Tip: Seal Your Airbox!!!!

[mortation]

OK, people have been telling me since I have had my bike running to seal the airbox. But I figured it had a brand new air filter which had a new foam gasket so it was low on my priority list.

But last night I was at wal-mart and saw good weather stripping and it was only $2.00. So I grabbed it and took to seconds this morning and stripped one side of my air box (The other side is screwed shut underneath so it needs to come off).

Holy goodness you wouldn't believe the performance increase. No more surging, dogging in high wind, less pop on hard decel. Amazing. 100000% worth the $2 & 2 seconds. So I just wanted to reinforce to anyone else like me who said na it can wait it wont do much to DO IT!

And thanks to all those who told me to do it, over and over, and over, again!

 

[Griffin]

One of the best things for long term dependability that Suzuki did on the later GSes was develop a one-piece airbox. No seams to start leaking. Just the areas where the boots connect.

It is a mixed blessing though. On some of these models, the airbox cannot be removed with the engine in place. That really makes removing the carbs a PITA.

 

[khardrunner14]

Two Questions...
where in walmart should I look

can you give a quick procedure (maybe some pics) as to how to do this?

 

[Colin Green]

Two Questions...
where in walmart should I look

can you give a quick procedure (maybe some pics) as to how to do this?

BikeCliff's website http://www.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ has a bunch of usefull articles like this [how to seal your airbox page] http://picasaweb.google.com/roostabunny/GS850AirboxFixup

 

[bwringer]

Two Questions...
where in walmart should I look

can you give a quick procedure (maybe some pics) as to how to do this?

Crikey, you have to be able to figure out SOMETHING for yourself to get into the Shafted Order of Perfected Airflow.

It doesn't have to be pretty. Clean it up so the foam will stick, eyeball the airbox to see where the cover mates and what parts have to seal to what and where, and then plaster the cover with a buncha foam stuff. Probably the easiest, fastest, cheapest, and most satisfying repair you'll ever make. The cost/benefit ratio is off the charts on this one.

Each rider's airbox sealing technique is different. Like snowflakes. And they're all beautiful as long as they work.

Make sure you do both sides, and the top of the air filter cage, too. :mrgreen:

 

[duaneage]

The airbox is a tuned quantity of air, it also allows the air to flow into each carb without pulses affecting the others, that is what the boots do INSIDE the airbox chamber. They are also known as velocity stacks. Pods allow interference between the carbs, not always a good thing. Leaks in the box change the amount of air reacting with the carbs, messing up fuel metering.

The airbox acts as storage chamber for the carbs, it dampens the pulses that occur, especially at low speeds, and keeps the fuel metered properly.

As you can tell I'm not a fan of removing the airbox for performance gains. The exhaust pipe is a better place to look for HP and when all else fails buy a faster bike.

 

[49er]

The airbox is a tuned quantity of air, it also allows the air to flow into each carb without pulses affecting the others, that is what the boots do INSIDE the airbox chamber. They are also known as velocity stacks. Pods allow interference between the carbs, not always a good thing. Leaks in the box change the amount of air reacting with the carbs, messing up fuel metering.

The airbox acts as storage chamber for the carbs, it dampens the pulses that occur, especially at low speeds, and keeps the fuel metered properly.

As you can tell I'm not a fan of removing the airbox for performance gains. The exhaust pipe is a better place to look for HP and when all else fails buy a faster bike.

Amen to that brother!

IMO, the cheapest/least hassle performance gains are found by increasing capacity and CR. Now add a good pipe, voila!

 

[gs550gk]

air box sealing

air box sealing

Sealing the airbox is not nearly as important as balancing the vacuum on your carbs. This should reduce the pop mentioned in one of the previous threads. It will also increase acceleration and make it run much smoother. You can get the vacuum gauges on ebay for very inexpensive too.

 

[mortation]

Sealing the airbox is not nearly as important as balancing the vacuum on your carbs. This should reduce the pop mentioned in one of the previous threads. It will also increase acceleration and make it run much smoother. You can get the vacuum gauges on ebay for very inexpensive too.

I had already done that, many many times lol. I have the gear. And sealing the box was the last step to GS nirvana

 

[chuckycheese]

Right!

Right!

Sealing the airbox is not nearly as important as balancing the vacuum on your carbs. This should reduce the pop mentioned in one of the previous threads. It will also increase acceleration and make it run much smoother. You can get the vacuum gauges on ebay for very inexpensive too.

I totally agree! People are way too concerned about an 'air tight' seal on their air box when it's probably rarely causing their problems. 8-[

 

[bwringer]

I totally agree! People are way too concerned about an 'air tight' seal on their air box when it's probably rarely causing their problems. 8-[

I think this varies between GS models -- I can prove to you that a GS850G/1100G will barely run without this sealing. It can pretty much render the bike unrideable, especially if the foam sealing the top of the air filter cage is crumbling or missing.

However, a friend with a GS1100E rode it for quite a while with no airbox lid (the previous owner had lost it untold ages ago), and his only complaint was a certain hesitancy at mid to upper RPM. A few strips of duct tape made a workable substitute lid, and the problem was cured entirely.

 

[chuckycheese]

Right

Right

I agree with you, Brian. I just don't think it has to be absolutely, positively, totally, 100% perfect in order to allow the engine to work properly. In other words, if you can't see where it's leaking, it's not affecting performance.

 

[QuaiChangKane]

On some of these models, the airbox cannot be removed with the engine in place.

I found that one out the hard way.

 

[Griffin]

I found that one out the hard way.

On the same model I did....

Believe it or not, it's an even tighter squeeze on my 750 Seca. You actually have to push the boots into the airbox to get the carbs out.

 

[Guest]

for sealing paranoids: while i have had my carbs off, i figured, why not seal my airbox well, cant hurt, and it is off anyway. So, i tried to figure out how to really get those tiny seams without causing a huge mess, and i found a nifty 2 part epoxy with a mixing tip at the local ace hardware....I was able to squirt a tiny bead of glue in the seams and with a coat of paint, you cannot tell any visible difference. and, let me tell you, that airbox is sealed up tighter than a nuns....well, pretty tight. i know, maybe it wasnt necessary, but if you are anl about it, this stuff might work for you!

greg

 

[altermad]

Just a cheap fix I used, Buy a chunk of 2" foam and cut out big shapes for the airbox sides, then add weather stripping around top of airfilter (Thanks) and it seems to work great. After being on for a month I took cover back off and it formed to box. Just a trick that seems to cost very little and produces ideal results.