More Shocking News

 The last time we talked I told you about the air ride suspension that I've installed on my 2015 Ultra Limited. I mentioned a leak and a faulty switch. I found and fixed the leak. Now I can inflate the shocks and find them still full of air the next day. I emailed Dirtyworks LLC and told them about the switch. Three days later I had two of them sitting on my bench. That's good service and I wanted to tell you that. So far any contact I've had with them has been positive.
 The setup is good and the ride is better than the stock air shocks. I can let some air out and easily flat foot the bike. I feel almost as confident at a stop on this bike as I do on something smaller like the sportster. When I ordered the kit I also had them send me an air gauge. I figure once I find pressures that work for me I'll just be able to air up or down to that predetermined pressure. The problem was finding a good place to mount a gauge without it looking like ass. When I do a project like this my plan is always to be able to put the bike back into stock form if things don't work out. With this in mind I found some space for a gauge in the left radiator pod.

 A new face plate for the pod was cut out of 1/8" steel but the real challenge would be to hide the air hose and some wiring.

 From this angle it looks like the hole I drilled just runs right out the side of the pod but in fact the hole is hidden in a recess behind the crash bar.

  Here is the finished plate and gauge. If you look close at the area under the gauge you can see two small lights, a green one and an orange. The green comes on when the compressor is running, just cuz I like to know whats going on. The orange one is for a future project. I want to add a micro switch to the swing arm/suspension and have that light come on just before the shock is bottomed out. This will help me set a low ride height for parking lot situations.

 So thats it for now. We've put several hundred miles on the new shocks...so far so good. One side effect I wasn't expecting was the attention we get when parking and dumping the air from the system. Just another ice breaker to start a motorcycle conversation with a complete stranger. I'll post updates as they happen.

Later.