Up Up & Down With Big Belly CrewIn the never-ending quest to trick out baggers, we have come across many people who share the same passion. One such person is our friend Adam who, along with his brother Shane own a company by the name of Big Belly Crew. We met them at Sturgis, then again at Las Vegas Bike Fest and then yet again at the Love Ride. They liked what we did with the magazine and we liked what they did to glamorize our guts. Both these guys are absolute bagger nuts and are really into tricking out their bikes. When Adam told us he was going to be installing a Bike Buddy Pro Air Ride system with the new Smooth Ride shocks we packed up our camera gear and headed over to their world headquarters. When we arrived Adam's '07 Road King was on the stand and ready to get some altitude adjustment. The Bike Buddy Pro Air Ride system is a well-tested and proven system that has been a mainstay for many pro and garage builders for quite some time, while the Smooth Ride shocks are a new addition to Bike Buddy's system. Smooth Ride's shocks are made from billet aluminum and have a precision-machined air chamber, which is oil dampened to provide a plush ride even when the Bike Buddy Pro's compressor is at maximum PSI. Baggers all-around wrench slinging handyman Steve "Ballbreaker" Braeger was called into assist in the Air Ride install and in less than two hours, thanks to the easy to follow directions and quality parts in the kit, Adam was livin' the low life. Down (1.)Fresh out of the box, the complete Bike Buddy Pro/Smooth Ride kit was ready to install.(1.)Fresh out of the box, the complete Bike Buddy Pro/Smooth Ride kit was ready to install (2.)With the seat and saddlebags removed, we could gain access to the stock H-D air shocks.(2.)With the seat and saddlebags removed, we could gain access to the stock H-D air shocks (3.)Once the stock air lines were removed, we unbolted the shocks from the swingarm and frame.(3.)Once the stock air lines were removed, we unbolted the shocks from the swingarm and fr (4.)The Smooth Ride shocks were installed with the supplied hex-head bolts and spacers. (5.)Plenty of blue thread locking compound was used on all of the hardware to keep the shocks where they belong.(5.)Plenty of blue thread locking compound was used on all of the hardware to keep the sho (6.)At this point we used plumber's tape to make sure all of the connections were leak-free.(6.)At this point we used plumber's tape to make sure all of the connections were leak-fre (7.)We mounted the Bike Buddy Pro compressor in the space under the left side of the bike between the transmission and engine with the supplied clamps.(7.)We mounted the Bike Buddy Pro compressor in the space under the left side of the bike (8.)Ballbreaker then adjusted the switch plate that was to be located on the frame just under the nose of the seat.(8.)Ballbreaker then adjusted the switch plate that was to be located on the frame just un (9.)The pump and dump switches were mounted into the plate and the air line and control wires were installed(9.)The pump and dump switches were mounted into the plate and the air line and control wi (10.)We ran the control wires and main air line down through the right side cover and under the frame rails to the left side of the bike where the compressor was located.(10.)We ran the control wires and main air line down through the right side cover and unde (11.)At this time we plumbed all of the air lines and quickly checked for any leaks by touching the positive and ground wires to the battery.(11.)At this time we plumbed all of the air lines and quickly checked for any leaks by tou (12.)The Bike Buddy Pro/Smooth Ride system uses large air lines to insure quick operation. (13.) (14.) SOURCES Bike Buddy Pro bikebuddypro.com Smooth Ride Shocks smoothrideshocks.com By Jeff G. Holt Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
