I have the harley air pump and when I go to air up the air shocks it holds air while the air pump is on but when removed it leaks out I guess bc when i put the air pump back on it reads 0. Am I doing something wrong?

 

Sounds to me like you're not getting the hose completely engaged to the valve. Try screwing the hose fitting onto the valve farther.

 

You could also check the air lines at the shock and at the intake valve with soapy water to determine air leakage there. A bad crimp could be the problem.

 

Make sure the threads are snug. As you are screwing the pump to the valve, proceed till you see the gauge jump, then a little tighter for good measure. One cool thing about this pump is no air leaks out when unscrewing. Enjoy!

 

Get your GF to pump it - she'll get it to work...

JK - seriously...you either have a leak in the line/coupling, or just don't have the pump on the valve tight enough.

 

Pump wasn't on tight enough. Thanks

 

 

Sounds like an air line leak. Pretty common.

 

The rear shocks are a PITA to get adjusted to a "precise" pressure.
There is very little volume of air so even a split second of air escaping will result in several PSI being lost.

For example, if I filled mine to 40psi and then check them with a gage, every time I check it, that split second of air escaping results in 5-10 psi being lost.
Check them 3 or 4 times and they are back down to zero.

You have to be FAST and pull the pump or gage off as fast as possible to minimize pressure loss.

 

I've pressured mine up, removed the pump, and then put the pump back on and the pressure drop is minimal. One thing I did discover is temperature makes a significant difference. I aired the shocks to 50 psi is the evening and checked them in the morning, they were at 43 psi. Figured I had a leak. I reduced the pressure to 30 psi and did some work on the bike. In the afternoon before taking a ride with the better-half, I went to air them up and the pressure was at 35 psi when I attached the pump. The temperature difference was about 30 degrees between morning and afternoon.