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how does the auto ride height leveler work?
- Thread starter Doc McCoy
- Start date
JayBros
Well-known member
Page 50 of your operator's guide explains how the system works. The engine must be running on my Spyder, the brakes must be applied, the parking brake released and the gearbox not in neutral. I can manually adjust mine up and down but yours is fully automatic. Check to be certain the ride height sensor control rod is connected to the swing arm. You can see it looking at the forward part of the swing arm from the left side of the trike.
Peteoz
Well-known member
Doc, someone recently asked about something hanging loose near the rear shock. It was their adjuster, not connected. There is a photo with the rod highlighted in the thread below (if I have copied it right)
https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?138448-What-is-this
Pete
https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?138448-What-is-this
Pete
MOSTLY agreeing with Jay, here. You don't really have to have the brakes applied, but if you are not actively riding the bike, you SHOULD have the wheels chocked to prevent movement.
When I learned the limitations, my son and I had fun testing it. Parked my wife's bike on the back patio at night, with the lights shining across the yard. With engine running, parking brake OFF, transmission not in Neutral, we noted where the edge of the low beams hit the grass. Be aware the neither my son nor I are "petite". I weigh about 16 1/2 stone, he is about 21 stone. I stood on one of the passenger floorboards and watched the headlights rise considerably. In a short time, the compressor kicked in and the lights returned to where they were. My son stood on the other passenger board. The lights went up again, but soon returned to 'normal'. We both got off. Air hissed for quite a while, but the headlights went from a very LOW position back to 'normal'.
If your bike is not doing this, definitely check the linkage on the left side of the swingarm. You don't have to raise the bike, just look.
.
When I learned the limitations, my son and I had fun testing it. Parked my wife's bike on the back patio at night, with the lights shining across the yard. With engine running, parking brake OFF, transmission not in Neutral, we noted where the edge of the low beams hit the grass. Be aware the neither my son nor I are "petite". I weigh about 16 1/2 stone, he is about 21 stone. I stood on one of the passenger floorboards and watched the headlights rise considerably. In a short time, the compressor kicked in and the lights returned to where they were. My son stood on the other passenger board. The lights went up again, but soon returned to 'normal'. We both got off. Air hissed for quite a while, but the headlights went from a very LOW position back to 'normal'.
If your bike is not doing this, definitely check the linkage on the left side of the swingarm. You don't have to raise the bike, just look.
.
BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
I read all the other posts ...... my air bag system had a leak when it was new ..... a leak in a hose connection .... fixed under warranty ..... try checking the PSI in the bag after you ride and see if it is dropping ..... Mike :thumbup:
It could be anything between 5psi & 90psi - your guess is as good as anyone's really.... :dontknow:
Altho there was a guide from BRP on the earlier Spyders that suggested about 45-55psi for most solo ryders, and I think it added 'up to' 20 psi for a pillion passenger. So somewhere in that vicinity would probably indicate your ACS is dfoing its thing OK.
Still, if your Spyder is a 2020 with the 'fully auto' ACS, then it really won't matter much what pressure YOU want &/or try to put in it - as soon as you start to ryde, the system will inflate/deflate itself until the pressure in the air bag provides the specified ride height encoded in your Spyder's on-board computers, and THAT not only can, but DOES seem to vary somewhat from machine to machine!! :banghead:
If you are having issues &/or concerns about your ACS, you really have little choice but to take it to your dealer & risk it sitting there for months while they think about it/talk to BRP about the whatness of the why, before giving it back, probably with little if any changes!! :bdh: Or maybe you could bypass the 'automatic' bit of the ACS/height sensors, air hoses, etc & put in a simple air pressure gauge & an up/down switch that let you add/releaee air from the air bag at your pleasure..... like so many others of us have done! :thumbup:
I guess what I don't understand (unless it is leaking) why it had 40 psi in the system. The chart says that for a 230 lb man it should have 55 psi. If the system thinks it needs only 40 psi then I wil be riding with much less pressure than is recommended. Shouldn't the system be somewhere close to the recommended psi in order to keep the bike level?
Snoking1127
Well-known member
The auto system will have what ever pressure it needs to maintain the normal set height. If you get off it and raise the seat to check the pressure, it will not be at what is require when you are on it. I have never really heard my pump run or bleed off pressure, so the other day I was playing around with the head lights on the carport wall watching to see the beam go up and down on the wall, stepping on and off the passengers footrests. Light beam did not move much. I finally decided to let the air out completely and the rear sank down 2 or 3 inches. I started it up and back up it came, so now I do know that the system works.
