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In the quest to get his bike lower, but still be rideable on the pothole-ridden streets of SoCal, our buddy Rick Tanner decided he wanted to add an air ride system to his '02 H-D Heritage Softail.
After looking at the available choices, he decided to go with Custom Cycle Controls System's Simplified air Supension (SAS) system ($1,649). This system is an all-in-one unit machined from 6061-T6 aluminum. There is no compressor to mount, no hoses to run, and no fittings that could fail over time. Another nice thing about this setup is that the SAS has an inline pneumatic filter, so only clean air is sucked into the SAS therefore keeping the system free of contaminants, which could ruin the compressor.
This is by far one of the easiest systems we have ever installed, so easy that the staff of Illusion Motorcycles tackled it in less than two hours. The upgrade consisted of pulling out the old shocks, inserting the SAS unit, connecting four wires, and routing the air intake. Once the SAS was installed and running, the bike could go from completely aired-out to almost 4 inches of lift in no time. The ride quality is really nice and we found no pogo-ing of the suspension even at full height. This is one nice unit.
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The simplicity of the...
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The simplicity of the SAS system alone makes it a great unit to install.
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With the bike on the...
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With the bike on the lift, T-Rod checked out its static ride height and took some
measurements.
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The stock shocks were...
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The stock shocks were removed from the bike.
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As you can see the SAS...
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As you can see the SAS unit with its internal compressor (right) is almost the same size as the stock shocks.
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The spherical rod ends...
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The spherical rod ends were installed at the same length as the stock shocks and jam-nutted.
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The air inlet was plugged...
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The air inlet was plugged into the SAS unit.
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The SAS shocks were installed...
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The SAS shocks were installed and tightened down to factory specs.
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The power and control...
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The power and control wiring along with the air inlet were stealthily routed between the oil bag and the frame.
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All of the wires had...
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All of the wires had ring connectors clamped, soldered, and shrink wrapped for longevity and protection.
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The main red power wire...
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The main red power wire was then bolted to the positive side of the battery.
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The control wires were...
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The control wires were installed onto a toggle switch, which controls the SAS system's up-and-down (fill or release) motion.
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The toggle switch was...
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The toggle switch was mounted to the coil cover with a fabbed bracket made from stainless steel.
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The large black wire...
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The large black wire was grounded to the frame and the job was done.
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Aired down, the fender...
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Aired down, the fender to beltguard clearance was just under 1 inch.
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Once the system was aired...
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Once the system was aired up to its highest setting, it measured 4 3/8 inches.
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The SAS system adds versatility...
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The SAS system adds versatility and tail draggin' good looks to Rick's already tricked-out Heritage