Would these air filters be any good?

[Talon]

Hey so i'm looking around for an air filter for my 1100 as mine has been mia since i got my bike and was wondering if these would be any good or if they'd just be garbage?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-in...219407783QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180219407783

I'm looking for a kinda cheap replacement as money is sort of tight right now.

 

[bonanzadave]

Have you been running the bike with no air filter ?

Its your choice but actually they dont run very well without one. Do you still have an airbox ? If so Id get the stock filter in there and forget the individual pods. If you go the pod route your going to have to set up the carbs for the increased air flow. That will change again if you have a aftermarket exhaust.

 

[Nessism]

Do you have the stock airbox on the bike right now? Assuming you do, going to individual pod filters will lean out the mixture quite a bit requiring rejetting. The cost of a jet kit will far outweigh the cost of a new OE filter so consider that.

 

[Shin-Ken 1074]

If the only part needed is the filter and everyting else is still stock fitting an OEM filter is a pretty good option. They may cost more (not always) but they last a very long time compared to some cheap aftermarket items and do a fine job. If the rest of the bike is sorted there are fewer headaches when you run the stock gear. If you like to tweak it up a bit for performance thats fine, but you may find there are many hidden costs once you start down that road. Have fun which ever way you go, cheers.

 

[slow_heavy_750]

Have you been running the bike with no air filter ?

Its your choice but actually they dont run very well without one. Do you still have an airbox ? If so Id get the stock filter in there and forget the individual pods. If you go the pod route your going to have to set up the carbs for the increased air flow. That will change again if you have a aftermarket exhaust.

I agree...you can get an aftermarket replacement filter for cheap...if the airbox is there and youre looking for the cheapest way to replace it, dont do the pods.

 

[Talon]

well i'm missing the air filter assembly, I still have the air box that connects to the carbs but not the filter assembly that attaches to that and sits on top of the battery... its been like that since i got it and i've been through a few tanks of gas, but i'm not sure how long it was run before then without the air filter either.

i figured the air filter was in the air box behind the carbs, not that i was missing an entire piece. i even got an old parts bike which is missing the same thing...

so i'm looking around for a stock air filter assembily but it may take a while to find one that i can easily afford.

but i guess i'd have to rejet as well if i went to pods.

 

[koolaid_kid]

From the price, I suspect those are Emgo filters. Emgos are dry filters, unlike the K&Ns which are oiled. Personally, I would not run them.
Look at Bike Bandit to see what part(s) you would need to go back to stock.
http://www.bikebandit.com/
I run a K&N filter in the air box; you buy it once and then clean it from then on.

 

[slow_heavy_750]

From the price, I suspect those are Emgo filters. Emgos are dry filters, unlike the K&Ns which are oiled. Personally, I would not run them.
Look at Bike Bandit to see what part(s) you would need to go back to stock.
http://www.bikebandit.com/
I run a K&N filter in the air box; you buy it once and then clean it from then on.

but with the K&N I would think the jetting would be off, or would he be able to get away with just adjusting the carbs?

 

[Guest]

but with the K&N I would think the jetting would be off, or would he be able to get away with just adjusting the carbs?

if your bike's running ok with no filter now, you should be ok with the k&n inbox filter, no rejeting needed. but you do want to adjust (not re-jet) your carbs when you get the filter anyway

 

[koolaid_kid]

if your bike's running ok with no filter now, you should be ok with the k&n inbox filter, no rejeting needed. but you do want to adjust (not re-jet) your carbs when you get the filter anyway

I agree. I have not had to rejet, but adjusting (especially with going from no filter to anything else) is always a good idea.

 

[Mark M]

well i'm missing the air filter assembly, I still have the air box that connects to the carbs but not the filter assembly that attaches to that and sits on top of the battery... its been like that since i got it and i've been through a few tanks of gas, but i'm not sure how long it was run before then without the air filter either.

i figured the air filter was in the air box behind the carbs, not that i was missing an entire piece. i even got an old parts bike which is missing the same thing...

so i'm looking around for a stock air filter assembily but it may take a while to find one that i can easily afford.

but i guess i'd have to rejet as well if i went to pods.

You can buy a K&N filter that attaches to the spigot in the airbox, that is what my 1100E had when I bought it. If you like, I can look in my notes and see if I wrote down the part # on that filter.

If your bike is jetted for the big K&N, it will require rejetting with individual filters. At least mine did. I now have pods on that look like the ones in the ebay auction you show and they worked fine for the last two summers. At least my bike still runs the same as it did when I first put them on, with no compression issues or other noticeable problems. Mine were not the dry Emgo's, though, they use an oiled element same as the K&N ones. I have a new set of pods from APE that I plan to install this summer along with a new tailpipe/muffler assembly. I will probably be rejetting again after everything is done, since I expect more flow out of both the filters and the pipe.

Mark

 

[Talon]

hey Mark that would be great if you could see if you wrote down the part # on that filter

 

[Mark M]

hey Mark that would be great if you could see if you wrote down the part # on that filter

Man, are you in luck.... Not only did I get the numbers off it, I also sketched it with dimensions.:-D

It has #F024J4 on the end that attaches to the airbox spigot and #B035B4 on the flat end. It was cylindrical with flat ends, 89mm OD x 152mm body length and it fit over a 62mm diameter spigot on the airbox.

This was set up with the back half of the airbox removed and the K&N filter feeding into the front half.


Mark

 

[Talon]

awesome!
so did it look like this?
http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=RU-3030
Its the right dimensions so i'm assuming that it'd fit and work ok...

did you keep that setup on your bike for long mark? and how did it run?
has anybody else run a filter like this without a box around it?

