I recently bought a complete MPS air shifter system from Schnitz. Here is what I bought.

MPS air shifter kit without bottle. It came with ignition kill box, shift ram, hose, and shift valve.
MPS C02 10-1/2 inch bottle with pin valve regulator.
Schnitz kill box harness, connects to factory connectors on coils.
Schnitz MPS install harness.
Muzzy shift ram mount.

I have the bottle mounted under the rear solo cover to the frame of another seat assembly I have. It is just a seat tray without the foam and the seat cowl installed. The bottle is mounted with the regulator valve slightly angled down and to the front of the bike.

I have the kill box working great, but my shift ram is not operating correctly. It doesnt shift more than 1 time and then it seems to not have enough air. It is the high pressure system using C02. I am unsure of three things.

Bottle mounting position. Am I right to have it mounted at a slight angle forward with the regulator valve facing forward and slightly down?

Air valve exhaust port. I have the air valve that supplies the air ram mounted under the fuel tank left side. I put a straight QD and ran a small hose out of the tray. I was worried that dirt could get in it and clog the valve.

Shift ram. I havnt seen any good pics of an MPS shift ram installed on a ZX14, and ive done a lot of searching all over the net. I have it installed with a very very slight angle to the rear of the shift arm via the ram mount supplied with the kit (it clamps on the shifter and the ram has a small pin that slides through it). I even drilled a hole and mounted the ram without the supplied shift arm bracket thing thinking I was not getting enough throw, but then it would not shift up or down at all even with my foot or by hand with the clutch in.

SORRY FOR TH LONG READ, I WANT TO GIVE ALL THE INFO THAT I CAN. Thanks for the help!!!

Bottle mounting position. Am I right to have it mounted at a slight angle forward with the regulator valve facing forward and slightly down?

This all depends on what kind of bottle it is. I used to make various kinds of CO2 bottles for paintball back before compressed air took over. Some are what is called siphon, meaning you get liquid CO2 if you put it in some given position, others are anti-syphon for exactly the same reason.

I don't imagine you want to run liquid CO2 through your circuit, as it will freeze up, literally. So you have to place the bottle in the anti-syphon position. Which all depends on the type of bottle it is.

Compressed air would be better, but has higher bottle pressures, so its a little more dangerous.

http://secure.mycart.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=5000954

This is the bottle I have with the regulator. It is a high pressure bottle system from the description. Its filled with C02 by a local paint ball shop.
i have noticed that the regulator gets really cold and now that you mentioned it, is probably freezing. I plan on putting the supplied pressure gauge on it, and adjusting the regulator. The instructions really didnt go over any of this or go over what pressure the shift ram likes to operate at.

i would have gone with air. I installed the MPS kit with the onboard compressor. Its SO nice to be able to just flip a switch and fill up the air system, instead of having to change the bottle.

Anywho, sounds like you're freezing up. Change the position of the bottle and try it that way.

Looks like I figured it out.

I hooked the bottle up to the gauge that was in the kit. Looks like the regulator was set at 40 psi. So I turned it up to 135 psi. I think I read some where that the shifter likes 120 psi, but not sure.

I then remounted the air bottle, and now have it tilted slightly up, and the regulator is at the rear of the bike. I installed a qd under the seat to be able to remove the seat as an assembly.

Ill let you all know how it goes tonight. Ill try to get a write up done on the install.

As for air versus c02, I like that the c02 can shift a few hundred times before needing a refill. At 2 bucks a fill, that isnt too bad. I wonder if I can get a small air bottle like the one that I have, then I could go air or c02.

The paintball industry makes small compressed air cylinders. Usually composite wrapped, 4,500 psi. You could get them filled at a scuba shop possibly, if there isn't a commercial paintball field around.

I have several scuba tanks that I used to take to the paintball field, and used them to fill my gun's air bottle.

Just be aware a connection which is adequate for CO2 might possibly burst with compressed air, since the pressures are higher.

* Last updated by: privateer on 8/4/2009 @ 6:00 PM *

Well, not happy about the whole c02 tank thing, it was leaking still, and because of the way I had it setup on the bike, I had to turn it on before I went to the track. I did 1 run and got 3 shifts out of it, and that was it. It was empty.

I had tested the rest of the system by pressuring it and letting it sit, it stayed constant 130 psi all day before I went to the track. So Im sure the bottle was leaking, so I disconnected it and the shift ram at the track.

I did get some help from another zx14 rider on launching and getting a good 60 foot, and how to position myself on the bike and a few other tips.

Well, when you let the system sit all day pressurized, was the bottle attached and valve open ? If so, that would demonstrate the bottle isn't leaking (highly unlikely anyway, unless some idiot put it together).

Maybe you are running too much pressure. You should set the regulator just high enough to operate the shift. If it is too high, the system will use CO2 at a high rate and that could exhaust the bottle fast like you experienced.

The only place the bottle could leak would be at where the valve screws into the bottle. If it is leaking there, it is unsafe and by law must be repaired or destroyed.

It is also possible you have a leak in your connection to the bottle from the rest of the system. Maybe you didn't use enough teflon tape, or something.

By all rights, the CO2 should be adequate for the task, so don't give up. Just find the leak and fix it. If no leak, lower the pressure setting on the regulator until the shifter won't work, then increase it slightly until it will.

130 psi doesn't sound like too high of pressure.. but its higher then i'd use (i think MPS recommends like 95 or 100)

I usually air my system up to about 130 before a pass.. BUT since its air (and a low volume system) it usually gets down to about 85 after the pass.