Is my Air bag leveling? Any way to make it more noticeable when adjusting the ride height?

[Will W]

I did a search but didn't find a good answer. My wife gets on first before cranking the machine and then I do before starting it up. I have never heard the compressor or noticed any movement in the rear. It rides really well with no apparent issues. Is the air bag a soft bladder that really plays no part in the suspension and is there away to do something to make it noticeable when it is adjusting the ride height?

 

[hogmemberisold]

Well, I had never heard the compressor but..... I have noticed while looking at the side mirror at a distant object I could detect it leveling itself, but couldn't really feel it. Other times it's apparent when leveling.

 

[jjc54]

If it is like mine, it must be in gear with the parking brake off for it to adjust. I just checked mine and using my ride adjust switch (ACS) the passanger foot rest height to floor changed about .75" between soft to hard. I was not on the bike with it in R and the back tire blocked.

 

[Deanna777]

I did a search but didn't find a good answer. My wife gets on first before cranking the machine and then I do before starting it up. I have never heard the compressor or noticed any movement in the rear. It rides really well with no apparent issues. Is the air bag a soft bladder that really plays no part in the suspension and is there away to do something to make it noticeable when it is adjusting the ride height?

HI Will W.

I get the same thing on my 2023 F3 LTD SS . I am a solo rider. I don't hear the air compressor on mine.

Deanna

 

[Will W]

If it is like mine, it must be in gear with the parking brake off for it to adjust. I just checked mine and using my ride adjust switch (ACS) the passanger foot rest height to floor changed about .75" between soft to hard. I was not on the bike with it in R and the back tire blocked.

Thanks for the info on how to check it. I sat in the passenger seat and cranked it up but with the brake on and in neutral in my shop with lights off looking to see if the headlight beam would move on the wall but nothing changed. I'll get the wife to sit on the back, release the brake and put it in reverse to see if the headlight beam levels out. Thanks again jjc54

 

[Mikey]

Unless you have real good ears, or had your head stuffed in the rear fender you will not hear the pump, but you should feel it go up or down when in gear and brake off! When your pump leaves the chat, sometimes you can hear it hammering down there, depending how it decides to leave you! If it does go and you lose the air in the bag you will know it right off the bat, it will ride like a dump cart dead on the rear end.

 

[Snoking1127]

Manually let the air out, if it has the schrader valve under the rear seat. Then start it, it should raise back up. I tested my first 2018 RT that way. That is the only time I they heard one run on one of my 3 different 2018 RTLs.

 

[mecsw500]

On my 2026 Sea to Sky, unlike my 2021 RT LTD, the system fortunately worked upon delivery and frankly other than that quick hiss when airing down upon restarting after my wife getting off and unloading the luggage, it's all very seamless. It obviously works as the suspension feels the same whether one up, or two up with luggage. There's no bottoming out or any other obvious issues related to ride height. I'm too deaf to hear the pump run I think. With it in gear and the foot and parking brakes off I can't tell when it is deciding to measure the ride height. When my wife gets on and it's in gear with the foot brake on, just the motion of her getting on masks any ability to tell if the ride height is adjusted right then and there, or when we actually ride away.

I think I'm perhaps going to get some of those tire pressure valve caps for a four wheel vehicle, and put the fourth one on the Schraeder valve under the seat to read the suspension air pressure. This way I might be able to see things operating in real time on an iPhone app. Of course, I will have to figure out how often the tire pressure valve caps get polled by the app to see if the interval is small enough to catch the pressure changes as they occur. I'll have to look into that.

It will be interesting to see the algorithm it uses to decide exactly when to measure the ride height. If anybody knows exactly when and where ride height is measured that would be very interesting to know. I sincerely doubt ride height is measured dynamically as we ride along, that would cook the pump pretty quickly. It can't be measured by the immediate addition of a passenger as the suspension bounces a bit as they get on.

 

[Mikey]

On my 2026 Sea to Sky, unlike my 2021 RT LTD, the system fortunately worked upon delivery and frankly other than that quick hiss when airing down upon restarting after my wife getting off and unloading the luggage, it's all very seamless. It obviously works as the suspension feels the same whether one up, or two up with luggage. There's no bottoming out or any other obvious issues related to ride height. I'm too deaf to hear the pump run I think. With it in gear and the foot and parking brakes off I can't tell when it is deciding to measure the ride height. When my wife gets on and it's in gear with the foot brake on, just the motion of her getting on masks any ability to tell if the ride height is adjusted right then and there, or when we actually ride away.

I think I'm perhaps going to get some of those tire pressure valve caps for a four wheel vehicle, and put the fourth one on the Schraeder valve under the seat to read the suspension air pressure. This way I might be able to see things operating in real time on an iPhone app. Of course, I will have to figure out how often the tire pressure valve caps get polled by the app to see if the interval is small enough to catch the pressure changes as they occur. I'll have to look into that.

It will be interesting to see the algorithm it uses to decide exactly when to measure the ride height. If anybody knows exactly when and where ride height is measured that would be very interesting to know. I sincerely doubt ride height is measured dynamically as we ride along, that would cook the pump pretty quickly. It can't be measured by the immediate addition of a passenger as the suspension bounces a bit as they get on.

Quite frankly, the auto system in my book is just another thing to worry about, the manual system some models use is just as good and has a lot fewer moving parts to break. Once you find the right air pressure that fits your riding style, you don't have to worry about it, set it and forget it! I had an RTL, rode it for four years, loved the ride, it was adjustable on that model. I think I may have adjusted it maybe once in all the time the system worked as designed, then the pump went south on me in the middle of a 200-mile day! I did my research on how much it was going to cost me to replace the pump and VERY quickly decided I was going to make it a manual system, which I think cost me $5, so my butt and wallet were very happy! Sometimes we can over-think something to death, and there's a saying we use here - Ride more, worry less!!! I love that saying!!!

 

[Kromm]

I don't hear it working, but I do notice that when I stop at a red light and have to sit for a bit, I feel the back release some air and the rear lowers just little. It's so slight that the wife doesn't notice it (I asked her).

 

[Snoking1127]

I don't hear it working, but I do notice that when I stop at a red light and have to sit for a bit, I feel the back release some air and the rear lowers just little. It's so slight that the wife doesn't notice it (I asked her).

I am noticing that on my most recent new to me 2018. Never felt it on the other two.