That's because back in the day BRP thought they could con people into thinking they could make a difference by adjusting the air-bag pressure, only we can't :banghead: and as a result of that 'missleading information' you are erroneously thinking that the air pressure inside the bag is directly related to the load on your Spyder - but it isn't really, the load is just incidental thru the way it varies the ride height! :lecturef_smilie:
The ACS is effectively nothing more than a Ride Levelling System, and the air bag will hold WHATEVER PSI it might take to maintain the rear of your Spyder at the preset level encoded in your computer.... so yeah, the load will have some impact, but it could literally be at a given pressure anywhere between 5 & 90 psi on any one Spyder under a given load; but at a completely different pressure under exactly the same given load on another Spyder; and likely at yet a third pressure under exactly the same given load on a third Spyder
And to compound matters even more, the specific 'preset ride height' for each Spyder can be quite different too!! :gaah: So the only real benefit you might find thru checking your air bag pressure is to check and see if it's leaking while the Spyder is left standing. No matter HOW MUCH air pressure you put in it via the Shcrader valve before you turn it on and start ryding, the moment you put it in gear & release the Park brake the ACS will start re-setting itself to whatever pressure is necessary to maintain the ride height your computer has been set to expect.... and that won't necesarily be the same on any other Spyder! :banghead:
All of which boils down to meaning you should stop fixating on whatever the pressure might be - the specific pressure you might find at any given moment of operation is effectively MEANINGLESS to the ACS - it ONLY cares about how much air is needed to maintain your preset ride height! :thumbup: Sure, if you check the air pressure immediately after you've shut down your Spyder & checked your oil level once you've returned from a ryde, then checking the air bag pressure again before you start up your Spyder for the next ride might tell you if you've got a bad leak in the system, but I really wouldn't worry too much about a drop of anything less than 10 psi or so, simply because a loss of anything less might just be how much air has 'bled out' thru the 'side-wall rubber' of the bag while it sat there, just like air will sloooowly seep thru the 'rubber' in your (much better sealed & therefore more 'air-tight') tires & why you should check & top them up regularly - monthly is sorta orright, weekly is better! But you don't need to top up your ACS Air-bag, the onboard computer controlled system will do that for you to suit the preset ride height your computer was set to expect as it rolled off the production line, regardless of what air pressure you think you might want or should expect! :thumbup:
Over to you :cheers:
That's because back in the day BRP thought they could con people into thinking they could make a difference by adjusting the air-bag pressure, only we can't :banghead: and as a result of that 'missleading information' you are erroneously thinking that the air pressure inside the bag is directly related to the load on your Spyder - but it isn't really, the load is just incidental thru the way it varies the ride height! :lecturef_smilie:
The ACS is effectively nothing more than a Ride Levelling System, and the air bag will hold WHATEVER PSI it might take to maintain the rear of your Spyder at the preset level encoded in your computer.... so yeah, the load will have some impact, but it could literally be at a given pressure anywhere between 5 & 90 psi on any one Spyder under a given load; but at a completely different pressure under exactly the same given load on another Spyder; and likely at yet a third pressure under exactly the same given load on a third Spyder
So the only real benefit you might find thru checking your air bag pressure is to check and see if it's leaking while the Spyder is left standing. No matter HOW MUCH air pressure you put in it via the Shcrader valve before you turn it on and start ryding, the moment you put it in gear & release the Park brake the ACS will start re-setting itself to whatever pressure is necessary to maintain the ride height your computer has been set to expect.... and that won't necesarily be the same on any other Spyder! :banghead:
All of which boils down to meaning you should stop fixating on whatever the pressure might be - the specific pressure you might find at any given moment of operation is effectively MEANINGLESS to the ACS - it ONLY cares about how much air is needed to maintain your preset ride height! :thumbup: Sure, if you check the air pressure immediately after you've shut down your Spyder & checked your oil level once you've returned from a ryde, then checking the air bag pressure again before you start up your Spyder for the next ride might tell you if you've got a bad leak in the system, but I really wouldn't worry too much about a drop of anything less than 10 psi or so, simply because a loss of anything less might just be how much air has 'bled out' thru the 'side-wall rubber' of the bag while it sat there, just like air will sloooowly seep thru the 'rubber' in your (much better sealed & therefore more 'air-tight') tires & why you should check & top them up regularly - monthly is sorta orright, weekly is better! But you don't need to top up your ACS Air-bag, the onboard computer controlled system will do that for you to suit the preset ride height your computer was set to expect as it rolled off the production line, regardless of what air pressure you think you might want or should expect! :thumbup:
Over to you :cheers:
Well sh*t. That actually explains it to a point even I can understand it. The downside of that is that as you have said i have to quit fixating on the pressure. Now I will have to find something else to fixate on. Having obsessive compulsive disorder is hard lol
JayBros
Well-known member
Doc, one of the things you need to remember is that sticker under the seat is for all versions of the same model. So if you had, for example, a basic RT, you would have to manually set the recommended pressure for a given weight. Your compressor and system on thee Ltd does the thinking and adjusting for you.
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