Do i need an airbox?

Well, I JUST rebuilt the carburetors on my 1981 KZ1000. They are clean enough to eat off of. New jets, needle, and seat. they were soaked in carb cleaner and had some cleaner in a spray can blasted through all the ports and vacuums. I installed them on my bike today. put a dead battery in there and hooked up some jumper cables from my car. The bike came with no air box, but pods. when i installed the carbs alittle bit ago and tried to start it, I didn't bother putting the pods on because i figured it would run fine. My XS1100 did with the intake side wide open. My KZ1000 wouldn't run unless you put your hand over the intake side of the carbs. It would run and revv up really slow and choppy but it would revv. The bike has been sitting for 2 weeks or more without starting it. I'm wondering if you need an airbox hooked u for it to run right. As soon as you remove your hand from the intake side of the carb, the bike would bogg out and die. Do i need an airbox for the bike to run?

Thanks guys,
KT

Did you jet it for pods or for stock airbox? You wouldn't necessarily need an airbox, but your carbs have to be jetted correctly for the intake. If you have nothing before the throat on the carb you're going to need to substantially increase the jetting. Pods will restrict the intake side a bit more than nothing. A lot of guys will tell you pods aren't worth the hassle, but it really depends on what you want performance wise. Pods will give you a little more top end, but will sacrifice some of the bottom end and mids. The carbs will need to be jetted for pods, and tuning can become a bit of a chore, but they will work for you after you figure out the carbs. My advice is to do what makes you happy with the bike and don't let other's opinions sway yours!

An airbox will make it easier to tune (jet) and run better across the full RPM range.

What size jet do i need for the pods? The part number for the kits that i used was 18-2436. I used the new jet from that kit.

Thanks.

There are probably 1,000 posts on this site regarding the POD/AIRBOX issues. You may want to do a search and read through some of them. They are very informative. I'm an airbox guy and many folks who tried pods came back to the airbox, but some folks like pods (mostly guys with short or crooked legs):laugh: :laugh: Ed

650ed wrote:

There are probably 1,000 posts on this site regarding the POD/AIRBOX issues. You may want to do a search and read through some of them. They are very informative. I'm an airbox guy and many folks who tried pods came back to the airbox, but some folks like pods (mostly guys with short or crooked legs):laugh: :laugh: Ed

That is so true!!! Short legs do make pods work! For once my stumpy ass legs were better for something than you folks with standard issue inseams!!