Motor Trike Air Suspension Air Bag Replacement

[driver10]

Anyone else besides Plummer try to mount these air bags to a VTX 1300? I bought a set and when I tried to mount them, the right side rubs on a break line attached to the axle housing and on the left side it rubs on the axle housing. When I first got the trike for my wife and was trying to find parts I called MT and was told the kit I had was the same one that fit Vtx 1300, 1800, GW and the Val. Mine is a 2006 VTX with a 2005 MT kit. Any help please.

 

[3W-lonerider]

Anyone else besides Plummer try to mount these air bags to a VTX 1300? I bought a set and when I tried to mount them, the right side rubs on a break line attached to the axle housing and on the left side it rubs on the axle housing. When I first got the trike for my wife and was trying to find parts I called MT and was told the kit I had was the same one that fit Vtx 1300, 1800, GW and the Val. Mine is a 2006 VTX with a 2005 MT kit. Any help please.

unless they moved the brake line on your's, don't know but my brake line is on the front of the axle and the bag is on the rear side.

then moves to the top of the rear 2 inches from the drum.

as far as rubbing on the rear, I had to grind the bottom hole out away from the rear 1/4 inch to allow the bag to get away from the rear.

 

[driver10]

Thanks for the info. To make them work on my 1300 I would have to cut and weld the brackets. I don't have that type equipment. So I called MT and they told me where I could order the shocks through. I only have one leaking and at 75 bucks each I will only order one.

 

[RAZZOR]

Motortrike 2010 Razor model suspensión Air Compressor

My compressor stop working any trouble shooting sugestions

 

[SubDude]

Air shocks?

Hello, I have a VTX 1800S with American Trikes conversion on my trike, in it there are 4 standard coil-over shocks seems to work OK.

Do you think I should switch over to air shocks?

Thanks so much.

David Hilton Ret. USN ETC/SS

 

[bikerbillone]

SubDude, thanks for your service, always admired you underwater sailors. Old Korean War Destroyer sailor here. Chased you guys around many times on ASW exercises, I must admit it was rare we ever got a hit. By the way, welcome to TT.

 

[SubDude]

Navy

Hello,

Thank you, My Dad was a tin can sailor (Bosun's Mate then went Warrant Officer), My Grand father too he was a Hard Hat Diver you know the old round headed type w/ round port holes.

The whole trike thing is still very new to me, just got mine a couple of weeks ago, I posted in introduce yourself (Howdy from San Angelo Texas).

Be safe out on the road,

David Hilton Ret. ETC/SS

SubDude, thanks for your service, always admired you underwater sailors. Old Korean War Destroyer sailor here. Chased you guys around many times on ASW exercises, I must admit it was rare we ever got a hit. By the way, welcome to TT.

 

[abefroman]

motor trike Solid Axle new airbagit bags issues and questions

I replaced the airbags on my 2003 motor trike solid axle trike. they are a good bit better than the OEM shocks, however, the air compressor runs and automatically pumps up the airbags to about 18psi. I cant set it lower than that. is there anything I can do to adjust the pressure that the air compressor automatically pumps up to ??? also, I think i have a slow leak because overnight the bags deflate. however, during a ride, the pressure stays around 18psi, so I'm assuming the compressor is automatically keeping the airbags pumped up.

any help is appreciated !!!

 

[Downtown Cowtown]

Got a set of Firestone bags new off ebay for mmmm, 90 bucks for two, i can pic them and post later if necessary, got the info off this site to make the buy

 

[cjmitch]

I replaced the airbags on my 2003 motor trike solid axle trike. they are a good bit better than the OEM shocks, however, the air compressor runs and automatically pumps up the airbags to about 18psi. I cant set it lower than that.

And it NEVER should be set any lower THAN 20 lbs

...is there anything I can do to adjust the pressure that the air compressor automatically pumps up to ???

I have never seen an adjustment like that

also, I think i have a slow leak because overnight the bags deflate. however, during a ride, the pressure stays around 18psi, so I'm assuming the compressor is automatically keeping the airbags pumped up.

You should never be riding with the bags at that low of a level

 

[3W-lonerider]

I run my air bags at 12 psi with just me on and 21 psi with the wife and me togather. Have never had a problem with running them that low of air pressure. Been running them that way for a couple of years now.

If i were to run them over 20 psi with just me on. The back of my trike would bounce all over the road.

 

[rodekyll]

I'm interested in the reason why the airbags shouldn't be inflated to less than 20#.

Also -- my airbags (adventure) abraided and leaked. One wore a hole rubbing on itself. The band around the base has a knobby bit. The bit ends up inside the accordian pleat of the baggy part and rubs. You might want to check yours.

The other one got to rubbing on something close to it. I made a sheath for them out of old inner tube. The folks with tire clearance problems might benefit from that.

The airbags are there to trim out the ride. I had coilover shocks that came with the conversion that were stupid-badly specd. Whoever chose them should be slapped smart. I don't know if they simply moved the units from the 2-wheel donor over or if some point-and-grunt expert deliberately chose them. With them I was pumping the airbags up to 60# to handle some situations. Less than 40# and the suspension sagged past half travel -- couldn't get a floor jack under it. The springs would bind on bad roads. The problem was that I was undersuspended and undersprung. Compensating with airbags is like overhopping bad beer and passing sloppy craftsmanship off as "IPA".

So I weighed the rear corners and got the correct shocks -- rated almost 160#/inch/each more than what I removed. What a difference! I've got

travel and the spring rate is almost perfect with no air in the bags. I trim out wonderfully @18#, and run them up to about 22-24 for the tar snakes and frost heaves.

So I have little confidence in the kit's rear shock selection, and I scoff at the notion that a properly suspended trike requires high airbag pressure to ride and handle well. I'd urge folks to look up their shock and spring numbers to be sure they've got a good baseline to work from.

