Changed rear shock oil

[War Horse]

OK since I have tomuch time on my hands, I guess, I decided to change the shock oil and let me tell ya's it aint fun, but this is what came out....  it feels like rubber and I suppose something internal is coming apart.

The shocks are 12" and have allways been knda like riding a hardtail when hitting a bump or pothole, I refilled with atf hoping for better or quicker dampening action but Now I,'m not sure if it was worth the effort..

Well what do you guys think...... 

[exfed12825]

Looks like swamp mud with a little gator scale. I told ya to keep it on the designated road ways 

[ossie]

Buy a pair of 08 or newer take off shocks. When you get them change the oil to Amisol 10 wt synthetic suspension oil. I did this a couple of years ago and am very satisified with the ride. I change the shock oil every year.

[tdkkart]

 I'm thinking if those shocks came off your '99 you should have pitched them about 10 years ago.
My'01 Ultra had 2 pairs of stock shocks start leaking in the first 10,000 miles, replaced them with Progressive Heavy Duty 440's and never looked back.

[Tollbooth]

 I have been thru all the options with 12 and 13 inch HD shocks !! Changed oil tried 5wt, then 10wt .Amsoil makes good "Shock Therapy" oil but she bottom line is,"You can chrome plate a turd but it's still a turd". HD shocks are a waste. Went to progressive bought the 440's changed to shorter springs and this tale has a great ending. "09" Ultra rides like it should. Call their contact us number, give em all your specs(weight, size, 2up,etc). They will tell you what springs will do for your application. Then order the set,like that, from a discount house. Lifetime warrentee can't be beat. The cost is not that much more that replacing what you have.
Now it may sound like I'm a salesperson for these shocks, but that's not the case. I was so mad at the way this Ultra rode and all the research, work etc. Pass it on.
Tollbooth

[War Horse]

New shocks arent in the budget in the forseeable future, unless they fell out of an airplane and landed in my front yard... 

The drain and refill took forever, like 3 hours of putting the fluid in with a syringe and pumping the shock to expell the air, I really couldnt see doing this as regular mantanance... 

Yeah their off my '99 but I didnt buy it new and thought the stock ones were 13" so I imagine these were changed at some time. 

[FLTRI]

Shocks are kinda like oil and tires. A lot of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge.

First, The stock air shocks do an admirable job considering they must "work" to absorb bumps and undulations for rider/passenger load from 135 lbs to 400 lbs plus baggage.

News flash:
NO SHOCK/SPRING COMBINATION CAN EFFECTIVELY COVER THAT RANGE!

This why shock mfgs ask rider and/or passenger weight prior to supplying springs rates and valving. HD does not have this luxury so they must come up with an effective compromise.

That compromise comes in the form of air pressure, which is, in fact, a great progressive spring.

When shock air pressure is set properly for the ride to be taken (enough to keep the suspension from bottoming during undulations and medium/large bumps) the ride will be as good as any other shock/spring combo.

The big difference is the ability easily and quickly compensate for weight/riding style changes. ie: passenger and/or luggage, etc.

IME, after some 175,000 miles on 3 different baggers (94 FLHTCU, 98 FLTRI, and 03 FLTRI) I can report it is all about understanding what the bike's suspension needs to provide a nice riding bike.

I adapted a compressor and switches/valves to my 94 ultra back in 1995 and found adjusting air pressure on the fly makes a noticeable ride quality difference as speeds and terrain changed. ie: low pressure for low speed light loads, high pressure for freeway speeds and undulations/bumps.

Needless to say all my baggers have on-the-fly adjustable shock pressures which I use during the ride to keep the suspension in the sweet zone of travel.

Bob
PS - The new (-09 p/n suffix) shocks have much different valving and spring rates for the altered shock position/angle and new frame suspension geometry.

[mp]

Changing shock oil......  What'll they think of next? 
Just buy some decent gas shocks with progressively wound springs.  No maintenance needed.  Around $200pr for the cheapest (Progressive 412's), which work great.

