Keeping the pods on

[fredintoon]

I finally got the resurrection completed and the XS11SG runs great. I switched from the stock airbox to UNIpods (and did all the jetting stuff) and it's sure great to take the carbs on and off without it being the cussing, raving and knucklebusting chore it was with the stocker. And Lord, the room in there for in line filters & such. I've even grown used to the sticky feel of UNipod oil. But, do up the hoseclamps that hold them on just a little bit too tight and the beggars ooze off the carbs. I see lotsa pics on this list with UNI-equipped XS11s.
How do you keep them from falling off in the street?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Fred,

After squirting the filters with oil and Xpressing the Xcess oil out, just clean the mounting rubber parts with carb cleaner or your favorite degreaser, same for the carb throat. Then the rubber will HOLD and won't necessarily slide off when tightening, but I also didn't tighten the clamp too much either.

Mine stayed on just fine, they weigh nothing, and so there's not much force required to keep them on. I lost the chrome cap off of one once, but the filter stayed attached to the carb.
I've since changed from the Unifilter pods to the cone shaped ones, and have mini velocity stacks on mine first!
T.C.

[Erik the Red]

Ditto what TC said. Don't overtighten them. Just screw the hoseclamp to snug. Tight will cause it to pop off. Gentle is the name of the game here. If it's enough that it can't move when you try to *gently* rotate it on the carb body, it'll stay on when you're riding.

[TADracer]

After losing one of a set of 4 Vance & Hines filters and then one of a set of 4 K&N filters, I used a very small piece of polished aluminum angle spanning across the back of all 4 filters and I would pop rivet the angle to the chrome caps. This joins all 4 units into one and thay stay on better.

But a couple of years ago I took a 1" wide band of 26-gauge stainless steel and wrapped it around the carb flange, cut it to the proper length to match the circumference of the carb flange and attached it with a hose clamp. This provides a longer mounting surface for the pod filter to be attached to. Havent lost one since.

Still, you must remove the oil from the rubber boot before clamping to the carb.

[81xsproject]

I tighten mine to the point that I can no longer spin the filters on the carbs and have had no prob.

[fredintoon]

retention at speed?

xsproj. sez:-
I tighten mine to the point that I can no longer spin the filters on the carbs and have had no prob.

OK then, all I have done is test ride up & down the street a little in 1st & 2nd gear and my UNIs stayed put for that. How fast & far have yours gone & remained with you? I got kinda worried when I nudged #1 UNI as I was installing a fuel line filter and the pod fell off the carb onto the garage floor. And yes, the pod collars & carb bodies were thoroughly degreased before installation.

Fred Hill, S'toon.

[tommystinson]

I hadn't measured yet, but I was eyeballing these:

http://www.sudco.com/carbholderclamps.html

I'm not keen on how the hose clamps fit.

[Erik the Red]

Re: retention at speed?

Originally posted by fredintoon
xsproj. sez:-
I tighten mine to the point that I can no longer spin the filters on the carbs and have had no prob.

OK then, all I have done is test ride up & down the street a little in 1st & 2nd gear and my UNIs stayed put for that. How fast & far have yours gone & remained with you? I got kinda worried when I nudged #1 UNI as I was installing a fuel line filter and the pod fell off the carb onto the garage floor.

How's this for an ambiguous answer... If it fell off, it was either tightened too much ...or not enough. You can get a pretty good feel for it by watching as you tighten the screw. A little turn and it's not contacting the carb body --> you know it's not tight enough. Keep tightening it until you tighten it to the point where it's starting to squeeze off--> you know that's way too much. A little less, then vibration will complete the 'falling off' process. A little less than that and it's good. It's sort of like dialing in your idle mixture screw. You can zero it in to just right.

I've been 100+ on my Honda with Uni pod filters, no problems. It was overzealous overtightening of that screw that caused me to lose one somewhere in Indiana.