hole in bladder of air ride seat : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

goocher · 03-21-2009, 03:04 PM

The Bladder Has A Hole And Will Not Hold Air. Any Suggestions On Fixing? Anyone Ride Seat Without Air Pressure In Bladder?

BWalker · 03-21-2009, 04:45 PM

Riding without the bladder defeats the purpose. It still ain't a bad ride though. Never tried it but I've heard you can remove the bladder and put a tennis ball in the hole. The bladder ain't cheap from what I remember but I personally recommend just biting the bullet and get a new one. A lot of times the culprit is how they tie the un-needed wires up under the seat and they rub a hole in it.

MotoSayle · 03-23-2009, 05:30 PM

On the '08 model,if you ride with no air in the seat ,the bladder will rub on the black cover that the bladder goes through and cause a hole.
Mine loses about 5 psi a week.
I might get a new one if it leaks during the summer.

Neil · 03-23-2009, 08:46 PM

MotoSayle,

The bladder on my departments 08 also looses air over time. The earlier bladders never seemed to. I have a new one to install but haven't got to it. I have checked everything else with no leaks found.

Goocher,
I myself can't ride the bike without much air because I feel like I am going to fall off the back of the bike on acceleration. I run about 40 - 45 psi on the 08 to make it comfortable to me. The eailer bikes I didn't need that much. I think it has to do with the new mounting on the larger tank. Good luck.

Neil

dougbk · 03-24-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goocher

The Bladder Has A Hole And Will Not Hold Air. Any Suggestions On Fixing? Anyone Ride Seat Without Air Pressure In Bladder?

The only way I know of to fix it is to replace the bladder. I have tried several fixes including a hot patch at the tire store and nothing worked. The last time we had one go (we had two on one bike) I took a hand towel rolled it into a tight ball and wrapped it in electrical tape, then wedged that between the end of the seat tab and rear fender/seat fairing. It did the job until the new bladder arrived. In hindsight I think I would try a tennis ball instead of rigging one up.

We increased our air to 50-55 psi on our 08's and haven't had any problems since.