Pods vs stock airbox.....happy median?

Being relatively new to carbs and adjusting them, the more I read ago it pods the more I want to go withouth them lol. Anyone running a K&N drop in filter with the stock airbox? Is it worth going with a K&N filter over an Emgo or another "standard" replacement?

I ask because I will be adding a MAC exhaust over the winter, and I assume I will need to rejet the carbs for it. If I go with a K&N that will also factor in to how I rejet the carbs right?

I really don't know why some people are leary of Pod filters. Once the carbs are dialed in for the pods the bike runs really well. I have never experienced the problems I have read about with my pod filters. I have used them on every classic bike I own with great results. The BS style carbs take a bit more effort to dial in than the VM carbs but once tuned correctly they run great.
Now to answer your question, I have run the K&N drop in filter on my KZ650 when it had the stock airbox. It did not feel any different than a stock filter other than the intake noise was louder. With the Pod filters though I could feel the bike pull harder. I have no data from a dyno to back this up, just my own experience.
I did not have to re-jet with the drop in filter by itself. I did have to re-jet with the 4 into 1 pipe though.

Which pods and did you use a particular jet kit?

I suspect for any advice to be meaningful it would be important to state what motorcycle you have. If you're working on a KZ you should also state what carbs you are using. While I don't doubt baldy110 has has unusually good luck with his bikes the same cannot be said for many folks whose bikes use CV type carbs. While there are undoubtedly other pod success stories I believe your 1st impression regarding pods to be well founded. You may wish to read "In Search of a Free Lunch" in the link below. It describes the pod experience of professional tuners using lots of dyno time. They were less than impressed.

www.mediafire.com/?7ttgomzmmjz

Crap how could I forget lol. '82 750 LTD

Thanks for the read 650, ill be reading tonight!

The stock carbs on the '82 KZ750-LTD are the CV type. Ed

I'm with baldy110 on this. I have had K&N pods on my 1980 750/4 E1 with Keihin CV 34 carbs without any problem. I did need to increase the jet size. I have an airbox on now and that was mostly because I wanted a more stock look. Pods look cool but I would be hard put to say I noticed better performance with them.

I can only speak on my on own experiences but I have been tuning bikes for over 30 years now and have installed dozens of pod filters on all kinds of motorcycles. Each one is different, the last set of pods I installed were on a 1982 Yamaha 750 Maxim. The carbs on that bike were the Mikuni BS33, CV style carburators. The exhaust was stock and the only mods were the pod filters. The only thing I had to do was install a 1mm shim under each needle. Bike ran great with no issues at all. Other bikes I had to spend more time on tuning them but in the end they have ALL run great with no issues other than riding in a heavy rain.
I have never used a jet kit to tune. I have always used the stock needles and simply adjusted them using shims or if they had adjustable needles up or down. Sometimes I have to change the main and pilot jets to a richer one. I'm sure "jet kits" have their purpose but I don't use them due to cost and I still manage to get a good running engine that performs better than stock.
I have noticed however that around the mid 1980's the manufacturers started designing their stock air boxes with performance in mind. When I removed the stock airbox and added pod filters performance dropped dramaticly. I would not recommend ditching the stock airbox on a late model bike due to the performance enhancing charactaristics designed into the stock box.

I have about the same results with pods as Baldy does. I have used jet kits, and have also done it without jet kits. I don't think the jets kits are necessarily worth the cost. They just give a faster baseline to start with since they come with instructions on where to start, so they can save you some time. But, really, it's just a set of needles.

I definitely feel more pull on the top end, highway performance, but I don't know if that equates to more area under the curve. It's definitely a little more exciting.

I've run more miles with pods than stock, but if I had to go back and do it again I would never run pods again. It's all been said at length here and other forums and there are two sides to every story. Pods "may" flow more air and with proper jetting may give a little more power however the downsides are lengthy. Get in a big rain, they get wet and bike runs like the choke is on. Ride in heavy side wind, they get all confused and bike runs like crap. They sit out in the air, get filthy dirty looking in no time and need frequent cleaning. They may still function fine, but that filthy look I just can't take. I can only speak for K&N as those are all I've run. Also there is no doubt they flow more dirt than a factory filter. The bodies harden up like plastic from the heat, and after a while they don't fit all that well, are very sensitive to the correct cleaning/ oiling procedure. Too much oil, the bike will run like the choke is on, too little, filtering suffers. Last but not least, in using them the heavy carbs have no rear support and all weight is like a big leverage bar on your intake rubbers.
They do allow for easy carb removal if necessary, so that is an advantage, so I'd say the easy carb removal and possible more power are the only real advantage to them. You do hear the intake noise, so some mental advantage there for some thinking more power is there. I don't doubt more power, but the increase is not worth the drawbacks x50.
As to K&N replacement airbox filters, they work, no advantage over stock except reusable and most likely flow more dirt.

I have to agree about the K&N's for all those reasons, not to mention they are expensive as hell, plus the cost of the chemicals you have to use.

But the disposable pods are a totally different story. No goop, no hours spent cleaning the damn things, and no inconsistent air flow. Last time I bought them, I got all four for under $30. Just the chemicals for K&N's cost that much.

For me, the only real drawback is getting caught in a heavy rain. (But I have another bike with an airbox if I think that is going to happen.)

In the over 40 thousand miles in the last few years I have run with my LTD 1000 and 1075 the pods have been famous and when tuned right make a very noticeable difference. They get dirty, yeah, they do. I haven't ever had any problems you guys have described with the crosswinds or rain. Maybe my legs cover them right?
I will never run stock airbox on those bikes again. Too much hassle when cleaning carbs. I have the stock boxes on my ZRX's but they are modded with Ivan's jet kit and the holes needed to breathe better. I would go pods with those eventually but with the mods it has plus 1200 liquid cooled displacement I am happy with the power it puts out. No questions asked it gets it whenever and wherever.