At a crossroad: Box or Pods?

[afholderman]

Okay, as the title states, I am having a dilemma. I am trying to decide between keeping my air box or switching to pods. Any way I slice it I have to buy a new filter and am also installing a 4 into 1 exhaust. If I get a K$N for the box it's $45. APE pods are $60, add to that $110 for a Dynojet. Now this would seem clear cut in favor of the drop-in, however, I am really drawn to the look of pods, and have spent a lot of time polishing and painting my carbs recently and feel that pods are better for displaying this.
Really I guess it just boils down to this, are pods really that hard to tune in when using a dynojet kit to be a deterrence?

[rapidray]

Jetting is no big deal to learn with all of us here that can walk you through it. I will tell you this: jetting is WAAAYYYY easier to do with PODS than fighting getting the carbs in & out with the stock airbox in the way!!! PLUS...... you will get more power with pods than the airbox because of a LOT more air flow! It's NO comparison! I hate stock pipes & air boxes but I am a "Too much is just right!" kind of a guy when it comes to power! We will help you, go for it! Ray.

[Nessism]

The dyno tests I've seen suggest that most GS bikes would be doing well if they gained 7% from the installation of pods/header/jetting. It does remove some weight and complexity from the bike though so that's nice for some people. Understand that K&N's flow lots of air because they are low resistance, and that low resistance allows dirt to get though to your engine. This most likely won't be an issue unless you plan to keep your bike for a long time, but it is something to consider.

[afholderman]

I will definitely be keeping the filter's well oiled and maintained to stop them from flowing too freely. Getting the stock air box out once was kind of enough for me. My concern came after reading a lot of old post on the subject and it seemed as some people had demons they just couldn't chase out.

[athom]

man this is a very common question isn't it, i just joined the club

It's got to be done isn't it, those filters just complete the look to the point i barely care about function, i mean would they even have bothered building this bike if they had to keep a massive block of off-black plastic in the middle of it

[afholderman]

man this is a very common question isn't it, i just joined the club

It's got to be done isn't it, those filters just complete the look to the point i barely care about function, i mean would they even have bothered building this bike if they had to keep a massive block of off-black plastic in the middle of it

Your bike looks great, love the simplicity. I have to admit too that after owning a couple of turbo-charged cars a weakness of mine is hearing an engine inhale air. So that would be another bonus on top of the looks.

[blowerbike]

unless you live up a gravel lane or on a beach no damage will be done with un-oiled filters .
and the power difference just from the seat of the pants feeling is very noticeable on a 1000cc plus GS w/ a st.3 jet kit and quality filters installed.

i have proven this for the last 20 years by running un-oiled filters on my bikes and customers bikes.
hell i ran stacks on my brand new bandit for the entire time i owned it..
yeah and that was with 38 RS carbs.
no damage/no smoke/no blow by/one of the faster bandits around my area.

[athom]

Your bike looks great, love the simplicity. I have to admit too that after owning a couple of turbo-charged cars a weakness of mine is hearing an engine inhale air. So that would be another bonus on top of the looks.

not my bike, it's in a design museum in Denmark. I'm just a fan of that look, it's sort of restrained bratstyle i think.

[Steve]

If it took you more than 10 minutes to remove the carbs and airbox, you were doing something wrong.

I think the only airbox that is easier to remove than the 1000G would be the 850G, and the difference is only a few millimeters.

Other points to consider:
- The APE filters are not designed to be oiled, if I am remembering correctly.
- They are also not made to be cleaned and re-used. They might be $60 now, but will be $65 when you need to change them next year, $70 the next, etc.
- Over-oiling a filter to restrict the airflow not only negates the purpose for switching to pods, but it changes the jetting, too.

Either way you go, you will be better off with a Dynojet kit, the only difference would be Stage 1 vs Stage 3.

.

[afholderman]

unless you live up a gravel lane or on a beach no damage will be done with un-oiled filters

I do live on a very short gravel lane, but moreover the town I live in doesn't repair their streets per se, they just tar and chip. This pretty much makes the whole place one big gravel road. Not really worried about it though.

And Steve, from what I have read APE are gauze filter's not unlike K&N, with some people going to far as to speculate them being rebrands. If this is true then I should be able to clean and recharge them the same way, no? I have sent a message over to APE to ask this and I'll post up their reply when it comes in.

[Nessism]

unless you live up a gravel lane or on a beach no damage will be done with un-oiled filters .
and the power difference just from the seat of the pants feeling is very noticeable on a 1000cc plus GS w/ a st.3 jet kit and quality filters installed.

i have proven this for the last 20 years by running un-oiled filters on my bikes and customers bikes.
hell i ran stacks on my brand new bandit for the entire time i owned it..
yeah and that was with 38 RS carbs.
no damage/no smoke/no blow by/one of the faster bandits around my area.

Crappy air filters are sort of like crappy oil; people in favor say "I never had any problems", or something to that effect. But truth is that incremental wear inside the engine isn't something that will be noticed for a while. The rings/cylinder/pistons will wear faster than otherwise would be the case, just as gear pitting and camshaft/tappet wear can occur with low zinc oils. You won't notice unless the bike is around for a while. In the end the choice is yours.

[Octain]

Big debate here..
The DJ kit makes it easy to dial in. Follow directions to a T and its pretty much plug and play.

I"m not at all ashamed to admit it. I am most definatally a form over fuction kinda person. I think factory airboxes are butt ugly and a royal pain in the rump compared to pods. I love the pods on my 850 and I dont think it would "look" right with the stock box. Not to mention the airbox that was on the bike was trashed.

I couldnt tell ya about any performance gains cause I never rode the bike otherwise.
But I cant see where it would hurt. The stated 7% is 7%..

Also I'd be a rich man if someone gave me a dollar for eveytime pods crossed my mind with the last stock box bike I worked on.

But, if you're working on a stock bike that you want to keep stock. Say a Cooley or the like. Then the stock airbox might be the way to go.

[afholderman]

Got the reply from APE, their filters can be cleaned and re-oiled.

[Octain]

Got the reply from APE, their filters can be cleaned and re-oiled.

Dont know if it's been mentioned but fuel mileage will suffer tremendously with pods and jet kit.

[Billy Ricks]

I've run the same set of K&Ns for right at 25 years now, first with the stock CVs jetted with a DJ kit and for the last 15 or so years with a set of RS flatslides. I have around 70,000 miles on the bike and it runs just as strong as ever. You don't even have to clean them between oilings. In fact, K&N used to recommend just brushing some of the loose dirt off and re-oiling between cleanings. Even with the flatslides, pods, and race pipe I still get around 42 mpg.