HELP HELP, my 07 Electra is bottoming-out front and rear.

[ericgelectra]

Hi guys. I took my 07 electra classic out a couple hours ago with my lady on the bike, suddently i hit pretty rough bumps on the road and I can hear my front forks bottoming out, and on occasion I hear the rear too. Well, I come to a small rough part on the road and suddently my rear bottoms out, but this time something is different. I must of rubbed on somethin g and now my bike is making a weird rubbing noise the whole time. I pull over and check the back shock air pressure. (30 lbs on them) so thats enough for that. I cant figure out what is rubbing or what I messed up back there. Here is the weird part< i tell my girlfriend to get off and I test run it without her, and the noise goes away (but the bottoming out is still there) I am so frustrating, I cant figure this out. I lowered the rear 1 in. with a lowering bracket, but 1in. shouldnt be enough to bottom out. I have no clue how to check the front forks. Any ideas of the rubbing or grinding noise on the rear? or how to check my forks? can I add air pressure to the front somehow? Need help guys.. I had to pull over and ride 25 mph the way back home..

I must add i weigh 240 lbs, and my lady maybe 140.. Can anyone tell me if each shock has its own air pressure outlet to check the pressure? i put my HD air pump on the air nipple located on the left side rear. I dont know if the right side shock has its own nipple? Is there a possibility of one shock having enough air pressure, and the other being very low? and is there a air valve to check my air pressure on the front forks? thanks guys.

 

[HDDon]

How many miles on the bike? There is only one air valve for the rear shocks and I'm pretty sure there is no air for the front forks. How long has it been since you changed fork oil? Did you have anything in the tour box and saddlebags?

 

[ericgelectra]

How many miles on the bike? There is only one air valve for the rear shocks and I pretty sure there is on air for the front forks. How long has it been since you changed fork oil? Did you have anything in the tour box and saddlebags?

Hi Don, the bike has 18k miles. I just bought it 3 months ago, and i just noticed this problem today. Now, I recently took off my original seat. The long cushioned one. I bought a solo seat but took it to the upholstery shop to get it covered in crocodile. I remeber there was a bracket on rear fender to support the 2 seater OEM seat. I had to remove that bracket, to install the solo seat. Since i took the solo to get covered I had to put the OEM back on, but I didnt put the bracket back on (didnt look like it needed it). I dont have the tour pack on, and I recently did a 6x9 speaker in my hard bags project but everything looked good in that part too.. You think I need to change fork oil? will that help?

 

[R. Lewis]

Hi guys. I took my 07 electra classic out a couple hours ago with my lady on the bike, suddently i hit pretty rough bumps on the road and I can hear my front forks bottoming out, and on occasion I hear the rear too. Well, I come to a small rough part on the road and suddently my rear bottoms out, but this time something is different. I must of rubbed on somethin g and now my bike is making a weird rubbing noise the whole time. I pull over and check the back shock air pressure. (30 lbs on them) so thats enough for that. I cant figure out what is rubbing or what I messed up back there. Here is the weird part< i tell my girlfriend to get off and I test run it without her, and the noise goes away (but the bottoming out is still there) I am so frustrating, I cant figure this out. I lowered the rear 1 in. with a lowering bracket, but 1in. shouldnt be enough to bottom out. I have no clue how to check the front forks. Any ideas of the rubbing or grinding noise on the rear? or how to check my forks? can I add air pressure to the front somehow? Need help guys.. I had to pull over and ride 25 mph the way back home..

I must add i weigh 240 lbs, and my lady maybe 140.. Can anyone tell me if each shock has its own air pressure outlet to check the pressure? i put my HD air pump on the air nipple located on the left side rear. I dont know if the right side shock has its own nipple? Is there a possibility of one shock having enough air pressure, and the other being very low? and is there a air valve to check my air pressure on the front forks? thanks guys.

