Pod Air Filters

[MrOzz]

O.K. I am thinking or replacing my stock air box with pods. Mostly cause I like the look of them and I feel it would be easier to route my fuel lines. Plus I feel I will get a little more performance out of my XS.

Right now I am using a K&N filter in the stock air box. Dynojet stage one kit in the carbs. Stock exhaust.

So out of you that have made the switch, any advice? Pod sizes, brand (I will probably stick with K&N)? Any tunning issues? Install Issues?

I have heard of sucking water in to the intake side, but I try not to ride in the pouring rain.


Thanks again for all of your help,

Ozz

[trbig]

I do ride in the pouring rain with pods and no problems. It actually runs stronger in the rain.

Instead of K&N, you might try these. They look just like K&N, but have XS on them and are a heck of a lot cheaper. Scroll down to the 54mm size


Mikesxs


Part #15-0035.

I went up one size on my mains when I installed, but if you're already using a K&N filter, you may be OK. One thing I will say though, is you will usually get better performance from the stock air box than the pods. Probably not anything you'd notice off a dyno, but don't count on adding performance with them.

Tod

P.S. Ape Racing Products also makes a good pod filter, but it isn't listed on their site. You'll have to call them to order it. I can get you the part number later if you want.

[psycoreefer]

Hey, for lots of info try doing a search for pods. Some like them and some don't, really seems to be a personal preference thing.

Install issues would be what to do with your vent tubes that now go the the air box. You'll have to put little filters on them and route them somewhere safe.

Brands, all are about the same, look out for ones with a large lip on the inside of the rubber boot, some people have had problems with the lip covering the ports on the front of the carb.

You'll probably have to play with your jetting a bit, see the tech tips section for suggested starting point.

[T99Ford]

I think with the stage one kit, your jetting will probably be ok. IMHO the jetting issue for pods is a little over done, anyway, esp. with the stock exhaust. I would just check it once you have it done, but don't do anything before that.

I agree with Tod that you won't notice much improvement. I think the more power/ less power debate from pods vs. stock has yet to be determined with positive results, but I doubt you'll notice any change from pods, and it certainly won't be a negative change. It will sound a lot meaner, though, as you will be able to hear the throttle body noise. That is worth 5 horse right there

[jmnjrpa]

Ozz

That is what I am running. No problems, but you will need to up your jets 1 size. I carved out the front of my air box to retain the side cover look on my MNS. I think it looks real good. I routed excess fuel lines under the pods and came up between them. It allows me to lift the tank several inches without removing the lines. Ask that blown Mustang she burned a couple of months back about running issues. It does change the sound somewhat and makes it sound more throaty but not louder. You will be supporting all the weight of the carbs on the boots so need to have good ones. You could support the carbs with some type of tieoff to the frame but I have been running it for 8-9 months on old boots and have not had any issues. It is MUCH easier to work on the carbs!!! I believe the rain will give your coils/wires more problems than you could experience from the pods.

[lee_dutcher]

well the only problem i had was the support of the carbs and a lot of tuneing....i uses some chicken wire to help and works great....positives are that it is way easyer to remove your carbs to clean them and it looks and sounds pretty bad a$$....just tuneing is a pita but worth it after u get her dialed.....

[RS Thornton]

They look cool

I do like the look of them but probably would not do the mod on a bike that comes with the airbox. One of my 78's had the pods done by the PO and there is a more open exhaust. I run 1 size over on the main jets and it does not seem to run any better or worse than stock. I went to the K&N's and clean and reoil them about twice a year. The bike has been through more than 1 frog soaking rainstorm with no issues.
The other note I would pass on to you is that I have zip ties from the carb bodies back up to the frame so that those prone-to-cracking intake manifolds are not supporting the entire weight of the carbs after the air box is gone.
Scott

[fredintoon]

Hi Ozz,
I switched to pods because I hated busting my knuckles removing the stock airbox to access the carbs.
Turned a 1/2-hour job into a 5 minute job and with far less blood loss.
Worked like magic to fix my carbs, too.
Once they were easy to get at they stopped acting up.
I used UNIpods but after their 3rd season they are starting to look ratty.
I'm considering putting on the XS-marked pods from Mikes instead.
If you go with any kind of pods, make a little bracket to hang the carbs from the frame so they aren't cantilevered off the carb mounts.

[trbig]

make a little bracket to hang the carbs from the frame so they aren't cantilevered off the carb mounts.

