The back swing arm on my lt250r has some sort of 'Air canister' on it.
Is this an after market thing?
How do I know if its full or empty?
I think its a gas bottle for the back shock.Im not near my quad at the min but il try to find one on google.
Are you talking about the shock reservoir? It holds high pressure gas that the shock uses. All stock LT-250's & 500's have them. Maybe someone can chime in on how they work.
Simple...you fill it with nitrogen or compressed air and that additional pressure prevents the hydraulic oil from foaming.
The portion that holds the nitrogen is actually a rubber bladder to prevent air mixing with the hydraulic oil.
The other benefit of the reservoir is that it holds additional fluid that helps to prevent the shock oil from overheating, causing shock fade.
It may not do a great job, but it certainly does a better job than if it didn't have one at all.
The amount of pressure generally exceeds shop air pressures, so you may need to invest in a nitrogen bottle or take it down to a shop that can service shocks (tire repair shops often have them as well).
Don't fiddle with the shraeder valve, as just one tiny bump to see if it's got air will result in about 10-20PSI lost, a significant change.
To check and see if you have air in it without losing any, you can remove one mounting bolt from the swingarm or cushion lever and see if the shock extends fully after spring preload is removed from the equation.
It's a good idea to have it serviced relatively often so your shock is at its best anyway.
On the reservoir, you may see a little adjustment (some of them don't have one at all).
This is your compression adjustment, you can adjust this for a softer or harder damping force when the shock is compressed.
If you find yourself bottoming out landing a jump, try increasing the setting to prevent it.
If you're after a smoother ride, reduce the setting to allow the shock to compress easier.
On the shock itself, you'll probably find another adjustment.
This is your rebound adjustment, which changes the rate at which the shock extends.
It's useful in that you can adjust how the quad launches off a jump, and to reduce packing over choppy stuff (this is where the shock is going through rapid cycles, and if the compression stroke is slower than the rebound stroke, the rear end actually starts to get taller).
It takes a lot of time to get a shock dialed in to your specific riding style and particulars, but you'll be glad you did.
Any other questions or does that answer them?
yeah, it's a nitrogen reservoir. It is usually charged with 135-140 PSI Nitrogen. You have to find a shop that has it, and knows the proper way to do so. It is tricky to charge, not as simple as holding an air chuck on it. This method will only end up losing half your charge when you remove teh chuck.
to fill it correctly, you need the following. or go to a shop that has a setup.
nitrogen tank
high presure nitrogen regulator
high pressure hose
shock nitrogen gauge
i have about $350 into my shock filling station. not cheap but to do it right you need the correct stuff. plus i have a shock needle for yamaha shocks, and some other aftermarket shocks.
Harbor Freight sold an air booster years ago for about $100, it used shop air to drive pressures up to 500psi.
Used one for a few years on aircraft, easier to use than a nitrogen setup in that you got roughly 5psi out of each trigger pull, as opposed to filling then removing air to desired PSI.
I'm sure the more expensive nitrogen fillers have a valve you can preset for a certain PSi, but the one I was using didn't.
Anyway, I've been trying to find one for quite a while now, they disappeared from HF's shelves, and I can't find one that uses shop air to compress to the 500-1,000PSI range, much less one that costs less than $400.
Follow this link to see how they work, it's at the bottom of the page (this unit uses scuba tanks, but same basic principle):
http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/articles/babybooster/babybooster.htmlIf anyone finds one like I'm describing, let me know!
Thats fantastic!
All questions answered.I wasnt sure if it was a different shock added or not!
Il be posting pictures of my quad tomorrow if any one is interested!