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Rear Shock Pressure Confusion

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9.4K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  bikendad  
#1 ·
My 16 Cross Country has a chart in the manual and inside the saddlebag lid that lists the air pressure for the shock. It has four columns: No-Trunk, Trunk, ABS-Tour, Low.

So I have a non-tour with no trunk and I do have ABS, which columns should I read? Does ABS-Tour mean any bike with ABS or the Touring model, or does it mean Tour but only if it has ABS? I'm confused......

Also how often do those leak air? I checked mine around 1,000 miles or so, then forgot about it until today, 4 months later, when I was doing the 5K service and it was down to like ten pounds......
 
#2 ·
I do not have a CC but if I were you I would experiment with different air pressures.
I do a lot of reading on the vog on ALL vics and would start at 25 lbs and look in your owners manual.
 
#4 ·
This is kind of like the old Salmon on a Cedar plank recipe. Lay salmon on board, cook over medium/hot fire for twenty minutes. Remove from fire. Throw away fish, eat board.

. Ignore the chart. I'm sure they were well meaning and it gave someone on the line something to do, but the numbers are way too high. Start with about twenty pounds for yourself alone as a minimum. Add three to five as needed until you are happy. Add about five to eight when loaded. and another ten for a passenger. Play with it, till you like it. I almost never run more than fourty when loaded all in on my CCT. Usually about twenty eight to thirty with just my fat behind on it. ONLY thing to know......NEVER use compressed air.
 
#5 ·
Not only don't use compressed air, as MagVic CCT notes above, but also be aware that every time you check it you may decrease it by a few PSI. There is very little volume of air in that system (as opposed to, say, a big tire), so that every time that air has to fill up a hose -- depending on what kind of device you use for pressure reading -- and the innards of a pressure gauge, you're taking away a non-trivial portion of that air; and you also may lose a couple of PSI in the act of unscrewing the gauge/hose (again, depending on what kind of device you use for checking and adding air).

Many of us get around this by adding an extra 3 or 4 PSI to the amount we really want, when hand-pumping in air.

Best to experiment with air values yourself. You may want higher values -- for more ground clearance and tighter handling -- if you're doing twisties or a track day. You may want lower values if doing a long superslab day. That sort of thing. A little sad that, in this day and age, and at this price range, Vic doesn't incorporate a built-in button for doing this sort of thing, the way many other bikes do.

And make sure your side-cover grommets are up to snuff, and the cover is properly snapped back in, after measuring or adding air. Or relocate the fill-valve, as some of us have done.
 
#6 ·
Years ago someone told me to put in enough air so that the bike goes down 1" when I get on it. this changes according to load and passengers, but Thats only a starting point. Go up or down 3-4lbs until you're happy.
 
#7 ·
Ignore the "ABS" connotation, the brakes make no difference. The "Tour" is with trunk and no trunk is for the XC without trunk. That said, the chart gives a very conservative "soft" ride setting. If you want good handling in twisties you will run 20-40lbs over what the chart recommends. Trial and error works but with 6 years riding my XC in all kinds of conditions, city and mountain passes this is what I have found.