Airbox Removal

[Anonymous]

I am having a horrible time removing my airbox to acess my carbs on an 81 450S The box barely moves and is hitting the wiring harness near the rear fender. Any tips????

[Anonymous]

Re: Airbox Removal

To get the carbs off of my '84 450L I had to remove the rear mudguard: to give the airbox room to slide back. The nasty part is to get the mudguard out I have to remove the fender!

Sam

I am having a horrible time removing my airbox to acess my carbs on an 81 450S The box barely moves and is hitting the wiring harness near the rear fender. Any tips????

[Anonymous]

I was afraid Id hear that. No other way to do it? Is it worth it to replace the airbox now while I am cleaning the carbs????

[Anonymous]

If you've got the patience, switch to pods and rejet. I will someday, if I keep the bike another season. I can get my carbs out one my 400 though, if I couldn't, I'd have already replaced the airbox. I think I'll stop spending money on the bike sometime soon and just get a sv650, as soon as I can afford it, which will be never.

[Anonymous]

Well you can switch to a K&N stage III with pods and all. You'll boost your top end power, but it can be tricky to set up. If your mechanically inclined , give it a whirl. However, the fender business isn;t that hard, just takes a half hour or so to do.

Sam

I was afraid Id hear that. No other way to do it? Is it worth it to replace the airbox now while I am cleaning the carbs????

[Dave_A]

You can't get a K&N jet kit for a pre-83 450.

The 80-82 GS-450 carbs were CV, but they're a different design than other GSes. Different jet design, specifically. The jets mount to the float bowl, not the carb body, and the needle is housed in the float bowl.

In 83, they switched to a more common design, with the jets in the carb body and the 'common' cylindrical needle jet....

As for me, I just wedge my carbs in and out of the 450 with the fenders in place.

[Anonymous]

You can just pop the rubber air intake things off the back of the airbox to let it slide far enough back to get the carbs out.

[andyjohnson]

I was able to get the box out of my GS450L by pulling off the wiring brackets from each side, pulling off the rear intake boots as mentioned, and giving it a few well placed 'taps'. Also I bought 2 pod filters from UNI (about $15 each). I straped them on the bike and it runs great without new jets or even adjusting the carb.

[jimcor]

Yeah, sometimes those Uni foam pods will not require any rejetting. They are about as restrictive as a stock filter and box. I had the same experience with an old CB-450 Honda. Be sure to oil them with a filter oil for best results. They last a couple of years before the foam breaks down.