 

[Talon]

and at only $30 + shipping this is looking to be the route that i'm most likely to go...

 

[Mark M]

awesome!
so did it look like this?
http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=RU-3030
Its the right dimensions so i'm assuming that it'd fit and work ok...

did you keep that setup on your bike for long mark? and how did it run?
has anybody else run a filter like this without a box around it?

That's the one. You do need to jet for it, the stock jetting will not work. It is not as free flowing as pods, but better than the OEM setup. It may be fine with OEM jetting if you run the whole airbox with the K&N as a drop in replacement for the stock filter.

It ran OK. The owner before the one I got it from had the rings done, the airfilter/airbox mod done and jetted to suit by a local shop. I didn't have it on for long, only part of the first summer I had the bike. I wanted to pull the carbs to see how clean things were (being a very used bike and new to me) and I had such a bitch of a time pulling the front part of the airbox that I went to pods right then and never went back to the box.

I must say that the shop that did the work didn't have it perfect, it ran OK but not stellar with a midrange surge and bucking that it wouldn't pull through in 4th and 5th gears. I jetted it myself with the pods and it runs much better now, about even with any other carburated bike I have owned. In the configuration I bought it in it made 102rwhp and 69ft-lb of torque on the tuning shop dyno. It is significantly stronger now, as well as much more enjoyable to ride.

I should note that in addition to the pods, I have a Kerker 4-1 canister system and I degreed the stock cams to the OEM lobe center numbers. The cam degreeing also made a noticeable improvement in smoothness and overall power.

Mark

 

[Talon]

well i'm sticking with the stock pipes, but the bike was running without a filter at all and seemed to perform pretty good, but i have no other GSs to reference the experience to.
when i switched out the plugs they where black with a bit of brown color to them, which means its running lean right? but would the presence of the brown color mean that they're not so far out?

well it seems i'll probably have to mess with the carbs any way that i go.3
any ideas for what jet kit or jetting that i should do for running a bare filter on the box and with a stock exhaust?

 

[Kcwiro]

well i'm sticking with the stock pipes, but the bike was running without a filter at all and seemed to perform pretty good, but i have no other GSs to reference the experience to.
when i switched out the plugs they where black with a bit of brown color to them, which means its running lean right? but would the presence of the brown color mean that they're not so far out?

well it seems i'll probably have to mess with the carbs any way that i go.3
any ideas for what jet kit or jetting that i should do for running a bare filter on the box and with a stock exhaust?

Black / brown I believe is rich if it is sooty... not positive on the jets but someone will likely correct me if I am wrong... stock exhaust different filter... DJ stage 1 kit? *maybe your stock carbs can be tweaked somehow though I have my doubts...anyone want to chime in and correct me if I am wrong on this?

 

[chuckycheese]

Filter

Filter

I've always thought with a stock set-up, you're probably better off with an OEM filter. However, I have an Emgo filter (I've never used it) and it looks and feels so similar to OEM that I figure it must be pretty decent. No???

 

[Mark M]

well i'm sticking with the stock pipes, but the bike was running without a filter at all and seemed to perform pretty good, but i have no other GSs to reference the experience to.
when i switched out the plugs they where black with a bit of brown color to them, which means its running lean right? but would the presence of the brown color mean that they're not so far out?

well it seems i'll probably have to mess with the carbs any way that i go.3
any ideas for what jet kit or jetting that i should do for running a bare filter on the box and with a stock exhaust?

Black is rich, a light tan is good and gray/white is lean. If you are running rich with no filter in place it would indicate that you do not have stock jetting or that your carbs need going through.

Since you say it ran OK as it is, I would try the K&N filter without changing anything else. With the stock exhaust you aren't going to gain much flow no matter what you do on the intake side, so give it a try. Also, it is OK to be rich, it may run funky but it won't kill the engine. Lean can kill the engine, so avoid that no matter what.

Here are some tests to see if you are generally lean or rich.

1) On cold mornings, does it start without choke (if it does, it is rich on the pilots)? Does it need a lot of choke for a long time (that would indicate lean on the pilots or clogged pilots)?

2) While cruising down the road at small part throttle opening (less than 1/4 throttle), try pulling the choke on a bit. Does it bog (rich) or pick up and run harder (lean)? If it's close, it will bog a bit, but if it's already rich it will fall on it's face when you pull the choke on.

3) Repeat the choke test while at around 1/2 throttle and at full thottle if you can. It is a good general indicator of where you are at. You can check this at as many rpm settings and throttle openings as you want, more info is usually better to help diagnose where and what is wrong.

To really help, put some tape on your twist grip housing and the grip rubber and mark off the throttle openings in 1/8 turn increments. This way, you know if you are at 1/4 throttle or 3/8 or whatever. The pilots work from idle to around 1/4-3/8 throttle, the needle takes over from 3/8-5/8 throttle and the main jets are from 5/8 to WOT. These are approximate, as there is some overlap between the circuits.

If you want to tune your carbs, start on the pilot circuit, then the needle, then the mains. This is because the lower circuits affect the ones above them, but not the other way around. You can tune your pilots with no main jet in place if you want, it will run at small throttle openings, but bog as you transition up into the needle. This avoids a lean condition on the mains and garantees no damage due to a too small main jet. Probably not necessary with a GS, but it started with 2 strokes and they WILL die if you are off a few sizes on the main and it was safer to not have any jet at all at first.

Mark