Ducati Monster Forum

Does it really make that much of a difference? I can read about it, but can you actually feel the difference in performance -- not just the sound? Thanks.

Some of the experts will say that pods actually hinder performance. I'm not a racer,  if I were, I'd be riding an R1. With the proper tuning, my bike runs great. The vaccum noise doesn't kick in until throttle is wide open and rpms hit 5k. Then its awesome. now my hearing is somewhat impaired so there may actually be some noticeable difference, but with my helmet on I can't really tell. And just doing the pods is not recommended unless ECU and exhaust are upgraded.

large amounts of quiet air make for better runnabiliy and higher HP. pods look and sound cool but the real benefit to them is to open up space for things like larger tank capacity or to hide things.

 I would guess pods cost ~3-5hp, nothing major. If you're running carbs they will be a pregnant dog to dial in and will operate in a narrower margin (in terms of temp/humidty/altitude). Not enough to keep you stranded unless you go through some major changes but enough to make the bike irritable for sure.

My bike runs better with DP ecu, Arrows and pods than it did stock.  It might have more power with the airbox but I'm just glad it doesn't randomly cough and die anymore.

Mine probably lost power but if so only a little. I like the look and sound and the other thing it lost was a precious pound or two.  [thumbsup]

Ive dyno tested both on my 95' 900 Monster.

I settled on an open airbox with some mods to the velocity stacks.
On the dyno, without the bike hurtling through the atmosphere, I found only 1_2 hp/lbs difference. Some say that in the real world, with on road conditions, the difference is much greater. This required some more tuning to get the best out of each set up.

The pods had different flow characteristics to the open airbox with K&N filter at various throttle openings.

One thing I hold a strong position about is that  appropriate velocity stacks will be important whether you use pods or an air box. That and careful tuning.

Look up pods vs airbox and long vs short v stack threads. If you need some base settings I'd be happy to help.

Cheers.

are you comparing a std airbox lid to pods or an opened airbox (cut up lid)?  pods will definitely make more power than a std airbox lid.  possibly a little less than an opened airbox.

but, the quote below is behind many pod mods, so if it's part of a goal you take your choice and stick with it.


personally i think pods inside a large airbox may work better, but no one has yet built a box around them afaik.  i did it for a hotted up 888.  overall it made good power, but i didn't have a std airbox baseline for it.

I dynoed open air box and pods. I also compared different length velocity stacks within the open airbox. The pods were K&N 1750s. The K&N filter in the open airbox was the DU 0900 commonly used.

Personally, and I hope to one day prove this.
a large airbox with forward facing intakes and a large K&N filter or filters with enough surface area to at least double stock airfilter.

then variable length intake trumpets that are short during low RPMS and long at high RPMS, using either a small motor/rheostat hooked into the rpm circuit
or trumpets that vary in length depending on throttle input using a cable from the throttle bodies.

My intake note is different now... more of a low, steady moan than with the cut-up airbox and K&N filter I had before my pods.  When I was running the cut airbox and K&N, my intake sound was more of a pulse... kinda a "pom-pom-pom-pom" vs. my current "uurrrrrrrrrrrrttttttt."  I prefer what I'm hearing now.

BTW, those are scientific terms.  You can find them on page 37 of the 1996 M900 shop service manual.

My un-scientific seat-of-the-pants dyno tells me that the bike is spooling up and getting into the revs quicker, but it's also blowning past the meat of the torque range quicker.  I do believe that the statements about overall HP loss as shown on the dyno are accurate, as I can't scare the crap out of myself at 120mph anymore... I have to settle for pooping my pants at a mere 112 or 113.  The trade-off is getting there quicker and getting to flog my shifter a bit more... I'm good with that.

Plus it just looks badass...

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/293560_273357906014166_100000198778301_1313407_1069204_n.jpg)

Brad, have you documented this on any of "your" bikes over the years?

True before/after from open lid to pod mod?

My bike dynoed 7hp over stock with pod filters/exhuast/tune.... I noticed much higher top end power but a decline or flat spot at mid range..

