I have also had this happen from time to time. You screw it on and see pressue but when you pump it pegs out with less than one pump. Just remove it and put it back on. As others have said, it's not on quite all the way.

 

Be certain the gauge is at zero before you hook up hose to valve stem... keep the pumper handle all the way in to start with...make sure you twist the valve connection on all the way/tight before you do any pumps on the handle. A good tight connection to valve stem is most important. It doesnt take very much pump action to build up a good amount of pressure in the shocks...but if you only pump handle one time and the reading on the valve is maxed out then i would say your pump is defective.
Take it back to stealer and have them compare it with results from another pump.

 

How many HD forums subscribers does it take to put air in a shock? we're up to 12 so far... :-)

 

Yeah I always thought it was the one easy thing to do on the bike. Now after reading all these posts, I didn't know how complex it is. Brain surgery sounds easier. Geez, screw it on, pump, read the gauge. WTF..............

 

Never had this type issue with mine.

 

I had this problem once. It turned out to be a problem with the piston in the schrader valve core. I removed the valve core in the air valve assembly and replaced it with a new one. After that, everything worked fine.

 

Thanks for replies. When I used it for the first time it worked perfect. Second time I'm having trouble. I'll give it another shot and and pay attention this time to all of the necessary details required to hook an air pump to a nozzle ...it really shouldn't be this hard should it....

 

Well, it ain't rocket surgery.

 

I just gotta say it DOH!