Topic: To Pod or Not to Pod

[dsharstrom]

I have gotten to the point in my build of a 75 550 that I'm looking at air flow, jetting and exhaust options.  I would like to use pods but and was hoping to get some feedback from those who have changed out their system.  Which pods worked well and which jets do you end up going with? 

[Powderman]

Quality pod filters like K&N and UNI can be made to work. You can get ballpark jetting advice on the internet but fine tuning will always need to be done on a dyno to know for sure. Cheap EMGO type pods will only frustrate you to no end and will never make more power than a stock set up airbox, they are purely cosmetic at the expense of performance, many accept that.

Read this:

http://www.caferacer.net/forum/tips-tricks/19639-pod-filter-thread-geeto.html

[chewbacca5000]

Quality pod filters like K&N and UNI can be made to work. You can get ballpark jetting advice on the internet but fine tuning will always need to be done on a dyno to know for sure. Cheap EMGO type pods will only frustrate you to no end and will never make more power than a stock set up airbox, they are purely cosmetic at the expense of performance, many accept that.

Read this:

http://www.caferacer.net/forum/tips-tricks/19639-pod-filter-thread-geeto.html

Thanks for posting.  Those are some good pics that show the difference between the cheap pods and quality air filters.

Cheap pods block the air jets good ones don't.

[Powderman]

It's more than just blocking jets/air passages. The airbag has manifolds that are shaped like a velocity stack to control air speed and turbulence. Cheap pods are not engineered like this.

[xtravbx]

My 550 with 650 cam, 4-1 and uni pods starts with first kick pulls hard and is a blast to ride.

I plan to do a similar setup for other 550 as well.

[Powderman]

My 550 with 650 cam, 4-1 and uni pods starts with first kick pulls hard and is a blast to ride.

I plan to do a similar setup for other 550 as well.

Do you have any idea how much more power the pipes and cams would make with the stock airbox? I bet you don't?
It just seems a waste to actually add some power improvements and then choke them searching for a look.

[jaguar]

Pods are mostly a bad idea.
Main that claim pods run "just fine" on thier bikes have no clue what a good running engine is.

Many don't even bother to buy more then one set of brass to tune the carbs!

[DaveBarbier]

Go for the pods. I had pods and now velocity stacks (with screens) on my 550 and it feels really good and looks great. I don't have anything to compare it to because I never got it running well with the stock system.

I remember having this discussion with TwoTired (I know it's been talked about at length many times before, though). I know the stock air box is better, I don't think anyone can deny that. Two arguments there, though. First, given the age of these bikes and often times the not great condition many of us find them in (ie: extremely dirty carbs, or trees growing through the frame) it seems reasonable to believe, since most of us aren't engineers and are just here for a hobby and don't want to rebuild an entire motor or buy a new set of carbs, that once we do get them running they might not run as perfectly as they did off the showroom floor anyway. Could be some stubborn debris in the carb body somewhere, pitted brass, slightly rusting exhaust internals or even higher elevation that it hasn't been jetted for. Second, how poor of a running condition will pods create? If I blindfolded the lot that are dissing pods and put you on a decently tuned podded bike, could you tell based on the butt dyno? Or are we talking tiny increments in fuel mixture that a computer has to tell us? I'm genuinely asking. Even TwoTired says, with his many stock and beautiful 550's, that they all act differently. Let's say a new 550 was a 10 on the scale of smoothness and efficiency, would a podded bike be a 2? I think it could be more like a 9. I am willing to sacrifice that little bit for looks, and then make up for it with other upgrades like a hot cam or dropping in a bored out 650 motor as I plan to do.

Yes, it takes time to get a podded bike running well (maybe more time than it's worth) with trial and error and plug chops and jet switching and confusion and frustration with fuel height, I'm looking at you, screenm2, haha. But if you keep going, then it can run pretty darn good. And cafe's are awesome.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

[chewbacca5000]

I think the key is to have a good running bike to start.  Lots of people try to get by with mostly broken worre out componets.

If you want to pod your best chance of sucess is to do the following.
1. No air leaks anywhere
     *New exhaust gaskets, carb boots, air box boots and gasket
2. No holes in exhaust  ie new pipe with good baffle
3. Spotless carbs, with needle / seat

Add it all up and your at around $500 to just to get it to run right.  Most people from what I can tell do not want to spend the money.  So they try to tune broken parts are get bad results.

