Topic: For people that say velocity stacks are bad for your engine....

[shinyribs]

Cool.Thanks man. I hate that I rolled up in here with like...20 ish posts and started running my trap.

Just ignore me for the most part.It's probably best. 

[andrewk]

At the end of the day, it dont matter what you run.. matters more if you rode it.... jmo...

+1!

[Lostboy Steve]

A few months ago I got really, really depressed about acquiring type 1 diabetes at a young age. Long story short my little brother put it all in perspective for me. In his words "Steve, the only thing that's going to kill you any time soon is that #$%*ing awesome looking but totally uncomfortable Buell that you ride." I realized that he's absolutely right in two ways. One, I worry way too much, and Two, my Buell is the most badass looking thing around but is completely uncomfortable, unreliable, and probably somewhat unsafe. Some because of its design, and some because of the aggressive riding position I have created. To answer your question, looking cool is usually unsafe or uncomfortable, lol thats probably what makes it "LOOK COOL".

.

I gotta agree with you, those Buell XB9's & 12's are some of the best looking new bikes out there. I've wanted one from the moment I saw one.

That's how I felt. A friend told me his buddy had one and literally had to pick up parts off the street from #$%* becoming loose and falling off. I could not be swayed I had to have one. Now after having one since 05, wow, he wasn't kidding. Even in the service manual EVERYTHING gets locktite. Two years ago it left me stranded when the ecu literally went up in smoke for no reason and the fuel pump and injectors got stuck ON to the point where gas was pouring out of my $1200 Micron exhaust with the engine off. Then a few months later the stator went. All of this with only 9k on the odo. Last year I hardly rode it knowing that if it left me again I would light it on fire where it sat and leave it burning. This year the key broke off in the ignition while riding. I guess it had a hairline crack in it? (No I didnt have 5 keys on the ring just 2.) Then the other morning I went to get gas on my way to work and the fuel tank wouldn't open and I subsequently broke a key in it because of my frustration. Did I mention this bike looks cool as hell? Also to add to this safety, longevity, and ride-ability vs looking cool subject, I see a lot of people building choppers that are hardly ride-able but look cool. Infact, I know of a guy selling a recently finished chopper because (I am assuming from my personal opinion) the bike it extremely unstable, however I could be wrong.

[Lostboy Steve]

Quote from: rotortiller on May 03, 2012, 03:42:30 am
You can get by without filters on personal watercraft, but that's about the only piston engine I know of and have experience with no air filter.

and thats most likelty because the salt water will destroy it before anything else gets the chance!!!

The reason is because there is little dust and debris in the air over the water compared to driving on land. You'd get more water from a car driving in the rain entering it's intake. There are many filtering products resistant to airborn moisture. If the ski ate water it would stop running. The engine compartment is water tight under operating conditions and then even if you did flip the sucker minimal bilge water enters the engine bay only to be pumped overboard. The intake routing is designed for marine use rather than submit  to air filter power reductions simply because the air over the water has a low patricle count. That is the real reason why you can get by without an air  filter for such a long period of time.

Automotive and motorcycle engines have a smaller oil change interval when operating in a dusty environment, and that's with an airfilter attached!

rt
rt

I guess man, but you ever wear a pair of sunglasses on a boat? After a few minutes you have to clean them. A lot of salt deposits are flying through that ocean air hence the phrase "The Salty Sea Air".

[KC3]

Just for the record (not that it matters), I run my stacks with mesh screens and these great little "gore-tex"-like boots called Outerwears on them. The outerwears keep dirt/debris and even water out of the engine whilst minimally impeding the air flow. I have done tests and verified this qualitatively by running covered and uncovered and connecing the bike to my 160lbs butt dyno. They have little to no affect relative to the screen mesh.

I used to run uni pods with outerwears on them, but due to their position it was very hard to filter out the rain. That led me to run stacks.

Looking back, I kinda wish I had stuck with the stock air box setup, as I would have no problems with rain at all, but at least now it looks cool!! No..seriously though, now it performs better, and gets waay worse fuel economy, so I am happy.

If I ever get another bike, it is staying completely stock perofrmance wise. If I ever modify another bike, it is staying completely race-only and not my daily driver again! You can't expect a hotrod to run great in all conditions!

Anyways, I hope you run your engine with whatever the heck you want, but just do something! Don't sit around thinking about doing things...! Go out and ride that sweet hog!!

P.s. I'd do non-stack again! ;-)

[754]

 LOL ing at your "Theory of SCATomization"....

[MJL]

One of Kilmer's finest.

Please enlighten me.

Movie: Real Genius

[LesterPiglet]

Thankyou. Don't think I've seen it.

[750K]

That's how I felt. A friend told me his buddy had one and literally had to pick up parts off the street from #$%* becoming loose and falling off. I could not be swayed I had to have one. Now after having one since 05, wow, he wasn't kidding. Even in the service manual EVERYTHING gets locktite. Two years ago it left me stranded when the ecu literally went up in smoke for no reason and the fuel pump and injectors got stuck ON to the point where gas was pouring out of my $1200 Micron exhaust with the engine off. Then a few months later the stator went. All of this with only 9k on the odo. Last year I hardly rode it knowing that if it left me again I would light it on fire where it sat and leave it burning. This year the key broke off in the ignition while riding. I guess it had a hairline crack in it? (No I didnt have 5 keys on the ring just 2.) Then the other morning I went to get gas on my way to work and the fuel tank wouldn't open and I subsequently broke a key in it because of my frustration. Did I mention this bike looks cool as hell? Also to add to this safety, longevity, and ride-ability vs looking cool subject, I see a lot of people building choppers that are hardly ride-able but look cool. Infact, I know of a guy selling a recently finished chopper because (I am assuming from my personal opinion) the bike it extremely unstable, however I could be wrong.

