Intake pods on CV carbs??

[clydetheglide]

hi guys. i have my bike ('79 gs550E) at a shop right now, and the mechanic there tells me that it isnt not going to run right until i take the pods off and put back the factory airbox. i was wondering if this is true?? there is no way to richen the mixture on the cv carbs??

[bgmart450]

I am pretty sure it is possible, but if I remember correct there is no easy way to get it to run right. There are some here who have gotten pods to work OK, and some who scrapped the whole pod idea and went back to the airbox.

The mechanic sounds like he doesn't wanna farq with the jetting work to get the pods to work right. Can't say as I blame him. If you want to do it yourself it might be worth the effort, but paying someone else may not....

[duaneage]

He is probably doing you a favor and makinga good faith recommendation. The art of pods involves jetting kits, patience, straight flat road tests and proper documentation of changes. On a small bike the performance increases are minor and best results are obtained with aftermarket pipes.

There have been more than a few Pod vs Airbox Jihads already, I prefer to leave them stock and appreciate them for what they are. If I want to go faster I'll buy a bigger bike.

[Joe Nardy]

If you spring for the Dynojet or K&N jet kit (they're the same) the installation and setup aren't that bad. You'll be rewarded with a much stronger pulling engine. There are lots of folks here who can give you advice on Mikuni jets to use also. This will be cheaper and get you in the ballpark but I don't think your results will be as good as with the jet kit.

Thanks,
Joe

[bradleymaynar]

If the carbs are CV then they may have been added later. Unless I'm mistaken, and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, your bike should have come with VMs from the factory. If this is the case, you may want to try and see if someone here (particularly AOD, Adam) can help you with your set up. I'm not sure if returning to the stock airbox is going to make a difference with CV vs VM carbs.

BTW the easiest way to tell what type of carbs you have is by the top of the carb.

VM (this is what is shown for a '79 550)

CV (this is for an '80 550)


Brad tt

[clydetheglide]

yeah i definetly have the CV carbs. I called a friend who has been in the bike business for a long time. He told me it should be fine using the pods as long as i get it rejetted then he started telling me about some trick involving spacers and the main jet. he said that too would richen the mixture. I wanted to put the pods on for performance and because of how they look. i like their style better than the fatory airbox. After the pods go on I already have a 4 to 1 exhaust thats going on as well so i guess i should just put them both on and then rejet right?

[SqDancerLynn1]

If you want to rejet check this write up

http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/Default_W43.cfm

[Jethro]

I need more info. Is your pipe stock? Are your carbs jetted as stock?

Carbs can be jetted properly for pods if done correctly. Coming from someone who has had the carbs on the bench at least 30 times (wish I had made a hash mark each time), there are things to consider:

Do you have an aftermarket exhaust or is it stock? The pod filters will do little more than casue you grief with a stock or low flow exhaust system. You will be able to get it running well, after a lot of time and money, but you'll have very little gain.

If it's aftermarket, do you know exactly what it is? I wouldn't go down the road of re-jetting unless I had a performance exhaust I knew how to rejet either by the factory or by others that have had success.

Are the carbs stock? If you don't know, you could be in for a real treat. With CV carbs, a proper stage 3 jet kit requires the slides to be drilled out. Hopefully they weren't drilled out incorrectly (or at all).

Would you do the work yourself? If not I'd forget it. It will cost big money to do it right.

[Nerobro]

If you have the CV carbs. You're SOL for tuning them on your own. I tried for half a summer and never succeeded. Carefull tuning at that!

The problem is needle availability. Mikuni sells needles, but won't say what's close to what came in the carb. Mikuni also refuses to provide any kind of support for their CV carbs. it's insane. They do have needles for sale, I just need to figure out what's "about right" for a podded GS550.

I can give you settings that'll make it "run" but not that well. You need to buy the dynojet stage 3 kit for the GS550MZ (which is a katana) and preferably dynojet filters if you want it to work right.

They still have the kits in stock.

Also, that jetting page is pretty useless for the 550 ;-) the GS550 is severely over carburated. in fact, without the airbox, at full throttle there isn't enough vacuum to keep the petcock open!

If you were me. You'd keep the airbox on ;-)

Oh yeah, if you have CV carbs. you have a 1980. It may have been sold in 1979 though ;-) Just like cars.

[clydetheglide]

well i guess i am ready to try the old airbox. I took the pods off, sealed up my intake boots real good, and cleaned out the airbox. Im now ready to put it on just to get the bike to run right and I am having a heck of a time trying to figure out how i even got it out. theres no space to move anything aroundin there and i just cant figure how to get the carb into the intrake boots and onto the airbox!! any suggestions would be appreciated.

[duaneage]

Remove the mudshield under the seat for more room to work

[clydetheglide]

i undid the metal airbox that holds the filter element. then pushed it as far back as it could go. this allows me to put the airbox that goes onto the carbs all the way back until the sides touch the frame. somehow though, with the airbox as far back as i can get it, there just isnt enough room to jam the carbs in between the airbox and the intake boots. theres got to be a trick to this right?

[Nerobro]

Yes, there is a trick. ;-) Buy a stage 3 jet kit and never put it back on.

The first time I put my carbs back in it took me 45 minutes. It's not easy. it's not fun. Curses seem to help lubricate the process. As does SILLICONE spray lube. I specify that because silicone helps protect the rubber, WD40 and other lubes will harm the boots.

Final note... put the carbs in last. setup the airbox. get it all bolted togother. THEN with teh carbs at a 45deg angle (I usually tipped them so their intakes were down) slip the carbs in. They won't slip... they will fight, balk, and not wanna go. But you can wrangle them in there. Attach your cables. THEN, twist the carbs so the outlets go into the cylinder head boots. Finaly you can usea screwdriver or two to get the airbox boots over the carb mouths.

I'll say it again. It's hell.

[phaeton]

Yes, it is hell.

I found that putting the boots in warm dish water (palmolive) for a couple of minutes to soften + lube em up helped, but it still takes me about 30 minutes to just put the carbs in...

[rckrzy1]

Just got the stock box and filter on my 750 and aint never looking back, pods suck.