I liked them and thought they looked great... If I could do it over again I would try an airbox/pod filter combo setup

I have sil-moto exhaust and aftermarket ECU already. I want to do something with the intake (even if it is only for cool sound), but NOT for a loss of power. I want to get a program that allows me to change the settings of my ECU also.

I once had a 900 Monster back in '96 that made 74hp stock and 77 with slip ons, open airbox, K&N filter and dynojet kit. The open airbox let the bike hold onto it's top end power better, but the increase in midrange power and torque was substantial.

i've never fitted pods to anything i've owned.  the original airbox is just far too convenient

ive gone from Airbox to CA-cycleworks pod filters with no velocity stack. absolutely killed my low end. i didnt put more than 300miles on it before going back to airbox. they sit on my shelf for sale if anyone wants to prove me other wise.

No need, race teams have been doing this for awhile mostl'y on motors that have high rpm limits. I think about 3 years ago the Yamaha R1 came out with electronic v-stacks that vary in length to provide more HP over the rpm range, it works. In fact the new MV 675 triple boasts a "new larger air box" as part of there marketing.

the wasp set up and the like use the rubber tubes to the airbox and replace the bellmouth inside the airbox with a machined bellmouth and put a pod over that that doesn't touch the bellmouth.  removing the rubber tubes and airbox bellmouth and then fitting a pod direct to the throttle body is guaranteed to give a bad result.  you've changed the shape, length and entry of the inlet system.

the inlet system starts when the air first flows into a tube of some sort.  you need to keep that in mind when making any inlet mods.

just got a paul smart with the TPO beast R kit and full arrow exhaust/PCIII dynoed, 91 hp. the bike is advertised to have 92 stock.

could be a lot of things but this is a dyno that usually reads a bit high (like 5-15 over what you expect).

Why has no one dyno'd before and after. Well, my guess is that most of us do the work ourselves then take it in to have fine tuned. Clearly the dyno's run high. that is so the customer feels like the mods have big gains. The manufactures post high so that the customers feels like he getting a rocket. The concensus tells us that an ECU exhaust and intake nets about 7hp so even if the pods drop 2 or 3, the changes are still on the + side. Then you add in the clean look and awesome sound, well I say its a wash. Either way, you have to have someone who knows what they are doing when they tune it in. Just because you've made some changes, doesn't mean that its going to run better (or worse).

I did a before and after dyno , pods had 0.7 hp less , i can live with that
Air box was with K&N filter with those rubber trumpets removed
Pods are on the rubbertubes

0.7 less than closed airbox with no trumpets?? So fully open should be even higher right?

yes. if pods were a performance gain then GP guys would be running them right? the fact that they dont tells us that there is some voodoo in having an airbox over pods. if you want HP you need a large body of still air, if you want "cool" you want pods.

thats not a "make the beast with two backsoff poseur pods" statement, thats a "know what your spending cash on" statement. theres nothing wrong picking looks over speed, especially when were talking a minor loss in power for a streetbike that can go over 100 without flinching.

Never realized pods were so low (or I guess that a de-trumpeted airbox was so high)

That number is at the crank.

My sport 1000 dynoed 82 hp at the wheel stock.

good point. I know of a paul smart with just the exhaust getting about 86hp. like I said, this dyno is 5-15hp high on most bikes so that still puts us far under what TPO advertises.

the other thing to consider is that on a dyno the bike has quiet air to suck in. you will get a drastically different combustion over the turbulent air that the pods suck in at speed then what you get in a nice quiet dyno room.   this is why getting pods to run perfect is so difficult, especially on the Ducs forward facing intakes.

So, for any easy gain in HP the best option is to remove the trumpets and that's it?

And, the pods are basically for show and sound?

For me, just for show...not so much for sound cuz my D&D are wayyyy too loud (not as loud as HD) for me to hear to Pods.

If you get pods...should try out Amazon...I got 2 K&N pods for $45 shipped.