[War Horse]

I should of let well enough alone, went out on it yesterday for the first time since the    oil change and the bike seemed to be darting around, to be fair it was quite windy and I also have my 17" winter windshield on, but I think these shocks are toast... 

Great friggin timing as money couldnt be any tighter. 

Moral of the story is, if it aint broke dont fix it dipshit !   

[Thumper Buttercup]

We changed the oil in our 04 this spring on the Ultra and the ride
has never been better.  Hitting rail road tracks at speed or bumps
and the suspension just eats them up.  This is riding two up.

We did our buddies 06 Ultra and they love the way the bike is
behaving.

Used the Bel Ray oil.

War Horse, did you check your donuts, we found separation at 25000
miles and replaced them also.

[War Horse]

War Horse, did you check your donuts, we found separation at 25000
miles and replaced them also.

I allready replaced them last month, the reason for the oil change to something thinner was because the shocks seemed like they were locked up, going over a bump or pothole a speed was like a hardtail.

If you look at the pics at the beginning of this thread you'll see the crap that came out, I believe the internals are shot. 

[Admiral Akbar]

New shocks arent in the budget in the forseeable future, unless they fell out of an airplane and landed in my front yard... 

The drain and refill took forever, like 3 hours of putting the fluid in with a syringe and pumping the shock to expell the air, I really couldnt see doing this as regular mantanance... 

Yeah their off my '99 but I didnt buy it new and thought the stock ones were 13" so I imagine these were changed at some time. 

http://harleytechtalk.com/htt/index.php/topic,4449.0.html

IMO The stockers still seem to suck after changing fluid.. High speed damping it too much or non existent.. 

NO SHOCK/SPRING COMBINATION CAN EFFECTIVELY COVER THAT RANGE!

I like the idea of the compressor but as above I don't care for the damping. Don't think it can be fixed with those shocks. I prefer use the low end tongue cam mentality here.. Set the bike up for where you ride 90% of the time and deal with the times you ride for the other 10%.. Though for me, it's probably more like 99.9% and 0.1%..

Max

[War Horse]

Good link, thanks Max.. 

[kik]

Shocks are kinda like oil and tires. A lot of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge.

First, The stock air shocks do an admirable job considering they must "work" to absorb bumps and undulations for rider/passenger load from 135 lbs to 400 lbs plus baggage.

News flash:
NO SHOCK/SPRING COMBINATION CAN EFFECTIVELY COVER THAT RANGE!

This why shock mfgs ask rider and/or passenger weight prior to supplying springs rates and valving. HD does not have this luxury so they must come up with an effective compromise.

That compromise comes in the form of air pressure, which is, in fact, a great progressive spring.

When shock air pressure is set properly for the ride to be taken (enough to keep the suspension from bottoming during undulations and medium/large bumps) the ride will be as good as any other shock/spring combo.

The big difference is the ability easily and quickly compensate for weight/riding style changes. ie: passenger and/or luggage, etc.

IME, after some 175,000 miles on 3 different baggers (94 FLHTCU, 98 FLTRI, and 03 FLTRI) I can report it is all about understanding what the bike's suspension needs to provide a nice riding bike.

I adapted a compressor and switches/valves to my 94 ultra back in 1995 and found adjusting air pressure on the fly makes a noticeable ride quality difference as speeds and terrain changed. ie: low pressure for low speed light loads, high pressure for freeway speeds and undulations/bumps.

Needless to say all my baggers have on-the-fly adjustable shock pressures which I use during the ride to keep the suspension in the sweet zone of travel.

Bob
PS - The new (-09 p/n suffix) shocks have much different valving and spring rates for the altered shock position/angle and new frame suspension geometry.

FLTRI  What kind of compressor and valving are you using to do this on the fly? I was think of building my own system butif you already have a proven one then I can just copy yours. Do you have pictures to show ?

[PoorUB]

The drain and refill took forever, like 3 hours of putting the fluid in with a syringe and pumping the shock to expell the air, I really couldnt see doing this as regular mantanance... 