Haha, good to know. There's a reason I don't have one, I'm just going to wait a year or two and see what happens with parts availability. Plus I don't actually know anyone with one, I'd like to get a bit more feedback on them so I can make my mind up once and for all. A buddy does have a ulysses and shad it's the best riding bike he's owned although he has nothing good to say about getting parts and he's still under dealer warranty.

[Lostboy Steve]

I guess man, but you ever wear a pair of sunglasses on a boat? After a few minutes you have to clean them. A lot of salt deposits are flying through that ocean air hence the phrase "The Salty Sea Air".

Actually the engine bay is dry after a day of hard 100 mile riding in the ocean however the ski goggles and the rest of the machine do get coated in salt. And you are right in one aspect the air is salt laden just like if you did a costal run on the SOHC. The path to the throttle body from the air box top is long and labrinth like, the path to the engine bay is like a labrinth so only air gets fed to the engine compartment. Pipes from under the rear seat area feed air to the lower bilge, while the airbox takes air forward  a meter away and at the top of the sealed engine bay. My lower airbox has drains but I have yet to see any water in it. I guess the point is they don't worry about dirt and salt laden air is hard to filter,  the individual salt molecules are spread apart-sort of like 5hit molecules in a good fart.

rt

Thanks for reminding us all that if you smell a fart most likely you're breathing in #$%*.

[mec]

+1 for velocity stacks because of their awesome look

mec

[Deltarider]

+1 for velocity stacks because of their awesome look

I think it looks cowardish. Be a man and let it face the other way around and you'll have ram air.

people that say velocity stacks are bad for your engine....

Who says so? Never heard such rubbish! A bit of fresh air won't harm us, now will it? How could it ever?!

[BobbyR]

The best part of having stacks is that if you run out of gas and someone has a gas can, you can use one of them as a funnel.

[cgswss]

First I think this is NOT about velocity stacks but about filtered vs unfiltered air.  There are very good resions using velocity stacks.  I'm sure there are some here that realize there is such a thing as "ram tuning".  That is by controlling the length of the intake track and exhaust track you can force more mixture into the cylinder.  Of course about 1 person in a thousand buys stacks for this purpose.

There are velocity stacks that have filters, but give up the "tuned intake" effect, but still give the cool look.  And I sure you all know that there is an issue when riding in the rain.  Assuming you are not using this bike for drag racing, go ahead and put stacks with filters on it.

As far as running a bike without filters on the street... well you guys that are doing that, did you also pull the air filters off you cars?  I'm guessing not.

Every time I hear the argument "well I did this and it worked OK for me..." I think of a question.  If I told you that every morning I take a revolver, put a bullet in it, spin the cylinder point it at my head and pull the trigger.  Then said "it works for me"  Would you think that was a good Idea to copy?  We have to use a little common sense.  Anytime you let unfiltered air into you engine, your going to create extra wear.

I raced bikes (and cars) when I was younger.  My drag bikes were pulled down after every weekend of racing.  I had to hone my cylinders at least one a month.  This after putting about 4 miles on the engine.  But when you are talking about .001 second being a "big deal" you have to do everything you can.  I had the B mod MC record at 11.43 and broke that record at the winter nationals with a 11.42.  (go to show how things change... now a days a properly set up 600cc street bike can turn those times)

[Stev-o]

That Yammie is stacked!

[750resurrection]

Have you ever cleaned your bike and noticed all the grit, sand and / or pebbles that collect right beside  the starter cover( 750 )? Why not just scoop it up and funnel it into your carburetors. It's a perfectly acceptable place to dispose of gravels and such, and will keep the debris you clean off your motor from taking up unneeded space in your TRASH CAN!

Trash goes in the trash can. Not topside of your engine. C 'Mon guys, you know better than all that...

That's the gravity plate collection tray. They designed that especially for stack runners I thought.

[lucky]

I've read people saying velocity stacks on the carbs are bad for your engine, saying that sucking in anything abrasive will hurt your motor. I agreed until I remembered one little fact, on my cb750 and most of these bikes the engine oil is ran through the clutch, so all the abrasive wear that comes off the clutch is already being kicked around in the engine - hopefully trapped in the oil filter soon enough but still in there. To me this is far worse than the little bit of dust/dirt that may get sucked up into the velocity stacks and largely burnt up/blown back out.

Velocity stacks it is!

Velocity stacks are NOT bad for your bike..but rocks or nuts and bolts will kill the engine.

[TwoTired]

Velocity stacks are NOT bad for your bike..but rocks or nuts and bolts will kill the engine.

Agreed.  Unless the carbs aren't re-jetted to compensate for vacuum level changes.  Then simply putting on stacks are bad for your engine as it will run lean/hot.

They are bad for street use, as they are intended for high RPM, high inlet airspeed which is when they have the only benefit (if properly designed).

As for "ram air", there is far more to it than just putting stacks on with the stock carbs, as adding pressure to the carb throat reduces fuel jet flow, as in melting pistons when high speed is achieved (briefly).