Air ride leaking??slowly again

Nov 15, 2012
976
82
Delray Beach, FL
Name
Jay
Ive already had the air ride fixed once since getting the bike in November.
It usually holds its preset of 30lbs for a few days with changes in air temps of course.
Now this morning it was at 0 no psi at all.
Ive been told with Motor trikes that they are a self adjusting?? system.
I should pump it way up, leave it be overnight and hope for the best??

If not.
I know enough to use some soapy water to look for a leak.
My question is this.
Can I get to the air ride system by just taking off the tires on my Adventurer kit???
Im getting too old to play with stuff anymore do to my own physical limitations and the heat.
I had to get an impact gun just to loosen up the dang lug nutz.
Breaker bars don't work for me no more...........sighhhhh

Am I at least going in the right directions here?? To even look at it.:Shrug:
 
Not sure on the Adventurer, but my coupe was doing that loss when I got it, needed air every day. I did as suggested here, aired up to 80# and let sit for about 18 hrs. After that it did fine for about a year... I did it again just before my trip to the Rally, so far it has retained pressure as it should.

I did remove the wheels, use soapy water to look for leaks at all joints, but never saw any, at 25 psi or 80 psi. Guess I'll just have to watch the pressure...

I know, not much help, just another's experience.
 
On Gold Wings if you take the seat off you can easily see all of the air lines and connections, which is where you normally would have a leak. But the lines could be rubbing on something under the seat and cause a hole in the lines that you may not expect. Check them all with soapy water and air in the system, look for bubbles.
 
You might check all those valves where air is pumped in the system. They might be loose and need tightening. OR, the valves may need replacement due to old age of o-ring in the valve.

Just removing the seat will get you to most of what you need to see/fix/repair/replace.

2Tz
 
Jay you might want to just go ahead and remove the seat right from the start. You will probably want to check the connections at the compressor anyway.

My left airbag leaked right at the top where it bolts on. My installer put a new one in and added a washer to prevent the bag from pinching when tightened. Haven't had a bit of problem since.

Good luck on the search. It can be a bugger I'm told. :xzqxz: :xzqxz:



Ive already had the air ride fixed once since getting the bike in November.
It usually holds its preset of 30lbs for a few days with changes in air temps of course.
Now this morning it was at 0 no psi at all.
Ive been told with Motor trikes that they are a self adjusting?? system.
I should pump it way up, leave it be overnight and hope for the best??

If not.
I know enough to use some soapy water to look for a leak.
My question is this.
Can I get to the air ride system by just taking off the tires on my Adventurer kit???
Im getting too old to play with stuff anymore do to my own physical limitations and the heat.
I had to get an impact gun just to loosen up the dang lug nutz.
Breaker bars don't work for me no more...........sighhhhh

Am I at least going in the right directions here?? To even look at it.:Shrug:
 
Keepinon
Any help or advice is appreciated.
I did that too last night.
Aired it up to 80 psi and this morning it was OK.
Held the 80psi.
So I let it out back to 30psi and off to work I went.
Checked it during the day 2 times and it went down to 20.

So I guess we try again. tonight.
 
Last edited:
Jay you might want to just go ahead and remove the seat right from the start. You will probably want to check the connections at the compressor anyway.

My left airbag leaked right at the top where it bolts on. My installer put a new one in and added a washer to prevent the bag from pinching when tightened. Haven't had a bit of problem since.

Good luck on the search. It can be a bugger I'm told. :xzqxz: :xzqxz:

Thanks Jerry
Got home from work, 1st I just pumped it up before shutting it down to 80 psi again.
--------------------------------------------------
I just came back in from my garage.
Its still holding 80 psi after 6+ hours.
89 degrees in there.

Ill take the seat off if that's where I should look.
But Im a little confused.
Looking at the picture on their web site.
I can see the compressor and stuff on the top part of the MT kit
I hope I don't have to take the wheels off too, but isn't the fittings for the bags by the wheel wells????
Ill take the fittings off and check the O-rings on the lines etc. If I have to.
Its just too hot in that garage for me now.
Im just going to grab the RoadStar and ride it to work tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
Just another bit of info... I sometimes wonder if the leakage isn't from the bags themselves, like some tubeless tires leak down over time.

The reason I say that, sounds like ya'll have the newer versions of 'Wing. My older Valkyrie only has the schrader valve in the trunk, a tee, and two short lines to the bags. No gauge, no compressor, no other fittings, so it was easy to check & re-check. Didn't find any leaks, but it's still holding since returning home from the rally. Hopefully it will last awhile.

Good luck in your search.
 
Well, I noticed when you have 80psi it holds but at at 30 psi you loose air which is an indication of a seal leak. Where ever you have a connection you should have a small"o"ring. Spray soapy water around those areas. It might just be loose, or one have a cut .
 
As it turns out with my garage currently at 102 degrees and me about to drop.
Its the left side air bag upper connection that's the culprit I think.
It held the 80 psi again from last night.
So I took the trike to work this morning.............slowly leaked down from 30 to 22 psi on the way there.
Nothing really on the way home tonight??
Aired it up to 100psi.
Took off the tire and reached up, wiggled it around the area and heard a slight psssssssssst.

I have to get up there and see how its all connected..........tooooooooo dang hot right now.
 
Just a small update for those who tried to help me with this.
With my limited know how of trikes.
I got up and in there.
More work then Id care to repeat in the heat.
Long story short.
All O-rings and everything appear to be good.
Its been holding the proper psi for a few days now with no further incidents.

Conclusion:
There is some truth to this system being self sealing.
I left it pumped up to 80 psi over the weekend more or less.
Its been fine??

So again to those who gave me a place to start thanks.
 

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