Air box snorkel

[Dark Horse]

When I got my bike the snorkel was missing from the air box. One of the P.O.'s had covered the opening with cheese-cloth and duct taped it in place. At some point this had rotted away and I cleaned all the debris (pieces of cloth and tape) from inside the air box. I was able to find a used snorkel at a bone yard and installed it in my bike.

Recently, my son purchased an '81 XS1100 special. It also is missing the snorkel. What happens to these snorkels? Does the rubber rot away or what? Exactly what is the purpose of the snorkel? Does it hurt to run without it? Can the snorkels be purchased new from a dealer?

TIA for your help answering these questions.

[skids]

I think that the snorkle is there to draw clean air into the airbox and to provide the vacuum above the float bowls. Perhaps the entire affective volume of the airbox was increased with the snorkle, like a bigger plenum, to help "smooth out" the pulsations that are otherwise experienced by the carburators. Do you NEED to have that length for vacuum? I would say that it is probably not that important in the big picture. Others have drilled holes in the bottom od the airbox (center of filter area) to REDUCE the vacuum and supposedly increase airflow. I think that by either drilling holes or by leaving the snorkle off, you end up raising the operating fuel levels in the bowls ever so slightly.

[Bill__Woods]

Hi,
I think they located the air intake snorkel under the seat to reduce noise. The airbox is designed to reduce turbulence for certain. Maybe i should by a spare in case it rots, or comes up missing :-)

[sixtysix]

Bill is right, it is for noise reduction.

[JP]

I don't know whether you're correct or not Gary but I'm curious as to how you have come to that conclusion.

[crunchbird]

When I got my SG I decided it must have the wrong airbox, but the filter fit etc. It has no silver on the sides, but mainly it has no wing nuts to split the top from the bottom, though I have read here it should. It has some inaccessible regular nuts. Without being able to split the box it is nearly impossible to remove it (carbs out already of course) like to powerwash/paint it. The only way I got mine out and back in was brute force that about twisted the snorkel off. I was afraid it was going to break it! I'll bet that is what happened to yours. (Even if it has the reputed wing nuts, the PO may not have known it.) I chucked the unit and like the individual filters. They sound cool, and there are loud noises coming out of everywhere on my old rat.

[sixtysix]

I read it someplace that the snorkle assy is used to quiet the intake of air, a baffle of sorts. Was not an article about an XS but some other bike or intakes in general.