COMPRESSOR CYCLING

[trikerbiker645]

I'm noticing a lot more cycling of my compressor than i did when I first got it? Leak somewhere? Do others hear there's cycling? How often? Noticing it every time I first get on it. Always after braking to a stop other than a coast up stop, It cycles regardless of how I set the stiffness control. Wife and I hear it occasionally while going down the road or after harder cornering. Nothing to worry about? Normal for this beast?

[Grandpot]

Mine does the same thing. No problems. Does it mostly when riding two up

[Peter Aawen]

If the compressor is running every 30 seconds or so, then you've probably got a dirty or dud seal or valve, or maybe even a hole in your air bag!! But the compressor is triggered & turned on by changes in ride height via an arm alongside the air bag; so hitting a bump hard enough to compress the air bag as you are riding along can do it, riding over a drain or up the kerb, the rider/passenger moving around or sitting in a different spot, or even braking to a stop at a set of traffic lights can set if off!! And they also do tend to 'leak' a little air while they are standing/parked up too; it's a feature of the 'rubber' in air bags (& tires etc) they are made of stuff that air very slowly permeates thru & that means you lose pressure over time!! A bent height arm or disconnected bolt on the arm could also make the compressor work overtime too, but is far less common.

So like Grandpot said, some cycling of the compressor is normal; it's normally just running to top up the air bag so the Spyder's ride height is maintained. But if it's happening all the time & the height doesn't seem to change/there's no sign of anything that could've caused a change of ride height since the last time the compressor cycled, there's a good chance that you've got a leak somewhere... & that probably means a dud or dirty valve or pressure seal on the air bag, or maybe the bag has collected some grit or dust under the 'roll over' between the bag & the piston/seat it surrounds & that's caused/worn a hole or three in the air bag over time... The seals/valves can be a relatively easy clean or replacement type fix if you catch them soon enough; similarly a hole/leak can often be repaired/patched if you catch it soon enough - but leave any of them causing the cycling of the compressor every 30 seconds or so ALL the time, & you will probably burn out the compressor pretty quickly!! If that happens, it might be smart to replace the compressor with a heavier duty aftermarket unit once you've fixed the cause of the air leak! The a/mkt units are generally more robust & a fair bit cheaper than the OE units.

Good Luck.

[Commander]

On my 2013 RTL mine would give off kind of a whine about every 30 seconds or so, then my wife got off the back and the whine went away..............then it came back when she was not on the RTL. I took it to the dealer and they could not find a reason for it.

[Bensonoid]

On my 2013 RTL mine would give off kind of a whine about every 30 seconds or so, then my wife got off the back and the whine went away..............then it came back when she was not on the RTL. I took it to the dealer and they could not find a reason for it.

I hear a lot of whining when mine is on the back but when she isn't there it goes away.