Air box vs. Pop Filters

[NorDog]

I've noticed some bikes with the dual pod air filters (is that what they are called?).

Seems they are always on carburated bikes.

Does anyone ever put them on injected bikes?  Is there a reason one wouldn't put them on an injected bike?

[DucNaked]

I've seen  them on a bunch of FI bikes. Ungeheuers for the most recent.

[Travman]

I've got K&N pod filters on my fuel injected Monster.  I can't think of any reasons not to put them on a FI bike.  There are plenty of good reasons to do it though.  There will be more intake noise than with a stock air box, but it is a good sound.  You could worry about water getting into the filters, but I've never had a problem the few times I've been caught in a down pour.

[Drunken Monkey]

Supposedly the "most power" set up is the stock airbox with the lid taken off.

While the pods do "breathe" supposedly the FI systems like large volumes of relatively still air that only an airbox can provide. To back this up, just look at the huge airboxes on GP & WSBK bikes.

Having said that, I've got pods on my FI bike. It's only a few HP down from the 'airbox with no lid' set-up and it just looks better.

[booger]

Supposedly the "most power" set up is the stock airbox with the lid taken off.

Nailed it. I'd rather keep my power than have an air intake setup that 'looks better' than the stock airbox. How do pods manage to look better than the airbox anyway, and who's bothering to notice?

[Drunken Monkey]

Nailed it. I'd rather keep my power than have an air intake setup that 'looks better' than the stock airbox. How do pods manage to look better than the airbox anyway, and who's bothering to notice?

I am 

I think the bike looks way cleaner with a big "negative space" (i.e. I can see through it) under the tank.

Mind you, one of my long-term projects is still to come up with a custom "better looking than stock" air-box with some sort of side intakes.

[evoasis]

Put some socks on those pods and they excessive airflow will cut-out...  Sooo, I ran my 620 for almost 40,000 miles with sock'd pods and had no power-loss (with aftermarket ecu) and NOOOo problemmss

[scduc]

I currently am contemplating the the pod filters for my S2R 1K. In another post, my questions have been answered with mixed results. If you've done research, you will probably come up with the same pros and con's as I have. One of the problems is crank case ventilation. The breather filter spews oil. (So relocation is recommended). Many people have issues with performance that they just cant fix. I will most likely do the swap, but save everything that comes off just in case I cant live with the cons.  As long as there is only HP loss, that should not be an issue, however if she starts running like crap then I'm going to have no choice but to return to stock.

[jerryz]

I am planning to fit pods with a sock on my S4 ...another benefit will be ease of access for tuning as removal of standard airbox takes 20 minutes of fiddling around and the same to refit each time.My S4 has been tuned for greater mid range anyway so a little less top end is no big deal

[671M900]

Nailed it. I'd rather keep my power than have an air intake setup that 'looks better' than the stock airbox. How do pods manage to look better than the airbox anyway, and who's bothering to notice?

Chris Kelly told me that they haven't found any difference in power between pods and open airbox. I asked this because my bike didn't have an airbox, but had pods, and I was worried that it would change jetting issues. It didn't.

[Roaduser]

i have tpo stacks and pods on my m800.

*ran not so good till we touched up the base fuel mixture, reset tps and balanced the tb's. it was lean popping and wasnt happy to idle once warm. since then it runs great, no noticeable power loss or gain over the open top airbox with K&N panel filter.

*i have never had any problems with water, and have ridden through plenty of it and washed the bike under a heavy hose numerous times.

*i have never had any issues with oil leak. i used the existing hose that connected to the oil box and put a small pod filter on the top so its up next to the top of the rear shock unit. if u managed to get oil through the reed valve, then that far up a tube and then soaking through a filter enough to drip onto your tyre u must have fallen off. imo it simply wont happen and hasn't.

*the noise is similar to an open top air box, but harsher/crisper and louder. at some revs its just plain annoying (particularly at low throttle somewhere around 3k i think it is!?!?) and it screws with the nice clean thump i used to hear out of my remus pipes and makes it more of a blur. i assume this is due to the timing of the inlet noise and the exhaust thump combining to make more of a elongated muffled thump in the riders ears being right between the two. i dont know what it sounds like from the sidewalk yet but other riders often compliment my bikes sound. but under full throttle, hard acceleration or high revs it still makes me smile nearly 6 months on.

id say dont worry bout the haters/problem pointers that havent tried it themselves and just have a go. u just might like it 

[DucHead]

Nailed it. I'd rather keep my power than have an air intake setup that 'looks better' than the stock airbox. How do pods manage to look better than the airbox anyway, and who's bothering to notice?

I am  

I think the bike looks way cleaner with a big "negative space" (i.e. I can see through it) under the tank.

Mind you, one of my long-term projects is still to come up with a custom "better looking than stock" air-box with some sort of side intakes.

+1

First time I took my bike to the track I realized how little of the top end I use on the street ( which is >90% of my riding).

So, a few ponies on the top end matters not.

If it were all about power, we'd all be riding Gixxers.  

[scduc]

+1

First time I took my bike to the track I realized how little of the top end I use on the street ( which is >90% of my riding).

So, a few ponies on the top end matters not.

If it were all about power, we'd all be riding Gixxers.  

This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. My tech said he loves pods. And I get the impression that he will be able to tune it just fine. I just wanted to hear from others if there were any real set backs. Alot of people fear the rain. I ran through down pours the an open box, and never even felt it stutter. So rain is not an issue. Noise- well I guess I will start wearing ear plugs. Top-end, not an issue. Ive only once bumped the rev limiter. My only real concern is that there will be some hic-ups in the idle to 7k range.

[koko64]

My feeling about this is that much of the difference is due to the presence or lack of an effective velocity stack that the pod connects to. 

If I had an FI bike I would consider a full TPO, WASP or equivalent kit that provided a well designed velocity stack/intake trumpet matched to high volume air filters, either as large pods/barrel filters or within an open air box. I would then have the FI tuned for that intake system via reflash, power commander, etc. I'm guessing Unge's bike has made significant horse power gains.

I reckon that if you want the look, you can for extra dollars get the performance as well. I wouldn't sacrifice performance for looks when you can buy kits with the R&D behind them. It would drive me nuts knowing I lost 5 hp to get a cool look. I have a carbed 900 and don't have many horses to spare!