Necessity: The Mother of Invention

[98TIGA]

I've found (as I'm sure the rest of you have) a lot of the misc. parts I need are expensive or difficult to source, so I've resorted to refurbishing existing bits and improvising where necessary.

The bar-end weights on my bike were pretty banged up-- looks like it was dropped at one point. I chucked 'em in the drill press and used some fine-grit sandpaper and lubricating oil to remove the nicks and scrapes.

I also finally got around to removing the airbox, and it's pretty well thrashed. The old filter was tearing away at the edges, and the auxiliary "snorkels" have numerous cracks that make a proper repair impractical (maybe even impossible). I think I'm going to go the pod route on my Keihins. I know there's a lot of discussion regarding rejetting for pod fitment, but I'm curious as to whether anyone here has gone the route of restricting airflow to the pod instead of increasing the fuel ratio? I recall seeing somewhere stepped washer-like inserts that fit in the filter throat to reduce the inlet of air.

I was having a hard time finding cylinder/carb boots, so I purchased a 1' section of radiator hose at Napa and cut it on the bandsaw, effectively fashioning my own. They're a tight fit, but some Sil-Glyde on the mouths of the boots helped things along; I just need to get some hose clamps to finish the assembly.

Installing the SW-Motech center stand was a bit of a bear... certainly more difficult than I anticipated. If I were to do it again, I think I'd probably fashion some sort of rigging up to the rafters in the shop and suspend the bike from its central frame tubing, as opposed to jacking it from the ground. Having the center stand will certainly make for easier maintenance, and I look forward to tackling valve adjustment next.

[threepot]

Do you reckon those carb rubbers are secure without clips? Like the idea though☺

[98TIGA]

Considering the force required to install them, threepot... probably! I do plan on putting some hose clamps on there, but I didn't have any in my toolbox that would fit; the originals were too small in diameter. This was essentially a dry fit-- I'll need to remove the carbs if I decide to do any rejetting or refit the original airbox. I'm doing a lot of pondering here and trying to decide which direction I'd like to take it.

[rybes]

Watch out with carb rubbers you might need to add a smaller pipe inside. If you look at the originals the center is thicker to give a smooth airflow. I'm guessing with the pipe you'll add some turbulence to the air flow and possibly cause running issues or slight loss of power.
I'm not saying it'll cause issues just thought I'd point it out in case it does

[98TIGA]

You've got a good point there, rybes. I wonder what effect shortening the boots so the intake and carb throat abut one another would have? I've done this on other motorcycles without incident, but then again, I've never had them on the dyno. In my experience, real world (practical) usage didn't seem to indicate any loss of power,  but we'll know soon enough! Thanks for the heads up!

[rybes]

I'm pretty sure the distance between the carbs and inlet valve affect torque somehow. I'm not 100% but I think it's short for bhp and long for torque. They'll also need to be a proper length and who knows what that is?

[98TIGA]

Ah, I see. I'll probably try it as is and fashion some sleeves to insert if necessary.

I'm still curious about modifying the inlet of air into the K&N pod filters instead of rejetting. I wonder if I should create a separate topic for this on the forum? I didn't readily see anything using the search feature.

[Mustang]

Use "porsche" and "fishnbiker" as author

He's the only one I know to ever succeed

And even then iirc it still wasnt easy to change when dirty

[98TIGA]

That's interesting, because it appears to have been done (successfully) numerous times by folks on TriumphRat.

[fishnbiker]

Ah, I see. I'll probably try it as is and fashion some sleeves to insert if necessary.

I'm still curious about modifying the inlet of air into the K&N pod filters instead of rejetting. I wonder if I should create a separate topic for this on the forum? I didn't readily see anything using the search feature.

If I recall from fabricating my K&N airbox, the original filter has 49 Sq Inches of area on the flat paper filter. You would need to match that closely to minimize any jetting changes. I went up to 55Sq.In. & needed a lot more jetting. Measuring a tapered pod should be interesting!

[fishnbiker]

Use "porsche" and "fishnbiker" as author

He's the only one I know to ever succeed

And even then iirc it still wasnt easy to change when dirty

Not quite "wasn't easy". I can remove the filter in a couple of minutes without removing any fairing, tank, or panel pieces. One long flat screwdriver & an 6mm wrench. Usual cleaning & oiling process with K&N products. For me It was very much an excuse to pander to my compulsive tinkering addiction. Design & fabrication is as much fun as riding. First time I did this was back 4 decades on my '65 Royal Enfield Interceptor.

One of the largest changes was the surface area of the air filtering surface. Mine went from stock at around 49 sq.in. up to 55 with my custom unit. Jetting on my Mikunis went up to #130. Mileage went from 55mpg (UK gal.) to 47, but with a huge kick in the pants at around 4200rpm. Small drop off of torque until 3000rpm. After changing to the Keihin CVK carbs, 3 main jets dropped to #122, my mileage was improved back to 53 mpg.

A lot of words have passed over the ability of K&N to really stop fine dust. At the time I did the build, mud was more of a concern. Nowadays I use a layer of Uni filter foam sheet as a prefilter. It looks like it catches up to 95% of any dust with no further change in jetting/tuning. This comes off for cleaning as a doughnut shape foam ring, by releasing two 4mm stud nuts.

[Timbox2]

The K&N debate still goes on and on, even on the 1050 Forum. I fitted a DNA( Think Greek K&N) to my Sport and I still had some saying, "OOH, that'll wreck your engine". Nonsense,  in the Atacama I might worry, in Dampest Darkest South Wales UK,  93 Year old blind Car Drivers are the biggest threat to bike and rider, oh and Sheep, Bahhhh

[98TIGA]

Thanks for the info! I also have the Keihin CVKs, and I'm looking for a reputable place to buy some jets. Do you have any recommendations? The model number for these is "CVK 36", correct? I purchased Emgo pods (seemed to work well enough on my Enfield Bullet) initially but later decided to fork out the extra cash for the K&N brand. I'm not quite sure where to start with my mains... maybe I'll try #130 and go from there? I'm really not terribly concerned with dust or mud, as I don't intend to do any serious offroading with my Steamer. My bike will be primarily a Sunday commuter, as I travel 100 miles round-trip from Hayden to Harrison, ID. It's a nice little hour-and-a-half ride through the twisties around Coeur d'Alene Lake; most of it's paved with the occasional gravel road, so dust intake should be pretty minimal.