Air suspension???

[thesprinklerguy1960]

1995 Goldwing SE 1500... Normally when I check my air pressure the gauge reads about 89 and sometimes I have gone up to 94 or so... The other day I was checking pressure and accidentally hit the DECREASE button and the whole bike dropped like a rock... now it sounds like the pump is much louder and the pressure hardly goes up at all... now it feels like it is sitting all the way down... if i bounce on it the whole bike moves about an inch downward and bonces back up to 89... It feels like I have broken a seal or something... I do not hear air leaking but now I can bounce on the bike and the air pressure gauge goes up and down from 30 to 89 and it has NEVER done that before... when I bounced before the pressure stayed at 89 or whatever it was at... now it just goes up and down... anybody know what I did?? Please jump right in and give it a shot... I am poor and handicapped so it is very difficult to troubleshoot so ANY and ALL advice is really appreciated... Thank you in advance for any help... Chris

[newday777]

First off if you have the single Showa air shock and the other is the coilover shock then yes at 89 you probably have blown the seal in the air shock. The manual says more like 50 psi max on the Showa.
If you have Progressive brand replacement air shocks,(??? You didn't say what you have on the bike)they can handle up to 100 psi.
As to the bouncing, I will assume(very bad to do!)that you have a coilover shock on one side still.
You'll need to remove the saddlebags and see what has happened and report back to this thread.

[blupupher]

Are you checking the pressure while on the center stand?
Are you filling while on the center stand?

The stock rear air shock should be checked and adjusted with the rear wheel off the ground.
The max pressure for the rear shock is 58psi (again, on the center stand with the rear tire off the ground).
The pressure will read a lot higher on the side stand or with you sitting on the bike with the rear tire on the ground.

If you check the pressure while sitting on it, it can read much higher than the "max" recommended pressure (mine is set to 50 psi on the center stand, but is ~82 psi with me sitting on it, and 92 psi when I am 2 up)
If you deflate it while sitting on it, it will go down very, very, fast.
It will take a very long time to pressure back up if sitting on it or on side stand, the pump is not designed to air it up that way.

[aj1500]

if your shock was fine until you hit the decrease button your shock probably fine.
it takes a LONG LONG time to air the shock back up if you let it way down, the pump on these bikes are very slow. I think the first thing you need to do is with the bike running hold the increase button and give it time to build back to the 89 it was at. I can't see any reason why your shock went from working good to blown just because you let the air out of it.

[ct1500]

Sounds like there is no oil in the shock only air.

[MikeB]

It almost sounds like you have an aftermarket air shock system. If it was stock, the bike's rear end would not bounce like you say it is.
The OEM left shock is an actual coil over, oil dampened shock. The OEM right shock is more or less an air bag that adjusts ride height.
After market shocks, like the Progressive 416's have been installed on lots of GL1500's. They are air shocks and were used to replace the left and right shocks.

There may be a ruptured air line in your shock system. You will need to remove the seat from the bike and inspect the hoses and air valves that the switches operate. It may be a disconnected hose too. Look it over closely and try to add air to the shocks during your inspection. Listen for air escaping.

If you need to replace the shocls, the Progressive 412 shocks will work according to Progressive but they are not air shocks.
https://www.progressivesuspension.com/p ... ies-shocks

There are also some on ebay that are about $100 less.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-GL1500-G ... 4642214989

[MikeB]

How are things going? Did you get it all figured out?