air shocks?

I just got a 2nd hand set of air shocks off one off the touring Harleys to put on my Shovel, can anyone tell me what the pressure should be?
I only ask because I thought it was 15-20psi so after using one of those Progressive 30psi pumps with no joy I stuffed the air line on and it took 90psi before they would support the weight of the bike, I finially settled on 130psi and my bike rides really nice now.
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks

[Mr B]

I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm a little bloke and I set mine to anything between 0-10 psi for a decent ride.

brian.

[lawnmower]

Road King Custom 12 psi or 15 psi if fully loaded up

Originally Posted by Shovel-mad

I finially settled on 130psi and my bike rides really nice now.

[S.T.Chapman]

what make are the shocks?
can you describe them?
if they are original showa shocks then they max at around 30-35psi, progressive 416 up to 70psi, but the pressure you'er claiming to have used and they didnt explode makes me think they are fournales,
never use an airline to inflate them use the proper hand pump or you will be very sorry as you will lose damping fluid, if fournales, if other then you will damage the shock.
incidently fournales run at 18bar

Sorry for the delay in replying-
The shocks are Showa, black with rubber bellows measuring 13" with an air valve at the top. There is also a sticker with the number 54565-97 on it.

[S.T.Chapman]

err sorry to say they are rather nasty shocks,
they have a membrane seperating the fluid from the air and if you give them a little vigerous exercise the membrane punctures, allowing the fluid to escape via the fill valve
hd fitted them because they are cheap

[grbrown]

Fournales air shocks use around 10 bars or atmospheres, i.e. approx 150psi.

I would expect original Harley air shocks to have given up the ghost long before reaching 130psi!

The number you quote is in Harley part number format, indicating the part was introduced in (19)97.

[Oilslick]

Originally Posted by Shovel-mad

Sorry for the delay in replying-
The shocks are Showa, black with rubber bellows measuring 13" with an air valve at the top. There is also a sticker with the number 54565-97 on it.

I've just put these shocks on my Dyna. Quite a difference to the standard ones, very plush ride. I've only done a bit of experimentation with pressures but am finding 5 psi pretty good.

I found a table on the web somewhere but bear in mind that this is for baggers.

Recommended air pressures
0-10 lbs for a 150-lb to 200-lb rider.
5-15 lbs for a 200-lb to 250-lb rider.
20-25 lbs for a rider with passenger.
FL air preload rear suspension range is 0-35 lbs of pressure.
FLHRS and FLXH low-profile shocks are 0-50 lbs max.

I take it you were joking about the 130 psi..........were you