FLHR How much oil in rear air shocks

[RKJohn]

Yesterday i took off my rear air shocks and laid them don on the floor. This morning there was a bunch of oil under them and so i guess i screwsd up. Now i need to completly drain them and refill with oil. What kind of oil and how much? Anybody know?

John

[cts1950]

10 oz find bellray shock oil at a atv dealer.

[LRCHMN]

According to the service manual if you lay them down and oil comes out you have to replace the shocks,I had one leak oil out sitting on the bike and they replaced it under warranty it was on an 08 Ultra.The HD shop said they can not be rebuilt.Correct me if I am wrong.

[cts1950]

I routinely change the oil on the shocks. Harley dose not want you the peon to maintain these items. There have been many posts on this forum about this. In fact they are made by showa and are like the one used on gold wings. Guess what I have read that their manual shows how to change the oil.
http://www.v-twinforum.com/forums/to...ks-better.html

[LRCHMN]

Thanks for setting me straight cts 1950.I guess I did not dig deep enough.

[RogerDodger]

There is a method of replacing the oil in those shocks. Do a search and you'll find a thread by a man that used to work for Progressive Suspension. As I recall he advised the correct amount of oil for a couple of different length air shocks. Do not just guess and be careful of the post recommended by cts1950 - there's just too much guesswork involved there. Those shocks need a prescribed amount of oil to work properly. You adjust the damping with different weight oils - NOT different oil levels.

[RKJohn]

Well i have drainned and refilled the roadking shocks, they use 10wt, belray fork oil exactly 10 oz. Just as CTS1950 said. I also got the info on doing this job and getting it right the first time. First, take out air fitting and turn upside down collaps the shock all the way down, several time (figure out a way to do this, i did) You do this till no more oil comes out. Do it a while and wait, then more. 2nd. turn shock over, and screw one of those rear end oil containers in the hole where air fitting goes, you know the pointed caps on round bottle. Cut bottom of bottle off like a long funnel. pour in adout half the shock oil, then collaps shock again several times to burp out air and oil will drain in shock. Takes a few times to get it in but you dont spill any and you know there is the right amount in there.
Put the air fitting back in with teflon tape, your done. Now I havnt installed them yet but i was told they will work better than new. Ill get back to ya when my swingarm gets here and let ya know how they ride,

John

[cts1950]

You see what I mean it is much easier to change the shock oil than fork oil. I used shock oil not fork oil I think there is a diffrence possibly fork oil has additives for wear resistance. The 10oz was derived at by carefully measuring the oil removed from a set of shocks.

[RKJohn]

FLHR rear air shock service worked great, with the 10 wt oil they are firm but not stiff. The ride is so much better and Ive had the roadking for 3 years. Why didnt i do this way back then. Thanks for the info guys.

John

[Johnlee]

Good posts by everyone............I learned a lot re the rear suspension. I enjoyed Texasbowhunter and his great input, ct1950, and rogerdodgers comments........all great which gave me a lot to think about.

My immeadiate concern is the "filling of air" and no fixed gauge on the bike with a "shut off" valve ahead of it. What I mean to do is rig up a means of shutting off the shock at the exact pressure and then disconnecting the pump. This means you can read the static pressure in the shocks immeadiately after disconnecting the pump along with the ability to moniter the air pressure at any given time. I will research the "shrader type" valves for this.

[cts1950]

Originally Posted by Johnlee

Good posts by everyone............I learned a lot re the rear suspension. I enjoyed Texasbowhunter and his great input, ct1950, and rogerdodgers comments........all great which gave me a lot to think about.

My immeadiate concern is the "filling of air" and no fixed gauge on the bike with a "shut off" valve ahead of it. What I mean to do is rig up a means of shutting off the shock at the exact pressure and then disconnecting the pump. This means you can read the static pressure in the shocks immeadiately after disconnecting the pump along with the ability to moniter the air pressure at any given time. I will research the "shrader type" valves for this.

The pump sold by Harley is great. I believe it is made by progresive any way with the built in gague and bleed down button and zero leak down when removing the connection. It is a must have in my book.

[RKJohn]

Harley guage is the best and only way to accurately add air to air suspention.