Save your stock airboxes!!!

[speedy400]

KEEP IN MIND!!! flat slides dont need the same flow characteristics as CV carbs. Seems pods are only bad for CV carbs not flat slides.-darren

[Road_Clam]

I am NO CV guru, but I have been told by some very experienced Suzuki tech's that CV carbs need to sense a constant controlled vacuume within each other to efficiently operate the slides. When you add pods you basically cancel this "area of vaccume" around the carbs. This theory in over my head, but i'm just passing it on.
I do somewhat understand, as I remember my old '90 Kawi ZX10 would not rev up without the airbox in place.

Some members have good luck with pods MANY are ready to take a 12 guage shotgun to thier podded bikes.......

[ScottMc1100L]

Any thoughts on using a K&N filter in a stock box?

IMO K&N give better airflow at the expense of quality filtration.

Life would be a whole lot easier if they had just put a single 4bbl carb on there ! Then we could just flip the lid over and get that really cool sound :razz:!

[speedy400]

I am NO CV guru, but I have been told by some very experienced Suzuki tech's that CV carbs need to sense a constant controlled vacuume within each other to efficiently operate the slides. When you add pods you basically cancel this "area of vaccume" around the carbs. This theory in over my head, but i'm just passing it on.
I do somewhat understand, as I remember my old '90 Kawi ZX10 would not rev up without the airbox in place.

Some members have good luck with pods MANY are ready to take a 12 guage shotgun to thier podded bikes.......

Also no cv expert, but I will second this, the slides work off vacuum of the intake velocity/venturi, the more velocity(speed) of the intake the higher the slide rises. High pressure seaks low pressure theory. There is a perfect diagram to explain this in my theory book for the motorcycle school I am in, but I cant find it, if I find it I'll throw it up on this.-darren

[ratgs81750l]

what school??

what school are you in???

[BentRod]

I will back the stock air boxes. I don't have pods, hell, I'm not even fully licensed, but I will tell you that there is more to an engine and performance than air/fuel intake. If you want to put on pods and up the performance, you, depending on what you want from you bike, and how much you care, also have to harmonize, not just your carbs, but:

1: plugs/electricle (heat, timing, gap size, and even spark plug type)
2: compression (yup. you screw with the air fuel mix, screw with how it compresses in the engine)
3: stroke length (unless of course you want to damage the crank shaft)
4: opperating temperature (you may need it warmer in some places, cooler in others. if you are air cooled, you can adjust this with a drill and coverings. if you are liquid cooled, well.. let me know what you come up with)
5: exhaust (take into account the volume and nature of the gasses coming out)

6: (I leave this one slightly seperate) depending on how the engine responds, you may need to change the shape of both the cams and the followers.

there is a lot more I can put on this list, and I can easily justify any of the ones here. the reason the whole thing doesn't blow up or tear it self to shreds is the high level of redundancy built into these great engines and the rest of the drive train, but you are knocking off engine life. we are lucky to have such tough engines, and dispite my list, there is DEFINATELY a lot you can do to the engine before any significan't damange starts to take place. the key is just knowing where that is. don't believe me? go for a lot more horse power. fill your tank with Quick Start and see what happens.

Personally, I would take an air box bike over one with pods, no matter how well jetted.

[49er]

Bentrod & bill72
We shouldn't be encouraging everyone to keep their stock airboxes. There are going to be less available as replacements for our rusting units. The ones that do become available on Ebay will be highly sought after and cost us an arm and a leg, because of there rarity.
Seriously though, you are absolutely right about the need to balance all the modifications to your modified engine. Without this balance, the ultimate performance and reliability is compromised. When we venture past the parameters set by the manufacturer, longevity is always compromised. For many tuners, that is a small compromise. I am one who accepts this reality.

[RJ]

OK, let's see. An engine is a glorified air pump. Putting pods on your carbs causes you to have to increase the amount of fuel that the carbs spray into the airstream created by said air pump in order to maintain optimal air to fuel ratio=the air pump is pumping more air with the pods=more power. Dynojet kits make for easy rejetting of CV carbs with pods to take care of part throttle issues=what is the problem?

[Guest]

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!

who here likes to run the 100 meter with a tie on and a donut in their mouth?

LET MY MOTOR BREATH!!!!!!

Ok, I feel better now.

