Air Ride Update

 About a year ago I told you about how I installed an air ride suspension system from Dirtyworks on my Ultra Limited. The bike already had air ride from the factory but it only dealt with the load I was carrying, I wanted to change the ride height and the Dirtyair system allows me to do that on the fly.

 Because the brackets that came with this system don't account for "filler" lights along side the fenders, I had to make my own brackets and relocate some things. I like making crap like this so the fact that the kit didn't work for my setup was just a bonus. The pump needed a bracket and the air tank did too. You can see the stainless cylindrical air tank at the top edge of the pic. This is the first time the saddlebag has been off in about a year so I was curious to see how things were holding up. I also wanted to check bolts for tightness. I was delighted to find everything just as it should be with no signs of wear, stress or looseness. I've got at least ten thousand miles on this setup, probably more and it looks like it should hold up for much more.

 The system didn't go low enough for my wants so I also added a Covingtons 1" lowering kit. You can see it in the above pic as the aluminum piece between the axle bolt and lower shock mount. I was concerned these wouldn't be strong enough but it seems that was just me being a worrywart. The brass pieces in this pic are parts of an adjustable bleeder system. The bike has three switches for letting air out. Ya overkill I know but I don't tell you how to build your bike sooo...ya. One mini switch can add or release air. This was the original switch and it broke right away. The company was fast in replacing the switch but I was skeptical about its reliability. For that reason I added a second switch. This one is up at the handlebar. Both these switches bleed out only with the key on, through a solenoid and the brass bleeder. They are set to let the bike down at a slow rate so if I fiddle with them while riding I won't lose control or whatever. The third switch is a fast dump directly from the shocks. This one needs no power, is loud and fast and I use it when I slam the bike when parking.

 I also added an air gauge so I can monitor and set pressure in the system. Everything has been working fine. The green light comes on when the compressor runs, as heard in the following video. The reserve tank just happened to be low so the compressor kicked in. The orange light was supposed to be for a future project. I guess the future ain't here yet.

 There's a line of thunderstorms about to pass through. Once that happens we're gonna hop on the Ultra and head up nort ya there hey to visit a friend. Have a safe Independence Day weekend and watch out for all those campers on the road.

Later.