2000 v11 sport observations and questions

[mikev]

I thought I posted this AAR but apparently not.  Swapping out Relay 3 for one of my Chinadians from ebay did help with my neutral light issue.

[mikev]

My V11 came to me with these foam air filters.  Image is a bit pixilated but you get the idea.

 

Reading various threads here I learn that some folks have strong feelings about the original air box being better due to air flow and other reasons.  Pretty interesting discussions.  I seem to recall other people advocating the naked look, like mine.

These foam air filters *seem* ok, bike seems to run ok with them.  

I have the original airbox (reminds me of a hippo skull)  but its missing most of the screws.  Prior owner let me root thru his motorcycle screw collection and I found some approximate candidates that would at least fit in the threads for *most* of the locations, unsure about lengths for some.  

How big a deal or not is it to not use the original air box.?

[stewgnu]

@mikev

You’ll likely get different answer from people on that.

Personally I think if the bike’s running nicely it doesn’t matter.

[footgoose]

it's not a big deal if it runs 'ok'. If you want to rest assured that you have a well engineered and optimal air intake, use the stock airbox. Pods are for those who are tech savvy enough to tune for them.

[Joe]

5 minutes ago, footgoose said:

it's not a big deal if it runs 'ok'. If you want to rest assured that you have a well engineered and optimal air intake, use the stock airbox. Pods are for those who are tech savvy enough to tune for them.

I bought my bike with the stock airbox and custom map, it runs great from idle to wide open, so I guess I got lucky. 

[80CX100]

Taking the tank off to service the air filter is a pita,,, but it's a treat changing the filter compared to the old cylinder paper filter on early big block Tontis (Reason why most have K&Ns)

If the bike runs good & strong, I think it would be a very personal choice.

If you're not bothered that it's not stock and some purists may look down their noses at you for deviating from the design for poorer filtration; Is that a headache you want to take on, or is there possibly some other job that the bike might benefit more from?

I remember how simple it sounded when I removed the air box from my Tonti, I'm glad I did it, but it was the job from hell, with a lot of little pieces that had to seal well to work properly.

It may look easy to reinstall the stock air box, but there are probably little fastening bits,brackets,boots etc etc, possibly other things have been moved to or installed in that empty space by previous owners as well.

fwiw ymmv

 

[mikev]

Also been reading the guzzidaig threads.  Might be relevant. 

My bike has a power commander which I think was setup with these foam pods.  I think this provides a layer of control similar to but before the ECU, if I understand correctly how the bike brain works.  Can't really claim to understand the guzzidiag or power commander stuff entirely.  So presumably my bike could be tuned to use the foam pods, correct?

 

[docc]

8 minutes ago, mikev said:

Also been reading the guzzidaig threads.  Might be relevant. 

My bike has a power commander which I think was setup with these foam pods.  I think this provides a layer of control similar to but before the ECU, if I understand correctly how the bike brain works.  Can't really claim to understand the guzzidiag or power commander stuff entirely.  So presumably my bike could be tuned to use the foam pods, correct?

 

"Approximated" might be a better term than "tuned?"

Like others have said, if you are fine with the way it runs and like the way it looks . . . no problem!

[mikev]

honestly I like the pods, the easier maintenance, plus the look ... but I do like those plastic side pieces with the little italian colors that cover the airbox ... 

[docc]

Once or twice, I have seen the sidecovers creatively mounted over the pods.

[GuzziMoto]

Like so many have already said, if you are happy with how it runs now with pods, leave it. It could run slightly better and make a better spread of power if you went back to the stock airbox, but it sounds like doing so would open up its own can of worms as it sounds like it has been tuned to work well enough with the pods. Changing it back would likely mean additional tuning required to get it to run best with the stock airbox. The pods will give up a small amount of performance, but the trade off is a gain in the looks dept (at least in my opinion). If the performance with pods is good enough to you, I would leave it. If you aren't happy with the way it runs, I would put the stock airbox back on and go from there. But just as tuning is required to make it run acceptably with pods, tuning would likely be required to get it to run right with the stock airbox after it has been tuned to run right with pods.

[mikev]

Thanks, I'm going with ease of maintenance, looks, and if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Might start to play around with creatively mounted side covers though ...

 

[billgreenman1]

Firm believer in the "if it ain't broke" school, but the wandering tweaker in me might be tempted to want to compare the aesthetics of the induction noises.....

[docc]

10 minutes ago, billgreenman1 said:

Firm believer in the "if it ain't broke" school, but the wandering tweaker in me might be tempted to want to compare the aesthetics of the induction noises.....

Oh, this could invite an entirely alternative slippery-slope . . .

[mikev]

27 minutes ago, docc said:

slippery-slope

really funny thread docc