$0.02

 

[3W-lonerider]

I agree with your assessment on shock selection. But i have found thT the puny little air bags that came with my motortrike kit would do 2 things. Either cave in the dips or send your lower spine up threw the bottom of your neck. The bigger air bags that this thread is about are 3 times the size of the originals. So even though you don't have to carry as much pressure in them. They hold more air as far as volume. Which makes them act totally different than the small ones. When i installed the bigger ones. I extended them out but never seen a band around the bottom. Only the top.

 

[abefroman]

I'm interested in the reason why the airbags shouldn't be inflated to less than 20#.

Also -- my airbags (adventure) abraided and leaked. One wore a hole rubbing on itself. The band around the base has a knobby bit. The bit ends up inside the accordian pleat of the baggy part and rubs. You might want to check yours.

The other one got to rubbing on something close to it. I made a sheath for them out of old inner tube. The folks with tire clearance problems might benefit from that.

The airbags are there to trim out the ride. I had coilover shocks that came with the conversion that were stupid-badly specd. Whoever chose them should be slapped smart. I don't know if they simply moved the units from the 2-wheel donor over or if some point-and-grunt expert deliberately chose them. With them I was pumping the airbags up to 60# to handle some situations. Less than 40# and the suspension sagged past half travel -- couldn't get a floor jack under it. The springs would bind on bad roads. The problem was that I was undersuspended and undersprung. Compensating with airbags is like overhopping bad beer and passing sloppy craftsmanship off as "IPA".

So I weighed the rear corners and got the correct shocks -- rated almost 160#/inch/each more than what I removed. What a difference! I've got

travel and the spring rate is almost perfect with no air in the bags. I trim out wonderfully @18#, and run them up to about 22-24 for the tar snakes and frost heaves.

So I have little confidence in the kit's rear shock selection, and I scoff at the notion that a properly suspended trike requires high airbag pressure to ride and handle well. I'd urge folks to look up their shock and spring numbers to be sure they've got a good baseline to work from.

$0.02

what "rated almost 160#/inch/each" shocks did you use ? where did you get them from ?

 

[KBot]

I'm interested in the reason why the airbags shouldn't be inflated to less than 20#.

Also -- my airbags (adventure) abraided and leaked. One wore a hole rubbing on itself. The band around the base has a knobby bit. The bit ends up inside the accordian pleat of the baggy part and rubs. You might want to check yours.

The other one got to rubbing on something close to it. I made a sheath for them out of old inner tube. The folks with tire clearance problems might benefit from that.

The airbags are there to trim out the ride. I had coilover shocks that came with the conversion that were stupid-badly specd. Whoever chose them should be slapped smart. I don't know if they simply moved the units from the 2-wheel donor over or if some point-and-grunt expert deliberately chose them. With them I was pumping the airbags up to 60# to handle some situations. Less than 40# and the suspension sagged past half travel -- couldn't get a floor jack under it. The springs would bind on bad roads. The problem was that I was undersuspended and undersprung. Compensating with airbags is like overhopping bad beer and passing sloppy craftsmanship off as "IPA".

So I weighed the rear corners and got the correct shocks -- rated almost 160#/inch/each more than what I removed. What a difference! I've got

travel and the spring rate is almost perfect with no air in the bags. I trim out wonderfully @18#, and run them up to about 22-24 for the tar snakes and frost heaves.

So I have little confidence in the kit's rear shock selection, and I scoff at the notion that a properly suspended trike requires high airbag pressure to ride and handle well. I'd urge folks to look up their shock and spring numbers to be sure they've got a good baseline to work from.

$0.02

I've had some unusually wear on my back tires. The inside tread on the tire wearing much more than on the outside. I never paid much attention to the air pressure till my wife tells me to turn it up because she can feel it bottoming out. I was told by MotorTrike and a dealer that the unusually tire wear was due to improper inflation on the air bags. When not aired up properly the tires "lean" in a little.

 

[rodekyll]

The tire wear could well be negative camber. That's because the rear suspension is inadequate. See my comment above about overhopping crap beer. Your airbags are the hops. Your suspension is the beer. They're covering for crap coilover decisions by blaming ride and handling issues on the airbags

Another way to think of it is recommending a louder stereo to fix a bad engine noise.

Again, my opinion.

 

[paid4c4]

Ordered the Air Springs this morning from Airbagit in AZ (Same bags as the above link - only half the price)

http://www.airbagit.com/v/vspfiles/pages/AirBags_PAGE.htm

The bags I installed in our 2006 GW1800 Motortrike are the same as you ordered. They solved the problems and worked great. I would also suggest you change out the air lines and fittings to commercial grade instead of the cheap Mickey Mouse fittings Motortrike used at the factory. Most automotive suppliers sell air lines and fittings.

Bill

 

[Downtown Cowtown]

See if ya can break Ur neck, i added bigger lines, and such to get to the air gauge i bought an so forth, $100 bucks almost on eBay. Sometime back.

 

[werewolf]

My turn to revive an old thread lol

Did the air bag conversion on my Valkyrie Motortrike conv with a solid axle.

I have a faint amount of rubbing on the inside of the left rear tire.

Current tires are 225/60R15s, I ASSUME I am going to need 215/60R15s to fix the issue?

Thanks in advance

PS Makes a MAJOR difference in the ride for the passenger per the wife.

 

[3W-lonerider]

Yep. I'd say go down to a 215. But i would also check to see if that rear is actually centered and not shifted to 1 side. If you rubbing on one side and have alot of clearence on the other side. Deffinatly check center. How i do mine. Is I don't measure from the body to the wheel because the body can be off to. I take a staight edge and put it up against the tire and measure from the staight edge to the bike frame under the rear foot peg.