Although I would agree that this would probably be the best bet, it's really not needed. Those carb holders are metal and coated with rubber and hold them well on their own.

One of the major plusses of adding the pods for me was how quick it was to install/remove the carbs. I would like a bracket to hold the rear of them, but also know that anything added is going to clutter the cleaner look and also add to my removal/install time.

Also, on fuel line routing, it's a fairly tight turn to have your left petcock feed the left two carbs. I had lots of problems with the line kinking. Many run their left petcock to the right bank of carbs and vice-versa. This makes a nice gradual loop with no kinking and leaves more room for an inline fuel filter if desired.

Tod

[mharrington]

I read either here or at yamaha triples that the factory airbox utilizes velocity stacks where the aftermarket pods have an abrupt entry. Not a deal breaker but some have claimed to have a flat spot during acceleration that they just couldnt tune out that the stock airbox didnt produce. When I had seadoos I would replace the airbox with aftermarket flame arrestors. These units were pods with multi layered stainless mesh instead of filter material. The base was a velocity stack and the lid formed a vortex perfectly contoured to send in the air. I have always wondered why aftermarket air filter pods were not made this way.

[MrOzz]

Hi Ozz,
I switched to pods because I hated busting my knuckles removing the stock airbox to access the carbs...

Yeah I agree lol.

Thanks for all the info all. I think I am going to make the switch.


Ozz

[tinman905]

Since you are using a Dyno Jet kit that should fix any flat spots some people get. Just don't be in a hurry to install larger jets, start with the DJ124 jets and see how that works for you. You don't want to go too rich even with the better air flow you get from the pod filters over the stock air box. You will like the throaty sound you get with the Dyno Jet and K&N pods.

[T99Ford]

m: The flat spot most people complain about is a rich one from 3-4K rpm, and is caused by overfueling as a stock midrange needle with too steep of an angle raises too quickly and allows more fuel than necessary into the air stream. This problem is usually made worse by people trying to avoid running too rich when they install the pods, and overjetting the main jet. It is usually then made really bad with a 4-1 exhaust after pods. If you have the stage one kit installed, this kit was designed for mild mods like pod filters, and you probably will not need to change anything. Plus the DJ needle has a different taper than the stock one and allows for a more gradual midrange fuel rate. The filters by themselves will not cause a flat spot, but crazy jetting changes at the same time will. The abscence of velocity stacks won't cause a flat spot, either. Throw the pods on, run it, check your plugs and then jet if you have to. My bet is that you won't. Then if you are really concerned, dyno it with an A/F sniffer, and you will know exactly what it is doing.

[jmnjrpa]

Come again?

This problem is usually made worse by people trying to avoid running too rich when they install the pods, and overjetting the main jet

It appears as if your'e saying that upping your jets run leaner?
JIC correction-larger jet =more fuel=richer

[T99Ford]

Whoops. I meant "lean" where I said rich in the quoted text. It should have been clear from the first sentence of the post, but it wasn't. What I meant to say was that most people read that they have to jet up (richer) when installing pods. So they do, whether they needed to or not, and if they did not need to, they go too far. This makes a stock rich condition in the midrange even worse, since the flatter angle of the stock needle draws up at the same rate as before, but is leaving from a bigger hole. This makes for a now really rich spot in the midrange, and a consequent perceived "flat spot'.

The following rant is not directed at anyone in particular:

The jetting recommendations for mods like this are a real sore spot for me. This is mostly in part due to the fact that riding conditions are not one size fits all, so jetting can't be either. Proper jetting is done by jetting to engine operating conditions, not "putting in jets 'cause I did brand X mod". As an example, the 80 G comes with 110 and/ or 115 main jets in stock trim.
Now, it has these jets whether you are in Death Valley (below sea level) or at my house at 5500' (over a mile above sea level). Obviously, I will be running significantly richer mixtures than the guy in Death Valley since there is less oxygen at my altitude. Therefore, if I install pods, I would not jet up at all. (in fact, I jetted down for pods and back to near stock with the 4-2-1). So you can see that cookie cutter jet charts based off mods alone are kind of pointless, when directed at a large geographic area. The jetting charts based off temperature and altitude are much more accurate, but cannot account for mods, either.
Which is not to say that the chart won't get most people close. I have particular issues with it since I do this stuff for a living, and cannot stand to do things to my bike without knowing exactly why I did them. Others are not as particular, though, and that is ok. Rant over