Pod filters vs Stock Air Box... fight!

[Easy-X]

Pod filters look so damn kewl! How come hardly any manufacturers use them on new bikes?!

Slight daft question: anyone have an opinion?
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[redeem ouzzer]

Usually shit but I’ve put them on my track bike because the airbox makes maintenance a c@@t. Absolutely fuck all chance of getting them to work without the f3 needles and springs though and then lots of dyno time. But unless you have reasons beyond “looks kewl” then you shouldn’t do it.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[Easy-X]

Would I be right in saying the major advantage of the stock air box is consistency?

I would surmise the airflow from Pod Band A might be wildly different to Pod Brand B... I dunno are they even consistent from batch to batch from the same brand?
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[stinkwheel]

Laminar flow, pressure wave harmonics, noise supression, emissions control.

Critically, a well designed airbox will flow 110% of the engine capacity on each cycle. 80's/90's kawasakis being a case in point. It's what made the GPZ900R the first bike to crack 150mph out of the box. Try and get one of those fuckers to run on pod filters.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Islander]

A carefully designed air box, tuned to provide maximum smooth and even air flow vs something that apparently looks cool. Hmmmm let me think...

[stinkwheel]

Amal GP carburettors with open bellmouths look cool too. I would still preferr a mikuni.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Bhud]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfzuob_mBNs

[Easy-X]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

He forgot to say Helmholtz Resonator. My Kawasaki has a box on top of each intake duct and a deep lower section extending downwards into the fairing behind the indicator when you'd expect the ducts to be just simple pipes channelling air inwards. The deep section might be partly to capture and drain rainwater, but the boxes on top are marked "Resonator." The ZX is known to have an intake growl and this would appear to be a pleasing side effect of smart design to shove the maximum amount of air in.

[Old Git Racing]

I run a gutted airbox on my YPVS with no filter in, works well (Dyno proven). My TZ had air boxes that worked well. Think its more about the consistency of airflow into the carbs because you cant alter the fuel flow (without efi) to compensate for variations on air mixture.
As an aside I think pod filters look shite and remind me of every bodged streetfighter/ratbike/screamin' eagle hardly ableton I've ever seen.

OBR
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2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[Bhud]

The bike that always tempted me to fit pods was the Kawasaki GT550. The airbox gets in the way and it's a struggle to take it off and put it back on for routine maintenance tasks. Pods would make things so much easier, although I won't do it, as I know they would seriously upset the running (I have run it while - unknowingly - one of the airbox rubbers had slipped off, and it wouldn't idle, lurched in the high revs, etc.) Airboxes are horrible because they're cumbersome and they look bad.

[Easy-X]

On my Superlight a pod filter would be totally pointless: the airbox sits behind the side panels totally concealed, minding its own business and not being a bother to anyone. Ironically it probably could easily be replaced as it's literally a box with two holes (3 if you count the crank case breather) with no sign of any resonator cleverness.

I've always had a soft spot for the pod "style" since I put a big K&N on a weber many moons ago. Ah, to be young again and not know about A/F ratios
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[johnsmith222]

I know enough to know that I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to airbox mods, airfilter changes, exhaust system changes so just leave it alone.

Even having just a race can on my bike showed a marked decrease in mid-range performance when compared to the stock can.

For me, if I want something faster then I'll just sell the 9R and get something more powerful.

[Sister Sledge]

Been there and done it back in the 1980s. For me it was more trial and error. Like many it was that 'but how can they be sh*te when they look cool?'
I soon discovered that running an empty stock air box was better than fitting those aftermarket things.
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CCM 404 DS

[hellkat]

It took me the whole thread to realise you were all talking about CONES.


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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[temeluchus]

Pods can be a bit of a mixed bag. Generally they work best on older bikes in milder states of tune, especially with relatively small carbs on a big cylinder, (an old 1000cc 4 with 32-34mm carbs say) so that the reduction in intake velocity is offset by the nice big intake vacuum.

Don't buy cheap paper pods. I've had the best luck with UNI foam pods that don't have the hard end caps.

The main problems are:

Finding information on jets and needles to use. Certain bikes have loads of info but others you are on your own. Generally you'll need main jets 20-50% larger and maybe larger Idle jets. New needles are also needed to get the best but these are really not easy to select, especially since original equipment carbs aren't expected to get needle swaps and most listings are for tuning carbs like Mikuni TMR/RS and Keihin FCR carbs.

CV carbs can be very fussy about running on pod filters and there are a lot of variables to tune. Flatslides and manual slide carbs are much easier to get working.

You'll probably lose a fair bit of bottom end, and some midrange. Top end may see a mild improvement or none at all dependant on model.

The bike will become more sensitive to changes in weather and really suffer with condensation in winter. Get used to draining your float bowls quite a bit.

As mentioned above, some performance bikes have cams set up to expect the airbox and will run like dogshit with pods fitted no matter how hard you mess with the carbs.

Advantages:

Servicing is much easier on old side draught motors. Carbs can be removed very easily for cleaning/adjustment/part replacement.

They sound great. Be aware the intake noise will be LOUD.

Some older bikes with restrictive airboxes will indeed see power improvements, providing the carbs are adjusted correctly.

TL/DR If you have anything newer than the mid to late 80's and dont have a massive problem getting the carbs out, don't bother unless you want to fork out with suitable tuning carbs and get something that is designed for such things.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[MarJay]

This is why many 'tuned' vehicles end up slower than before they were messed with. People that don't know what they are doing probably shouldn't do it, especially when it comes from the millions of yen/euro development that goes into the design of just a 'simple' airbox.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[stinkwheel]

The exception that proves the rule are big oil-boiler suzukis. They go like fuck with well set up pods.

Even then though, my mates 155bhp GSXR1100N, while running pod filters, has remarkably huge ones and runs the intake trumpets from the original airbox inside them.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[pompousporcup...]

[Easy-X]

[chickenstrip]

[chickenstrip]

[RhynoCZ]

Moto GP and WSBK bikes run air boxes...

/thread.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[redeem ouzzer]

OP is right though, if you are into racebike chic pods are the way forward.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1811/43934822892_6420d22a5f_z.jpg

Bear in mind this setup is on a GSXR400RKSP which is one of the most finicky bikes ever for carburation even bone stock. I haven’t got the dyno chart to hand but midrange is about the same and peak is +2 bhp but over a slightly narrower range. Bottom end (<4K rpm) is woolly when hot cause it’s still a bit rich but it’s worth living with for the weight loss and ease of maintenance.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[Bhud]