What ever your intial buy price is add $500 to get a bike that can hold and idle and run right.  Don't expect 40 year old parts to work like new.  Wear parts need to be replaced.

If you willing to shell out the $500 for the basics add an extra $200 for pod tunning and you can get there.

If you start with broken parts and add $20 pods you are not going to be happy.

[Tews19]

Well said  Chewy.

Now if you have yet to buy pods I have a brand new set for your bike. I won't be using them. Not cheap Emgos. Top of the line K&N. If you are interested PM me. Looking to sell and highly discounted.

[John Eberly]

Dave,

Some of us ARE engineers, and we might have the best shot at making pods work. We mostly don't try because it seems stupid to go through all that work just to get your bike to look like something a fifth grader drew .

It's fine to hack up old bikes and it's fun to invent something and it's amazing when these old machines actually work, especially with some of the "mods" that people do. It's just that at least half of the hack jobs end up being sold off as basket cases after some starry eyed dreamer ruins them.

So don't "yeah, but" that it's OK to make the bike worse by podding it - tell people to make them work right or don't do it.

Go for the pods. I had pods and now velocity stacks (with screens) on my 550 and it feels really good and looks great. I don't have anything to compare it to because I never got it running well with the stock system.

I remember having this discussion with TwoTired (I know it's been talked about at length many times before, though). I know the stock air box is better, I don't think anyone can deny that. Two arguments there, though. First, given the age of these bikes and often times the not great condition many of us find them in (ie: extremely dirty carbs, or trees growing through the frame) it seems reasonable to believe, since most of us aren't engineers and are just here for a hobby and don't want to rebuild an entire motor or buy a new set of carbs, that once we do get them running they might not run as perfectly as they did off the showroom floor anyway. Could be some stubborn debris in the carb body somewhere, pitted brass, slightly rusting exhaust internals or even higher elevation that it hasn't been jetted for. Second, how poor of a running condition will pods create? If I blindfolded the lot that are dissing pods and put you on a decently tuned podded bike, could you tell based on the butt dyno? Or are we talking tiny increments in fuel mixture that a computer has to tell us? I'm genuinely asking. Even TwoTired says, with his many stock and beautiful 550's, that they all act differently. Let's say a new 550 was a 10 on the scale of smoothness and efficiency, would a podded bike be a 2? I think it could be more like a 9. I am willing to sacrifice that little bit for looks, and then make up for it with other upgrades like a hot cam or dropping in a bored out 650 motor as I plan to do.

Yes, it takes time to get a podded bike running well (maybe more time than it's worth) with trial and error and plug chops and jet switching and confusion and frustration with fuel height, I'm looking at you, screenm2, haha. But if you keep going, then it can run pretty darn good. And cafe's are awesome.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

[b5rider]

My 550 with 650 cam, 4-1 and uni pods starts with first kick pulls hard and is a blast to ride.

I plan to do a similar setup for other 550 as well.

I"m still having issues with my idle. Do you have the later PD carbs?
I have a 600cc kit, 650 cam, 4 into 1 and Uni pods.
My idle hangs and the acceleration is sluggish below 2500RPM
Your carb setup?

[jaguar]

Go for the pods. I had pods and now velocity stacks (with screens) on my 550 and it feels really good and looks great. I don't have anything to compare it to because I never got it running well with the stock system.

I remember having this discussion with TwoTired (I know it's been talked about at length many times before, though). I know the stock air box is better, I don't think anyone can deny that. Two arguments there, though. First, given the age of these bikes and often times the not great condition many of us find them in (ie: extremely dirty carbs, or trees growing through the frame) it seems reasonable to believe, since most of us aren't engineers and are just here for a hobby and don't want to rebuild an entire motor or buy a new set of carbs, that once we do get them running they might not run as perfectly as they did off the showroom floor anyway. Could be some stubborn debris in the carb body somewhere, pitted brass, slightly rusting exhaust internals or even higher elevation that it hasn't been jetted for. Second, how poor of a running condition will pods create? If I blindfolded the lot that are dissing pods and put you on a decently tuned podded bike, could you tell based on the butt dyno? Or are we talking tiny increments in fuel mixture that a computer has to tell us? I'm genuinely asking. Even TwoTired says, with his many stock and beautiful 550's, that they all act differently. Let's say a new 550 was a 10 on the scale of smoothness and efficiency, would a podded bike be a 2? I think it could be more like a 9. I am willing to sacrifice that little bit for looks, and then make up for it with other upgrades like a hot cam or dropping in a bored out 650 motor as I plan to do.

