TOPIC:

Anyone running these? I have only used something similar once before and I did have to re-jet with them.
I'm thinking about pulling the airbox on my 1976 KZ900LTD and swap to these pod filters instead. Pro's and Con's?

Jimbo302 wrote:

Anyone running these? I have only used something similar once before and I did have to re-jet with them.
I'm thinking about pulling the airbox on my 1976 KZ900LTD and swap to these pod filters instead. Pro's and Con's?

Uh oh!....you might as well have asked what kind of oil to use. There are some STRONG opinions on here both ways.

I'm running the stock airbox...though, a few days ago when I was trying to remove my carbs, I was seriously thinking about pods.

More experienced folks will chime in soon.

Sonny

Yes, having pods makes carb removal/installation about 100% easier. However, sometimes jetting can be a problem. What appears to work fine at idle or around town now is a problem on the freeway with side drafts, passing vehicles, etc. Some guys here have no problems, some do. Some guys have had side covers fly off with the now empty space behind it becoming a high pressure area, most have no problems. I personally use stock box with a K&N filter. The choice is yours...

I'm running K&N pods after starting with a stock airbox and then running cheap Emgo pods for a couple years. I've been one of the lucky ones who hasn't had problems getting my jetting right, but I'm also one of the ones willing to pull carbs off 15 times to make adjustments to make sure it's right. If you go pods, spend the money for the K&N, they are infinitely better than the cheap ass Emgo or Uni filters and definitely worth it.
To get my carbs jetted correctly (77 kz650b1 with vm26 carbs from a Suzuki GS750 and Mac 4-1 with very minimal baffling) I am running 17.5 pilots, 117.5 mains, with the needles on the #4 clip. Pilot screws are about 1 1/8 turn out from snug and air screws are about 1 3/4 turns out. Starts on the second or third kick stone cold (38 degree morning after sitting for almost 2 weeks), warms up in less than 2 minutes on choke, idles great, no hesitation at any point of throttle, pulls like a scalded dog all the way up to 10,500 rpm. In other words, runs great.

Get some new rubber boots. Fold the boots over on themselves. This will give you an additional inch of clearance to get the carb rack back into the bike. Once the rack is in just unfold the boots over the carb throats. I guarantee you will not have an embolism. Getting the airbox out is a pain and re-installing it after becoming disillusioned with pods is another pain. After having pods I really love my airbox and my nice soft boots.
Others have different experiences. This is mine.

Like the guys said, there's strong opinions either way. I've gone 170,000 miles or so with stock box and similar with K&Ns so I'll relay my findings.

K&N:
Flows more air so after jetting possibly more HP.
Makes carb removal much easier.
Side winds and or rain? Bad news.
Rubber gets hard after a while and mounting gets goofy.
Gauze gets cruddy dirty quickly.
Flows more dirt than stock airbox.
Never lost a sidecover yet, so no problem there for me.
Carburetors no longer have support on the rear, so front intake boots fail regularly.

Stock:
No problem with wind or rain, supports back of carbs so intakes rarely fail.
Boots between airbox and carbs get hard and must be replaced regularly or carbs cannot be removed.
Better air filtration. (arguable, but my opinion). Reason I say this is many times I've removed carbs to clean and/or repair and K&N pod carbs always have gobs of visible crud built up in the carb, where stock doesn't.

My personal opinion is stock is far superior in the long term.

i put pods and jetted my kz1000ltd and i am happy with it....i got baseline numbers for jets and clip position from wired george and dont have any complaints....i dont know where the idea that you would be better off trying to shave a tigers ass
than put pods on a bike and jet it comes from...
there are other forums where you will hear 100% no.......k and n are a must....spend the cash...the emgos look great, but are garbage...mine are buried in my box of old parts in garage and they have about an hour on them......just my .02..keith

I have dual flange K&N pods, and have zero problems with side winds.

It takes me about one minute to pull my carbs.

stick with the stock airbox and stock style filter in it

guitargeek wrote:

I have dual flange K&N pods, and have zero problems with side winds.

It takes me about one minute to pull my carbs.

i like those...i wonder if there is enough room for the dual fuel pipes i have? where did you purchase those? thanks.....keith

keith1 wrote:

where did you purchase those? thanks.....keith

eBay, but you can find them at K&N's site, search by dimension. www.knfilters.com/search/univ2.aspx?ID=S0015

Oooh, I think I have dual pod envy. I need a pair of those .
I'm running the cheap pods because the stock airbox will no longer fit on my bike, but I wish it did. The pods have their advantages but I figure the guys who designed these bikes were way smarter than I.
If you like to tinker, want to get a little more ooomph out of your bike and don't mind a bit of inconvenience, pods are nice. If you want trouble free riding stay stock - IMHO.