Someone needs to show you how to do it with a Mitivac and a jar. I chanced the oil in my 2010 shocks a while back, took maybe ten minute.

Here is a link, but the pictures are not coming up,

http://harleytechtalk.com/htt/index.php/topic,22777.msg234285.html#msg234285

anyway, you hang the shock upside down, grab one of mama's canning jars and solder a couple 1/4" copper tubes into the lid, one goes all the way to the bottem, a couple pieces of vinyl tube and a barb fitting for the shock. you suck the oil out of the shock into the jar, clap off the line to the shock, dump the jar and refill with fresh oil, hook up the line and release the clamp and the oil gets sucked out of the jar, right back into the shock. Takes longer to explain it than it does to do it.

[FLTRI]

FLTRI  What kind of compressor and valving are you using to do this on the fly? I was think of building my own system but if you already have a proven one then I can just copy yours. Do you have pictures to show ?

I wrote this stuff up a couple times in the past.
Hopefully someone will be able to dig some past threads where I showed schematics and parts list.

We gotta see if there is someone better at searching for stuff in the old HTT forum as there were a few threads about how to do this.

There may also be newer threads about how to rig up on-the-fly suspension ride height and ride control but search technique seems to be the key to finding it.
Bob

[Beave]

When my original 05 RK shocks went south (85k) , It was like the rebound dampening was too much, they would compress on the first bump and never recover (packing down?).  No amount of air or oil changing helped.  I bought a set of -09 takeoffs for $50 on Ebay and have been very pleased with both the ride and handling.  I also run an onboard compressor for on the fly adjustment for the ultimate in fine tuning, taking full advantage of the air shocks adjustability.

[FLTRI]

When my original 05 RK shocks went south (85k) , It was like the rebound dampening was too much, they would compress on the first bump and never recover (packing down?).  No amount of air or oil changing helped...

Since that condition is exactly opposite of normal (worn shocks have no rebound dampening left) I have to say you had a defective/bent shaft shock which will kill a decent ride.[/quote]

I bought a set of -09 takeoffs for $50 on Ebay and have been very pleased with both the ride and handling.  I also run an onboard compressor for on the fly adjustment for the ultimate in fine tuning, taking full advantage of the air shocks adjustability.

How much air do you run with? How often do you change pressures?
I find I have become spoiled with on-the-fly pressure adjustment and find I readjust for speeds, terrain, road conditions frequently...especially.

Bob

[HogBag]

War horse
There's some bargains on fleabay. I brought my progressive 416 air shocks for $26, No one bid on them because they where of a 86 flh. When I got them they where in brand new condition and they bolted straight up with no mods.

[War Horse]

Thanks Hogbag, I'll have to look around after the holidays and paying property taxes  , till then I'll make believe I'm drunk when riding so it should feel normal for now.... 

[Beave]

How much air do you run with? How often do you change pressures?

I run about 20 psi for slower, smooth straight roads and run it up for higher speeds/loads.  Of course the running pressure is about 5-10 psi more than what you read with the bike unloaded on the sidestand.  I also like the ability to increase cornering/ground clearance on rough or twisty roads.  Since most of my riding is spent crossing Kansas on smooth straight roads, I don't adjust it near as often as I do when I ride in Arkansas or Colorado.

[War Horse]

How much air do you run with? How often do you change pressures?


I run 25 psi, the bike is heavy with add on crap, I'll be changing the spoke rims over to the cast mags as soon as I can get some new rubber, and that might be contributing to the darty problem... close to worn out tires. It just didn't feel this way until I changed to oil in the shocks, first they where to solid and now seem unable to keep the bike in a straight line..... 

And before anybody says it , I did go over my work to make sure everything was copastetic...

[exfed12825]

 Hey Pup, PM me with an address and I'll send you a set of shocks I have sitting on the shelf. They are painted red and will need oil but they are good

[War Horse]

PM sent, see ya in January anyway, going to check out the location this weekend.....