Yes, it takes time to get a podded bike running well (maybe more time than it's worth) with trial and error and plug chops and jet switching and confusion and frustration with fuel height, I'm looking at you, screenm2, haha. But if you keep going, then it can run pretty darn good. And cafe's are awesome.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

I happen to be an engineer.
Also was a mechanic for a few years before going back to school.

I get that many just see a picture on pipeburn and want to play dress up and wax poetic about wrenching on an old bike.  Something about defining their being or some other hipster BS.  Personally I have zero use for them.  They ruin bikes, lead others to think that bad mods are okay and should be tolerated.

Why have a motorcycle that is not running as well as it could?  Even worse, why know that it could be better but choose to not have that?  Do people buy a new car and take a spark plug out so that it sounds "different"?  WAY to many people are just focused on a look.  They don't ever ride or put miles on the bike so how it runs doesn't matter.  How many times does a bike get "finished" only to be listed for sale with the line "only 100 miles since rebuild"?  And they post that like it is a good thing.

I blame shade tree morons like Dime City Cycles for this as well.  People look to them and assume they have a clue.  THEY DONT......
Love when people talk about back pressure or flow of pods.  They clearly don't understand motors, nor get what the parts actually do.

I do digress though.  MY personal stance is that anything "café" should be something that actually has performance.  The mods and changes done to the bike are there to make it perform in a measurable way better.  This also assumes a well established base line.

All the rest is just the same game of dress up the chopper guys play.  Im okay with that (insert reference to my chopper)  but PLEASE do not talk about how a café is some rip roaring street racer when it has pods as a "performance" upgrade.

But alas I am back on my soap box digressing.

If you don't care about performance and are building a chopper that kinda looks like a old race bike then pods are okay.  Are they going to kill all HP?  Nope.  Are they going to leave you with enough HP to putt around to the local parking lot meet?  Sure. 

But if the plan is to add HP so that your riding experience is better then don't bother.

I will say that you should look into what the actual weak link in the SOHC motor is and address that.  I have a small test that I want to run one day.  I want to dyno two different motors. ~$500-1000 budget on each.
Motor One:
Standard hipster junk mods.
-Pods
-Cut off pipes
-ect

Motor Two:
-Ported head.
-Cam
-Serviced stock everything else.

What do you think would make more power?

I bet that all the money spent trying to get bad fashion mods to kinda work would yield NICE numbers if spent on making the head not the bottle neck.

But I might be wrong.  While I have messed with these bikes for years I have not dyno'ed many.

[DaveBarbier]

Go for the pods. I had pods and now velocity stacks (with screens) on my 550 and it feels really good and looks great. I don't have anything to compare it to because I never got it running well with the stock system.

I remember having this discussion with TwoTired (I know it's been talked about at length many times before, though). I know the stock air box is better, I don't think anyone can deny that. Two arguments there, though. First, given the age of these bikes and often times the not great condition many of us find them in (ie: extremely dirty carbs, or trees growing through the frame) it seems reasonable to believe, since most of us aren't engineers and are just here for a hobby and don't want to rebuild an entire motor or buy a new set of carbs, that once we do get them running they might not run as perfectly as they did off the showroom floor anyway. Could be some stubborn debris in the carb body somewhere, pitted brass, slightly rusting exhaust internals or even higher elevation that it hasn't been jetted for. Second, how poor of a running condition will pods create? If I blindfolded the lot that are dissing pods and put you on a decently tuned podded bike, could you tell based on the butt dyno? Or are we talking tiny increments in fuel mixture that a computer has to tell us? I'm genuinely asking. Even TwoTired says, with his many stock and beautiful 550's, that they all act differently. Let's say a new 550 was a 10 on the scale of smoothness and efficiency, would a podded bike be a 2? I think it could be more like a 9. I am willing to sacrifice that little bit for looks, and then make up for it with other upgrades like a hot cam or dropping in a bored out 650 motor as I plan to do.

Yes, it takes time to get a podded bike running well (maybe more time than it's worth) with trial and error and plug chops and jet switching and confusion and frustration with fuel height, I'm looking at you, screenm2, haha. But if you keep going, then it can run pretty darn good. And cafe's are awesome.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

I happen to be an engineer.
Also was a mechanic for a few years before going back to school.

