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The same old Pods question

  • Thread starter Thread starter MOC
  • Start date Start date
M

MOC

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I'm sure you've all heard this one before, but I want to be sure before I spend any more of my money.

I had some issues with lean mixture a while back which turned out to be float related. No big deal to fix, but I discovered in the process that my bike's airbox is effectively ruined. It's been cut into pieces and glued back together by the previous owner. I find this both aesthetically displeasing, and irritatingly half-a$$ed.

Looking into a new air box yielded many relatively inexpensive replacements but with little in the way of aesthetic improvement, and lots in the way of installation headaches. The purists will hate this, but after some consideration I decided to go with pods if for no other reason than the ease of installation/maintenance.

I have gotten myself a pair of K&N RC-1820 filters and plan on re-jetting to compensate for the additional flow. The general consensus from my gear head buddies as well as the forums/YouTube videos I can find is that I should go up by 1 jet size on the Mains, and leave the pilots as is. Am I barking up the wrong tree or is this reasonable? Will I need to re-shim the needle or does the factory setting handle this ok?

Your feedback is much appreciated.

Background:
1980 GS450L Bone stock with 4500 miles on it.
 
You are going to have to go up farther than one step on the main. More like three, but I'm not sure. Shimming the needles is highly recommended also. To raise the needle you need to reduce the thickness of the spacer on top of the clip. Good luck.
 
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to pick up some 117.5s and some 120s to start, and see where that gets me.

The one thing I don't have is a Circlip tool for the needle retention clip inside the slide. They don't have any that will get deep enough at autozone. Thoughts?

I'm also open to suggestions on reputable jets dealers. So far i've searched JetsRus and JPCycle. Anyone with good advice on reputable dealers would be a friend of mine.

thanks
mike
 
MOC said:
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to pick up some 117.5s and some 120s to start, and see where that gets me.

The one thing I don't have is a Circlip tool for the needle retention clip inside the slide. They don't have any that will get deep enough at autozone. Thoughts?

I'm also open to suggestions on reputable jets dealers. So far i've searched JetsRus and JPCycle. Anyone with good advice on reputable dealers would be a friend of mine.

thanks
mike
Click to expand...

Grind the tips down on a long set of needle nose pliers.


Z1 is the best place for jets.
 
Z1 Enterprises sells jets and a set of Motion Pro circlip pliers that will reach down into the slide. Check the carb rebuild tutorial in my signature for info on how to raise the needles.
 
Save yourself some aggravation and get a jet kit made for pods. Removing the airbox makes a big difference and just changing the main jets and the needle position won't be adequate.
 
Alas, the kit you describe below doesn't fit my bike, per the recommendation of the guys at dynojet. I called and asked, mostly because that kit is for an 83 and mine is an 80. The guy who engineers their kits said it won't work, and I'm not about to blow 90 bucks on an experiment. So it looks like i'm back at square 1.

regarding rejetting on my own, i called Z1 to see if they carry what i'm looking for, and they don't. they have plenty of the "Large Round" Mikuni jets, but my bike has the Small round type:
2565d1300447734-450r-carb-mikuni_jets.jpg


Yes, i'm sure. Head diameter is 6 mm, overall is about 9mm.

the only distributor i've been able to find who actually sell "Small Round" miknuni jets in the range i'm looking for is JetsRus.com. To make the shipping worthwhile i'm going to go for a pair of every size from 120 to 130 and just goof around with it.

The guy at Dynojet said i should shim my needle up between 20 and 40 thousandths, which i believe is 1 or 2 shims, or 1 step on the needle. beyond that, i'm just going to have to goof with the jets and needle, and fine tune the idle circuit to get it right. anybody that's done this on a 450L before, i would greatly appreciate any insight you have for me.

thanks fellas.
 
without the needle change u will forever chase a flat spot and poor running,ask me how i know.
The needle change is a must,the pilot won't change the main will 3 sizes to start.
there is no other way.
 
Ok, so general consensus is at least 3 steps up on the main jets, leave pilots as is but adjust using the highest idle method. shim up the needle to compensate in the mid range.

This is my plan so far:

1 - Get a bunch of "Small Round" jets in sizes from 122.5- 130
2 - Get Snapring Pliers
3 - Start at 122.5 with the needles raised by 1 step

4 - adjust the pilots using the highest idle method, check plugs for fouling/ash.
5 - increase to 1/2 throttle and repeat, adjust the needle up/down as necessary to keep everything kosher.
6 - WOT test, which will probably have to happen on the road, adjust the mains as necessary
7 - retest at idle and 1/2 throttle to ensure nothing has changed

am i missing anything? is this reasonable. My plan is to do a full write up of this project as I go. your help is much appreciated, and anything you might add to keep me out of the weeds would be awesome. thanks
 
All your plug chops and testing should happen on the road. You need to see how the engine and plugs react under load, not just free spinning in neutral.

Also, are your carbs CV or VM?

CV carbs tune from main down to pilot, so your sequencing will change.
 
So, given the fact that i've got CV carbs, i would need to reverse my steps then?

please forgive my ignorance. part of why i bought this bike is to tinker with and i'm looking forward to a long, cold, but not boring winter.

many thanks
 
airbox

airbox

;)ok,

I tried the whole pod thing. went up 3 sizes on the pilots and started 20% bigger on the mains and went 3 sizes up from there (1981 GS650G). used stupid emgo pods, then uni's. now i'm back to riding on the stock setup with the airbox. spend the $'s on the stock setup, or spend the money on dynojet that MIGHT work. good luck dude
 
See if this helps, my journey with pods and pipe with the exact same carb's:

http://thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=207055&highlight=tuning+jetting+450

There is no Dynojet kit in the US for our carb's, but there is a European version that will work... except the local distributor here in Aus wanted $180 for it with a 6 to 8 week delay on shipping... I said forget it.

In summary, you won't need to go as drastically as I have due to not having free flowing pipes, but I've gone from 117.5 mains to 145's, and my needle is one notch richer than stock (I have adjustable needles). Stock pilot jets.

I haven't counted my mixture screws for a while as I've been fiddling with them to sort out some popping at idle but I'm going to guess at 3 to 3 1/2 turns at the moment.

If you look at the dyno chart in my thread above, you will see I was so rich at around 5K RPM that it went off the chart... that was with 150 main jets and I've leaned it out some since then...
 
That's a tough bike to find a dynojet kit for. I tried looking and could only find it in europe. Part # e3305. I tried doing pods without a jet kit, and I couldn't get rid of the flat spot...had the same plan as you, bought all the jets, shimmed the needle. Maybe ship it from europe? haha
 
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