As far as the rubbing sound when your two-up >>>> run your hand up in the rear fender for wires hanging down.
For the bottoming out>>>>>> Front , check your fork oil (what weight of oil is in it? ) Rear , make sure your shocks are holding air and didnt blow a seal // check the pressure agian , have someone ( your lady or yourself ) sit on the scoot and someone else take a spray bottle of soapy water and squirt each shock to check for bubbles. While your at it >>> check the air line from the fitting to the shocks also.

 

[ericgelectra]

As far as the rubbing sound when your two-up >>>> run your hand up in the rear fender for wires hanging down.
For the bottoming out>>>>>> Front , check your fork oil (what weight of oil is in it? ) Rear , make sure your shocks are holding air and didnt blow a seal // check the pressure agian , have someone ( your lady or yourself ) sit on the scoot and someone else take a spray bottle of soapy water and squirt each shock to check for bubbles. While your at it >>> check the air line from the fitting to the shocks also.

Thanks Lewis, I did check the air shock pressure, was 30 lbs. I will check again and do the soap test. I am not sure of the oil weight? is the heavier the weight the better? or vice versa? As far as I know the fork oil has never been changed, and i have 18k on the bike. How many miles is the norm, before changing? thanks..

 

[R. Lewis]

Thanks Lewis, I did check the air shock pressure, was 30 lbs. I will check again and do the soap test. I am not sure of the oil weight? is the heavier the weight the better? or vice versa? As far as I know the fork oil has never been changed, and i have 18k on the bike. How many miles is the norm, before changing? thanks..

Sorry for the delay - home phone was ringing!!! :small3d023: Anyway --- the heivier the fork oil , the stiffer the forks. Dont know if you have checked out the Self Help section on the forum or not but if you go there and click on Chassis,Suspension and Front End, there is a plethora of info on fork oil , air shocks, etc...... Let us know what you find out hoss!!!

 

[ericgelectra]

Sorry for the delay - home phone was ringing!!! :small3d023: Anyway --- the heivier the fork oil , the stiffer the forks. Dont know if you have checked out the Self Help section on the forum or not but if you go there and click on Chassis,Suspension and Front End, there is a plethora of info on fork oil , air shocks, etc...... Let us know what you find out hoss!!!

Thanks Lewis. let me look it up.. Maybe thats next on the list.. changing out fork oil..

 

[dbmg]

It is not advisable to install shock drop brackets to lower ride height. You are actually changing the angle of the shock and compromising shocks operation.
Check rear fender, under fender and body to make sure everything is still aligned properly. Possible a rear shock bent after bottoming out causing noise with passenger on bike. Harley makes lowering shocks for rear to correctly lower. Fork oil per manual is recommended at 50,000 miles and the only problem causing all complaints may be the lowering shock brackets. Also are you running 36 psi frt 40 psi rear with passenger.

 

[PigSnot]

Pretty much as stated above:
There is just the one nipple for the rear air suspension, with a small black interconnecting hose to keep both sides equal. To be sure, push hose into shock on each side to ensure it’s well seated. If you get a repeat reading of 30 lbs, I’d say there’d be no leakage.
For Classic, Ultra, RK and FHTR, standard suspension, the recommended pressure for Max GVWR is 20–35 psi;
For the FLHRS and FLHX, low profile rear suspension, pressure is 40–50 psi for max load. 30 seems reasonable, perhaps experiment with a little more air given your lowered suspension. As mentioned in earlier posts, feel under fender for anything hanging down, or on the sides of the fender. Any marks on the tire?

The front forks on an 07 do not have air assist.
Are the forks particularly soft when rocking with the front brake on? There are posts in the self help of clunking and how the original fork oil is not the most desirable.

Possibly check steering head swing for proper fork stem tightness ...

Also are you running 36 psi frt 40 psi rear with passenger.

That would be a reference to tire pressure ... 36 front; 40 rear

 

[jaceddie]

The stock fork oil is 5 weight. The screaming eagle fork oil is 15 weight. Maybe a change to the heavier oil will help the front.