I get that many just see a picture on pipeburn and want to play dress up and wax poetic about wrenching on an old bike.  Something about defining their being or some other hipster BS.  Personally I have zero use for them.  They ruin bikes, lead others to think that bad mods are okay and should be tolerated.

Why have a motorcycle that is not running as well as it could?  Even worse, why know that it could be better but choose to not have that?  Do people buy a new car and take a spark plug out so that it sounds "different"?  WAY to many people are just focused on a look.  They don't ever ride or put miles on the bike so how it runs doesn't matter.  How many times does a bike get "finished" only to be listed for sale with the line "only 100 miles since rebuild"?  And they post that like it is a good thing.

I blame shade tree morons like Dime City Cycles for this as well.  People look to them and assume they have a clue.  THEY DONT......
Love when people talk about back pressure or flow of pods.  They clearly don't understand motors, nor get what the parts actually do.

I do digress though.  MY personal stance is that anything "café" should be something that actually has performance.  The mods and changes done to the bike are there to make it perform in a measurable way better.  This also assumes a well established base line.

All the rest is just the same game of dress up the chopper guys play.  Im okay with that (insert reference to my chopper)  but PLEASE do not talk about how a café is some rip roaring street racer when it has pods as a "performance" upgrade.

But alas I am back on my soap box digressing.

If you don't care about performance and are building a chopper that kinda looks like a old race bike then pods are okay.  Are they going to kill all HP?  Nope.  Are they going to leave you with enough HP to putt around to the local parking lot meet?  Sure. 

But if the plan is to add HP so that your riding experience is better then don't bother.

I will say that you should look into what the actual weak link in the SOHC motor is and address that.  I have a small test that I want to run one day.  I want to dyno two different motors. ~$500-1000 budget on each.
Motor One:
Standard hipster junk mods.
-Pods
-Cut off pipes
-ect

Motor Two:
-Ported head.
-Cam
-Serviced stock everything else.

What do you think would make more power?

I bet that all the money spent trying to get bad fashion mods to kinda work would yield NICE numbers if spent on making the head not the bottle neck.

But I might be wrong.  While I have messed with these bikes for years I have not dyno'ed many.

I don't really care if you both are engineers. MOST people here are not.

Defining their being? Hipster bull? You're making it sound way worse than it is, haha.

Your test with two bikes won't work. Why? Because it's not double blind. Don't even bother doing it.

Just have enough horsepower to putt around a parking lot? Akin to removing a carbs spark plug? Again, you're exaggerating. A perfectly tuned factory bike with a fat person riding it will loose in a drag race vs a podded hipster bike ridden by a skinny...well, me...145lb dude. What does that mean? To me it means that a podded bike that's decently tuned will still be pretty good and that weight matters more in this case.

To the PO, it's your bike, just know that an airbox IS better and pods are worse, but not really THAT much worse. It could be possible to get it running well.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

[DaveBarbier]

Dave,

Some of us ARE engineers, and we might have the best shot at making pods work.

That's the ironic part. The ones who could actually make pods work REALLY amazing are the one's who would never do it, haha.

We mostly don't try because it seems stupid to go through all that work just to get your bike to look like something a fifth grader drew .

Haha, that's unfair.


Both are nice, but I'd rather ride Kott's cafe. And chicks dig the cafe look more in my experience...and in the end, isn't that all that matters??

So don't "yeah, but" that it's OK to make the bike worse by podding it - tell people to make them work right or don't do it.

No, I'll never tell someone not to do something to their own bike.* If someone asks, I'll shed light. People who say to never do it and it makes the bike run like garbage and you can't get it to work and you'll only be able to putt around the parking lot are the other side of the spectrum to people who think EMGO pods are a performance upgrade. Neither are true...well at least the EMGO performance upgrade isn't true. But with a little work and understanding you can get out of that parking lot and go ripping around real streets.

*unless they want to eliminate brakes or paint swastikas on their tank. Then I'd be adamantly against it, haha.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

[Davez134]

I'm not going to beat to death what everyone else here has already said, just my personal experience (with stock carbs). My first bike that I built was already hacked up, came with no air box and cheap pods ran like crap. I rebuilt motor, 836cc, good quality Motogpwerks exhaust. I then good quality K&N pod filters and I think that made a huge difference. I really did like the look. The bike ran good actually, idle was a little unstable at times, wind affected it, things like that, but very rideable bike.

