Removal Air Suction System?

I have a 1980 LTD. I read and want to be correct. That the air suction valve and all hoses can be removed. Then you just run a hose between the 2 valves on top of the engine. or get valve covers. Is this correct? Is it ok? Anything I need to know? Also should I need an oil cooler for any reason? Thank You

Post edited by: ace4mestl, at: 2007/09/11 19:42

That's correct. There's no down side to removing the air injection stuff. I went so far as to defeat the enricher diaphragms in the carbs of my 1300 that are supposed to prevent backfiring in the exhaust because they're designed to work with the air injection system. Not sure if the 1000's even have such a mechanism in the carbs, the 1300's do.

Oil coolers are a bit touchier. Have you searched for older discussion on them? I know that the roller bearing cranks run with less oil pressure in the whole system.

KZCSI

Ace...I also have an 1980 LTD that came with all the emmisions bologna on it.
I am sure they are on there for a reason, and I am fairly sure that just taking them off can affect some aspect of something that I dont know about; howevder, this may rub some people the wrong way, BUT... I have put a hose in between the valve covers and I removed the airbox, and all hoses that went to it. I ran it like this for awhile and it ran fine. I have to tell you that I did find a great set of 28mm mikuni's on ebay that did not have any of the extra hoses on it and bought them. Eventually, I will replace the hose with two new covers, or a whole new valve cover.

Good Luck.

Just don't forget to plug the holes under the valve covers that lead into the exhaust ports if you use an earlier cover.

I used epoxy to plug them, and it's working fine so far.

steell wrote:

Just don't forget to plug the holes under the valve covers that lead into the exhaust ports if you use an earlier cover.

I used epoxy to plug them, and it's working fine so far.

What about those APE covers? www.kzzone.com/billet.html
Will those do ok?
Or will I still have to plug those holes inside?

Do I just remove the hoses going into the carbs too? or Do I put plugs over the openings?

Also does an oil cooler matter. Let me put it this way would you do one or worry about one? I'm not going to do engine mods with this bike, just a total overhaul of everything else. I'll post pics as progress grows.

Post edited by: ace4mestl, at: 2007/09/12 00:41

Ace, I removed the EPA mandated (back when...) smog system junk, aka air switch system, bridged the valve cover ports with automotive hose, and capped the air vent intakes on the two carbs that had those hoses attached with automotive caps from AutoZone (7/32”) caps.

The air switch system did serve an important purpose back then - for the PC politicians.

I have no adverse effects, in fact, it eliminated some popping in the muffler on down-shifting and deceleration, and cut down on the crap that would otherwise accumulate in the airbox.

Those are cool looking covers you posted the link to. I might take off my old covers and get a pair of those. The hose between the ports can be a pain when working on harness or removing valve cover.

One last thing if you decide to remove the stuff. If you still have the airbox, the thick hose from the air switch unit goes into the top of the airbox. I plugged that hole as well with a rubber plug I fashioned to keep the integrity of the airbox design. I really don't know if it was strictly necessary, perhaps one of the experts can chime in on that issue...