Help tuning suspension, 98 Valkyrie/CSC

[Tubal Cain]

New to trikes (and forum). Have a 98 Valkyrie with California sidecar trike kit. Rides really rough on rough roads, feels like it is way out of adjustment. I'm on to the tire pressure recommendations here in the forum, running 22 in rear and 36 up front. Going to bump up the front to 40, but don't expect that to change the ride much. Question is approach to the shocks/ air shock suspension. I understand that the stock shocks were used + air bag; is this correct? What's the program for balancing the air bag vs the std shocks? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[JaysGone]

Is the Valk you have your kit based on a Standard, Tourer or Interstate for starters.
My experience is based on the Standard Valk F. Which in my opinion isn't a great base to have a trike built on to begin with.
Running 40lbs in the front of a Standard will increase the rough ride. Ive found 36,38 psi is more then adequate. If still using the Standards shocks. A change to the Interstates would help. They have a higher spring rate then the Standards and Tourers do. As for the CSC kits suspension. Im no help there,,,,,,,,,but 22 psi is basically the minimum you should be using in the tires if radials. If its an IRS you should run that in the 30 to 35 pound range 1 up with a full fuel load.
I have a MT kit and find that their is a big difference riding 1 up with a full fuel load and I have adjust mine as the fuel runs down. But that isn't a problem as my kit has on the fly adjustment.
Someone with a CSC kit will eventually chime in.

 

[Tubal Cain]

Standard version In think. Has windshield but no saddlebags. Anyway, not the Interstate. At 90,000 mi, I expect that the shocks are shot anyway. Anybody got any recommendations? Comment above about shocks from the Interstate noted.

 

[bustedwing]

I had somewhat the same problem with my Lehman trike, I could get it to ride ok 1 up but 2 up was rough. Put more air in shocks, made it worse. The rear tires are wide enough to take a lot of weight with enough air. I lowered the air in the rear tires to 28 lbs. The front is at 35 lbsthis gives the sidewalls a little more flex and smoothing out the bumps. Just a thought. Ride safe.

 

[JaysGone]

Standard version In think. Has windshield but no saddlebags. Anyway, not the Interstate. At 90,000 mi, I expect that the shocks are shot anyway. Anybody got any recommendations? Comment above about shocks from the Interstate noted.

You can get used InterState shocks of varying age on Ebay.
I see them from time to time from PinWall.
The main difference is the spring rate.
There is always progressive shocks, standard length 13 inches with a lot of spring combos.
I had the progressive 440s with heavy duty springs and found them very harsh.
The Standard Valk F is even when new a fairly hard riding bike.
Fine tuning the stock bike required running lower pressures then for most bikes.
Especially in the front tire.
I ran my front at 36psi and rears with a take off set of Interstate shocks left on the 1st setting tire at 32.
As a trike Id imagine if its a solid axle bike??
PSI will be hit or miss.

 

[shadow]

I have a 2000 standard valkryie with a DFT kit and when I got it , it was very rough. my mechanic and I did everything we could think of to fix the problem..............then he told me to take it where I bought the rear tires and have them "road force" and balance the wheels............what a difference......smooth as can be.....rides like a dream...................just put 1600 miles on it.........

 

[Tubal Cain]

No idea what "road force" means: This thing runs smooth as glass if the road is smooth, and rough when the road is rough. Couldn't hurt to balance them, tho. Seems to me that there should be room for some improvement, altho I realize that there may be some tradeoffs. Anybody got any ideas on damping rates as well changing spring rates?

 

[grumpy]

Some thoughts FWIW. I had a 99 Valkyrie I/S with a TriWing conversion. Solid axle, stock shocks w/airbags. After much experimenting, I settled on 35 psi in the bags regardless of load. Tire pressure front & rear made more difference than air bag pressure. Higher pressure=rougher ride. Rears, General Altimax RT 205 65R15, I ran 20 psi 2 up & loaded, 15 psi solo. Front, BT45 rear, reverse mounted, 35 psi . The rears lasted50K + fronts ran 24-25K. All car tires are not created equal. Some have much stiffer sidewalls than others & that can make BIG difference. When the Generals needed replacing, I bought Khumos (sp?) & my wife said "fix this rough ride or go by yourself" or words to that effect. I promptly returned those & had the Generals put on. You are probably correct that your shocks are pretty much used up. I/S shocks should be an improvement if you can find some w/o too many miles. How much rake do you have? More rake=rougher ride. If it hasn't been done recently, you should probably rebuild your forks. More rake=more wear in the forks. With that many miles, the bushings & other parts are surely worn & the springs might be out of spec. If you have more than 4 degrees rake Progressive springs will not be much help, IMO. Replacing the springs, whether with Progressive or OEM, should be done if the spring length is out of spec. Using a lighter weight oil &/or an once or so less than recommended will soften the ride somewhat. I used 10W oil & about 2 ounces less than called for. What is the condition of your upper (for some reason the lowers never seem to wear out) shock bushings? If they are shot you will get a lot of harshness. Go to Valkyrie Riders Cruiser Club & select "tech" at the top of the page for more info on this & other Valkyrie specific stuff. I hope you find this useful. Stan

 

[Tubal Cain]

Update:
Thanks, guys for the comments. Still working on it but have made considerable progress. Bought new shocks from CSC(they were Progressives), set them initially at 3rd position on preload. Backed them off to 2, airbag at 10 for two up, back tires 20, front at 38. Rides pretty good. I will probably go to 1 on the shock preload just to see. Probably need to rebuild the forks as well. Thanks again.