My current bike I wanted more of a classic look but still performance oriented. 836cc again, JMR ported head, Webcam, AIRBOX, with K&N filter. (better airflow through the engine, and the airbox is not a restriction at all that I can notice) The other bike ran good, this thing runs Optimal! Now, this is with factory carbs, but I will never go back to pod filters again!

[Muckinfuss]

to jaguar and other engineers with opinions....I too am an engineer.  Why you care what someone does with their money is beyond me.  If it upsets you so much, make an offer that can't be refused.  I cafe'd two BSA's ...... back in the '60's...... and we all hacked them up and did stupid stuff to make them different, loud, ugly and just plain cool.  If you think farting around with Honda carbs with pods is a crazy stupid exercise, try and keep any motorcycle with Amal Monoblocks or Concentrics running...period.  Or get going a ton and have a Zener fry.  Who really cares if some other guy's 550 isn't the fastest from one stop light to the other....unless you're betting on them to win?  The interweb is great for sharing information, but arrogant, opinionated attribution rationalization....not so much.

[jaguar]

I don't really care if you both are engineers. MOST people here are not.

Defining their being? Hipster bull? You're making it sound way worse than it is, haha.

Your test with two bikes won't work. Why? Because it's not double blind. Don't even bother doing it.

Just have enough horsepower to putt around a parking lot? Akin to removing a carbs spark plug? Again, you're exaggerating. A perfectly tuned factory bike with a fat person riding it will loose in a drag race vs a podded hipster bike ridden by a skinny...well, me...145lb dude. What does that mean? To me it means that a podded bike that's decently tuned will still be pretty good and that weight matters more in this case.

To the PO, it's your bike, just know that an airbox IS better and pods are worse, but not really THAT much worse. It could be possible to get it running well.


---
1978 Honda CB550K
[/quote]

Yep, most are not.  But some have asked.  Just answering the question.

Yeah, lots of hipster bull.  Its okay, some are into that.

Right.  That's the issue with the test.  Lack of a control.  Should have each motor dyno'ed stock first.  That would help a bit.  But really at the end of the day few would care.  Most are okay with pods being "good enough" anyway.

Absolutely.  How can you be okay with a known power loss, but not okay with someone pointing it out?  Lots of things go into making the motorcycle work as a system.  You are correct that a fat guy is slower on the same bike then a horse jockey.  So what then?

Try a double blind test with a fat guy and a skinny guy on pods.  This could be fun!  I will volunteer as the fat guy.

Honestly not trying to argue, unless about hipster, then I am firm at the "burn at the stake" stance.

I think the most important thing in any of this is knowledge.  I am fine with a guy that KNOWS that he is making a HP sacrifice for a look.  It is calculated.  Motorcycles are tools.  Each do a job.  And if the job is to have a look and wow girls then fine.  Build to that purpose.  But I do take issue when people perform a mod, and then talk about the mythical gains because they do not know any better.  I feel that knowledgeable people have a duty to at least explain that to a newbie.  Again, not saying hold a gun to their head and yell "NO PODS EVER".  Some times the advice is harsh though.  It is what it is.  This happens to be a very light forum.  Come on over the Caferacer.net......we have a different tone....lol

This is my chopper.  Don't care about the power loss of the stacks.  I just need enough HP to putt my fat butt to the bar and back.


But the Seeley will run the stock airbox until I can make the needed changes to actually make more HP then stock.
Different bike for a different reason.

[jaguar]

to jaguar and other engineers with opinions....I too am an engineer.  Why you care what someone does with their money is beyond me.  If it upsets you so much, make an offer that can't be refused.  I cafe'd two BSA's ...... back in the '60's...... and we all hacked them up and did stupid stuff to make them different, loud, ugly and just plain cool.  If you think farting around with Honda carbs with pods is a crazy stupid exercise, try and keep any motorcycle with Amal Monoblocks or Concentrics running...period.  Or get going a ton and have a Zener fry.  Who really cares if some other guy's 550 isn't the fastest from one stop light to the other....unless you're betting on them to win?  The interweb is great for sharing information, but arrogant, opinionated attribution rationalization....not so much.

It doesn't bother me what someone does.  Like I said I just look to help in an understanding of what changes do. 
As for the internet.  Well some don't think that it is just a blind help desk that should only ever have the nicest and rosiest of responses to every bad idea.

