[wolfmann]

imported post

My wife and I own a 1990 go1500 with 87k on the clock. The questioni have, I weigh 160 and my wife is about 200, the bike has a ride off center stand so can't really put the rear tire off the ground where ever we go. What should the air suspension pressure be? The bike has factorysuspension . With us on the bike, and on the ground the pressure reads around 60psi. Is this ok, I'm not as familiar with the way the 1500 suspension as the way the 1200's are.

 

[satan]

imported post

'The owner's manual' will say,"... combined weight of rider, passneger, cargo, and additional accessories must not exceed ... 408lbs" as the maximum capacity.

Additionally, 'the owner's manual' will say,"...useable air pressure range under normal conditions is ... 0-57psi".

As you mention, they do have you set / measure the air pressure with the rear suspension at full droop. If you're capible of getting your bike up on (and off off) its center stand, you can "cheat" the ride-off stand by placing a thin plate of wood (or other) under the centerstand. Usually 1/2" plywood is enough, but I've seen some ride-offs need 3/4" or more.

I would suggest that you get the rear tier in the air (using the wood trick), then inflate the rear to the maximum value in the manual (57psi), and then set the bike down, and park on your ride-off stand normally and look at the pressure value measured there as your new "max" pressure.

That approach would kinda follow the manual... I tend to be manual adverse, since many folks hopelessly overload these bikes. Instead of all that crap above, when loaded, I'll set the air pressure so that the rear suspension compresses 1" to 1.5" from full extension (using the 1" value for 'soft flat-land touring' and the 1.5" value for 'heading to the hills').

In all, pressures will be very specific to your bike, as the oil condition and fill-level in your shock will change from the moment these hit the road (minor weeping, contamination and aging, together with aspiration up the air line all affect quality and fill-level)... It'd be difficult to put an exact number (in psi) that would get your unique setup to be 'perfect' -- and "perfect' would only be opinion at best.

Do take a moment to see if you're running overfilled though - seal life can be shortened, if you run too much pressure; though I've seen the OEM shock run at 75psi for years.

 

[Indydragon]

imported post

Here is a post from another member that tells you the correct way to set your shocks:

Surprised no one remembers this:

Run the pressure up to max. Load the bike the heaviest you think you will ever ride.

Start letting air out while another party holds a tape measure from the rear fender to the floor.

Just bump and release the button, have the observer tell you to stop, whenever the fender starts to drop. Don'tallow the drop to be more than1/2". Check the gage. That's the setting for your heaviest load.

Repeatthe process, w/the various ways you will ride, such as 2up, 1up packed for a trip, 1 up. Take readings at each of these. Now you have a list of settings for the various ways you ride.




Last edited on Thu May 5th, 2011 02:24 pm by tfdeputydawg

 

[wolfmann]

imported post

Those are options that I never really thought of, I will try those when I can. However I did notice the boot was destroyed so I'm going to rebuild it before I reassemble the bike. Thanks

 

[tcmcnomad]

Stock setup did not have 2 air shocks on your year. Were you thinking use 2 OE left side air shocks?
Have you measured for clearance around the shock body?

Yes I'm going to 2 left stock shocks. The cb 900 shocks I have been using were the same as the 1200 wing shocks just cheaper on ebay and slightly softer internal coils. As for the Monroe shocks I have used them in mono shock applications. They are limited though by really tiny air lines that take for ever to air out and really stiff valving

 

[cycleman]

The rear suspension air pressure should be set with all weight off the rear tire.

What the other post is talking about is setting the rear suspension sag. The proper way to do this is you have the bike on the ground ( off the center stand ) using your tape measure you measure from a fixed point on the bike, say use the bottom of the trunk or top of the saddlebag, something that you can get a good measurement from each time you measure.

The sag process goes something like this. Bike off the center stand, lift the rear of the suspension until all weight is off the suspension, you can't lift it any higher without the rear wheel coming off the ground( need some friends to do this ), measure the distance from your fixed point on the rear of the bike to the ground. Then let the weight back onto the rear suspension and measure again. What you want is about 20-25% of your suspension travel sag to be used up by the weight of your load. In real terms this is usually in the range of 1 to 1 1/2". difference between your above 2 measurements. This amount of sag allows the suspension to work properly absorbing bumps etc. You can do it the way the previous poster has noted if you are by yourself, but if you have some buddies around this is an easier way to do it.

I real world terms you want the suspension to be slightly on the firm side. There is no real reason to over think this so to keep it simple this is what I do. So by example on my 1500 I run about 30 lbs for me alone, no other load on the bike saddlebags & trunk basically empty, with my wife on the bike and a bit of extra clothes for layers ( day trip type of thing ), I'll set the pressure about 40 lbs. When the bike is fully loaded 2 up going on holidays etc, then I will set the air pressure at 50 lbs. I will tweak this a bit depending on my type of riding ( twisties etc slightly more air ) so that the bike is firmer and handles better or if I'm bottoming out the rear suspension.