Topic: EMGO pod filters hack

[Vhonda]

Nothing like electrical tape fix for cafe racer.

Without any adjustment to my carbs setting from running UNI foam filters, I added electrical tape to lower the surface area of the EMGO filters. +/- The surface area with electrical tape to adjust airflow.

That float bowl gasket was made from a cereal box and after 3 years still solid.

[Gurp]

Definitely some #$%*box mechanic work. I love it. I've had to do that a few times myself. 

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[Gurp]

You drive a beater car like me to?

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[Zissou]

That’s awesome. This seems like a trick to keep in the back pocket if you occasionally cruise up to high altitude

[Vhonda]

Gurp I love the $%#@box mechanical skill set 

Zissou, this hack should be included in all pod filter instruction booklets  Easy way for POD Newbies to understand air/fuel mixture.

[Gurp]

Gurp I love the $%#@box mechanical skill set 

Zissou, this hack should be included in all pod filter instruction booklets  Easy way for POD Newbies to understand air/fuel mixture.

It's definitely one of my favorite skill sets. It's one of the things I love about this forum and these bikes there's so many different ways to do things and achieve a good running cool bike.

Not to mention probably the best Honda community out there


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[Don R]

 I'll check for a pic, I cut up a gallon oil bottle, making some 1" arcs then I wound them into the Emgo pods. It took a couple tries to get a good pattern but once in there they stay in place well. My thinking was it could straighten out the air flow closest to the carb inlet. The carb can still pull air through the filters corrugations though so it might not restrict enough.
 Mine worked well replacing the Uni foam filters on a KZ1000 and then on my 836 with 29mm smoothbore carbs. They did not work at all on my gs1100 4 valve motor with a different set of 29 smoothbore carbs though! Even with the baffles removed.

[Kelly E]

The GS heads flow a bit better than the 2 valve heads.

[HondaMan]

They did not work at all on my gs1100 4 valve motor with a different set of 29 smoothbore carbs though! Even with the baffles removed.

That didn't work on the CB125 I restored, either.
Happily, someone in Thailand still makes [good] knockoff airboxes (or did, in 2012 when I did this bike) for the bike, so it got all new hardware and puttered perfectly into the sunset.

[seanbarney41]

They did not work at all on my gs1100 4 valve motor with a different set of 29 smoothbore carbs though! Even with the baffles removed.

That didn't work on the CB125 I restored, either.
Happily, someone in Thailand still makes [good] knockoff airboxes (or did, in 2012 when I did this bike) for the bike, so it got all new hardware and puttered perfectly into the sunset.

and that cb125 probably made more power than a cb550 with half plugged off crappy Emgo filters!

[Gurp]

The GS heads flow a bit better than the 2 valve heads.

Don did you ever find the pic?

[Don R]

 No, I didn't find the pic, so I got a new one. Poke a hole in each end of the baffles so later if you want to, you can remove them with a 90* o ring pick, otherwise it's a bear to wind them out. About 7" long, 1 1/4" wide, and an 8" or so radius curve by (guess)
 
  It's just trial and error to make and fit them but I my thought was that the baffle would help straighten out the flow closest to the air bleeds, the entire filter can still flow through the pleats, the air just needs to make the turn from under the baffle.
  My results on the 836 were inconclusive but it had Mikuni's already. The GS1100 with 29mm smoothbore Mikuni carbs for sure didn't need the baffles. It needed more carb.

[HondaMan]

We started "baffling" those individual pod air filters (don't remember the brand, it was 1976) on a CB500 during a trip across Kansas one [fine?] 100-degree summer day - with 50 MPH crosswinds. The wind was coming from the right (we were headed West) and the 500 wouldn't reach 50 MPH (good thing the limit was 55 MPH?) and fouled sparkplugs over and over. I took some tape and thin cardboard and tore strips to cover 50% of the pods on the upwind side, and after that gas stop it ripped right up to 70 MPH when the CB told us Smokey wasn't nearby. It ran that way the whole rest of that 2k mile trip and didn't foul any more plugs, either.

[dave500]

all pod kits should come with 2 rolls of tape and 4 sets of spark plugs?

[Don R]

 I've considered cutting the bottom 3" out of a gallon or 5 qt. oil jug and fashioning a crosswind and rain shield. It could screw right to the end of the pods.

[HondaMan]

I've considered cutting the bottom 3" out of a gallon or 5 qt. oil jug and fashioning a crosswind and rain shield. It could screw right to the end of the pods.

That would probably help at speed. I've long just sadly shook my head at the pod stories for sooo long...they are a great deal of trouble to try to tune standing still, let alone when the air is turbulent all the way down into and across the jets at hiway speeds. It's hard enough to make this style of carburetor work in the first place, which is why Honda spent so much Yen on the 500-5 and all the later bikes (until EFI intervened) after what they learned about it all with the 750. I still remember Yamaha's response in their 1100cc Four (XS Eleven): their mighty engine breathed thru a 1.5cm wide by 10 cm long-ish slot (I called it a "slit") up under the seat, much like in the CB500, which was airtight all the way to the carbs. We were riding in a group up at 10k+ feet altitude when he (with his wife) decided to play-race with me and my wife on Squaw Pass Road, a real snake at height. He couldn't pass me (and I had the Vetter, