with a pump that is gauge is set to read much lower for it max range, give a better reading for the lower pressures used in these.
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2012 Ultra Limited Rear Air Suspension