[Joe Nardy]

OK, let's see. An engine is a glorified air pump. Putting pods on your carbs causes you to have to increase the amount of fuel that the carbs spray into the airstream created by said air pump in order to maintain optimal air to fuel ratio=the air pump is pumping more air with the pods=more power. Dynojet kits make for easy rejetting of CV carbs with pods to take care of part throttle issues=what is the problem?

Nicely put RJ!

I know the POD crowd is a minority around here but on these older bikes there isn't a better bang-for-the-buck performance increase than (QUALITY) PODs/pipe/jet kit. Granted, it takes some time and effort to get the jetting dialed in but it isn't that tough. Newer bikes have much larger airboxes and don't benefit much, if at all, from PODs but just about any '80's or older bike will realize a healthy horsepower increase with the increased airflow of PODs. My '83 GS1100E (CV carbs) starts, idles, and runs better than ever with K&N PODs, Supertrapp Stainless 4-1 system and Dynojet Stage III jet kit.

Thanks,
Joe

[Commodus]

I will back the stock air boxes. I don't have pods, hell, I'm not even fully licensed, but I will tell you that there is more to an engine and performance than air/fuel intake. If you want to put on pods and up the performance, you, depending on what you want from you bike, and how much you care, also have to harmonize, not just your carbs, but:

1: plugs/electricle (heat, timing, gap size, and even spark plug type)
2: compression (yup. you screw with the air fuel mix, screw with how it compresses in the engine)
3: stroke length (unless of course you want to damage the crank shaft)
4: opperating temperature (you may need it warmer in some places, cooler in others. if you are air cooled, you can adjust this with a drill and coverings. if you are liquid cooled, well.. let me know what you come up with)
5: exhaust (take into account the volume and nature of the gasses coming out)

6: (I leave this one slightly seperate) depending on how the engine responds, you may need to change the shape of both the cams and the followers.

there is a lot more I can put on this list, and I can easily justify any of the ones here. the reason the whole thing doesn't blow up or tear it self to shreds is the high level of redundancy built into these great engines and the rest of the drive train, but you are knocking off engine life. we are lucky to have such tough engines, and dispite my list, there is DEFINATELY a lot you can do to the engine before any significan't damange starts to take place. the key is just knowing where that is. don't believe me? go for a lot more horse power. fill your tank with Quick Start and see what happens.

Personally, I would take an air box bike over one with pods, no matter how well jetted.

heh, you're complicating things, dood. Pod it, jet it, ride it. Do the second step properly and the third is not a problem.

[Mike McNaney]

Joe, Your 83' E has CV carbs? I thought all these have the Mikuni BS 34's or is that the same? Sorry, I never had any probs with mine. And I dont delve into the technical jargon stuff unless I hit a roadblock. I upped to BS 36's and when I rebuilt them it was pretty basic. For jetting, I did little more than walk the mains jets up till the sag went away on accel. The End.
I thought I read somewhere on here that CV carbs have the push/pull style cables. My KZ550 has that kind of setup and those are TK carbs.
Does CV stand for constant velocity?

Im glad I dont have any carb issues.
I'd recommend a big bag of Mikuni BS, Pod filters and a zero restriction exhaust. Worked for me. No hiccups.

dont mean to twist the thread but another thing i noticed was that my 34's had a step ridge on the inlet bore side and the 36's dont. Is this the "smoothbore" you hear about?

[Deesel]

For sale : Stock GS air box $400. Wine corks are included for each exhaust pipe for those "tuners" who desire even smaller than stock main jets.
Use 40:1 premix of gas/snakeoil for best performance.

[Joe Nardy]

Joe, Your 83' E has CV carbs? I thought all these have the Mikuni BS 34's or is that the same? Sorry, I never had any probs with mine.

Mike,

You're mixing terminology. There are two basic types of carbs on the GS series, VM and CV. VM carbs work by pulling the slide open with the throttle cable. CV carbs work by opening a butterfly valve downstream from the slide with the throttle cable. The slide raises and lowers according to the level of intake vacuum. This keeps the intake velocity relatively constant, hence the name CV (constant velocity).

Yes, my '83 E has Mikuni BS carbs. This is the brand and model of carb. They are CV type carbs.

I hope this helps,
Joe

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Stock airboxes are useless. They're too big for paper weights and plants look funny in 'em.
Pod people...unite and educate these disbelievers. Pods forever.