Pods or stock air box?

Hey guys, I’ve got an 82 kz550 c3 and I was talking to a buddy about it, and he said on bikes like mine I’ll never get the A/F mix right if I go with pod filters, and I should just stick to factory airbox. What do you guys think? And what brand pod filters do you reccomend?

Your Buddy is right, adjusting A/F on pod filters can be a PITA and for what, looking cool and sounds great???
For me, no thanks but it is your wish and if so take K&N pot filter.

Calvin9819 wrote: Hey guys, I’ve got an 82 kz550 c3 and I was talking to a buddy about it, and he said on bikes like mine I’ll never get the A/F mix right if I go with pod filters, and I should just stick to factory airbox. What do you guys think? And what brand pod filters do you reccomend?

Check to see if DynoJet or 6 Sigma has a jet kit.
As for filters either UNI or K&N.


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My KZ1000 came with pods and I had a horrible time getting the jetting right for a wide range of operation. I ended up buying a parts bike just for the air box and put it onto my bike. The jetting has been so much easier to dial in and the bike is running great at a wider range of demands.
Keep the box. (My $0.02)

Buy pods if you want to spend MANY hours fiddling with carbs rather than riding a motorcycle. Personally, I'd much rather ride so I'll always stick with the airbox. Ed

The 83 550-Ltd should have TK22 carburetors, so check out the motorcycle stuff page by loudhvx >> see links in the signature of any of his replies. He has a ton of info about those carburetors & he may have jetting suggestions for the individual pod filters.

Choke flaps. Be sure to note the page about the choke flaps which can come off. Someone on EB sells reproduction flaps >> you may have to modify them a little, but at least you won't have to start from scratch. There was a somewhat recent topic about the EB flaps, a month or two ago.

....

The TK22 carbs are probably the easiest carbs you'll find on inline-four Kz's for pod jetting. The only simpler bike I can think of is probably the Kz200 single.

The first-gen Kz550's were so lean from the factory, you can actually make it run better than with the factory airbox and stock jets. You can make it start easier and have a lot more pull on the highway. The main reason to stick with the airbox is for weather and not having to do any experimenting or testing.

As Martin mentioned, there is a link in my signature to info you need to know about the valve train, and the other link will lead you to more links about the Tk22 carbs specifically.

You all do make good points... the biggest problem I’m facing now I even finding a stock airbox that I can use. I’d probably already have swapped it if I could find one! eBay yields 0 results in my latest search

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Calvin9819 wrote: You all do make good points... the biggest problem I’m facing now I even finding a stock airbox that I can use. I’d probably already have swapped it if I could find one! eBay yields 0 results in my latest search

Is this what you need?

That’s From a 1980s model. From what I read they swapped a lot of things over between 80/81 to 82/83. Dude doesn’t accept returns either so if it’s the wrong one I’m stuck with it unfortunately

Would an ltd model work? This is advertised for breaking in Holland. 'Luchtfilterbox' is translated as 'air filter box'. Seems to be a business address.
Being Holland, chances are they speak English.

www.marktplaats.nl/a/motoren/onderdelen-...c624&previousPage=lr

Luckily my aunt is from Belgium and Dutch is her native tongue! Haha. I’ll look into specifically LTD’s because that’s what mine is. Maybe they stayed the same, thank you!