[turboed13b]

I think I said this in another thread but yes you can run pods and yes it will make the same power as a stock bike it just takes a lot of tuning.

No it does not take $500 to get your bike to run right unless you absolutely have no clue what you are doing and send it off to a shop. I can take a barn find and get it running perfectly for under $100.

[Muckinfuss]

To the point of pods in use......all things equal (carbs working properly, compression ok, etc.) I too had read all the voodoo over using them or not.  In anticipation of the problems, I polished the intake and exh. ports.  Even without pods, I would have done this, but it seems most everyone who was having problems wasn't dealing with the 'system' but the item.  In a nutshell, polishing will increase flow through the engine and this will compensate for the loss of the intake venturi design of the airbox (an air ram), which in my opinion, was a Honda way of moving production money around.  It's cheaper to make one mold to make a plastic airbox that compensates for crappy head casting performance than it is to clean up after the casting with a port and polish.  These are 70's production technologies and the results can only be described as "different" from today's results.  Will a polish compensate?  Depends, but done right, it won't hurt....pods or not.

[evanphi]

[Roach Carver]

^^^^^^ exactly.

[DaveBarbier]

I don't really care if you both are engineers. MOST people here are not.

Defining their being? Hipster bull? You're making it sound way worse than it is, haha.

Your test with two bikes won't work. Why? Because it's not double blind. Don't even bother doing it.

Just have enough horsepower to putt around a parking lot? Akin to removing a carbs spark plug? Again, you're exaggerating. A perfectly tuned factory bike with a fat person riding it will loose in a drag race vs a podded hipster bike ridden by a skinny...well, me...145lb dude. What does that mean? To me it means that a podded bike that's decently tuned will still be pretty good and that weight matters more in this case.

To the PO, it's your bike, just know that an airbox IS better and pods are worse, but not really THAT much worse. It could be possible to get it running well.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

Yep, most are not.  But some have asked.  Just answering the question.

Yeah, lots of hipster bull.  Its okay, some are into that.

Right.  That's the issue with the test.  Lack of a control.  Should have each motor dyno'ed stock first.  That would help a bit.  But really at the end of the day few would care.  Most are okay with pods being "good enough" anyway.

Absolutely.  How can you be okay with a known power loss, but not okay with someone pointing it out?  Lots of things go into making the motorcycle work as a system.  You are correct that a fat guy is slower on the same bike then a horse jockey.  So what then?

Try a double blind test with a fat guy and a skinny guy on pods.  This could be fun!  I will volunteer as the fat guy.

Honestly not trying to argue, unless about hipster, then I am firm at the "burn at the stake" stance.

I think the most important thing in any of this is knowledge.  I am fine with a guy that KNOWS that he is making a HP sacrifice for a look.  It is calculated.  Motorcycles are tools.  Each do a job.  And if the job is to have a look and wow girls then fine.  Build to that purpose.  But I do take issue when people perform a mod, and then talk about the mythical gains because they do not know any better.  I feel that knowledgeable people have a duty to at least explain that to a newbie.  Again, not saying hold a gun to their head and yell "NO PODS EVER".  Some times the advice is harsh though.  It is what it is.  This happens to be a very light forum.  Come on over the Caferacer.net......we have a different tone....lol

This is my chopper.  Don't care about the power loss of the stacks.  I just need enough HP to putt my fat butt to the bar and back.


But the Seeley will run the stock airbox until I can make the needed changes to actually make more HP then stock.
Different bike for a different reason.

[/quote]

For your test I was mainly referring to the fact that you'd probably care less about the podded bike's running ability. You most likely wouldn't take the time to get it running as well as I would or someone else who liked pods. A little biased is all I was saying.

And I don't think I saw anyone saying that putting pods will get you instant horsepower.

To me, it all comes down to "how much" of a power loss for an aesthetic change. To me, pods (or stacks in my case) are worth it. I think these threads are always good because it shows the OP that it's polarized and that there's no right answer.

Ahh, this topic never gets old. Always makes for a fun discussion, haha. I'd buy you a beer if we were having this discussion in person.


---
1978 Honda CB550K

[fmctm1sw]

Ahh, this topic never gets old. Always makes for a fun discussion, haha. I'd buy you a beer if we were having this discussion in person.

... and probably get the bottle smashed over your head by the looks of things.    I always tune into these threads out of sheer morbid curiosity:  Oil, dynabeads, pods, etc...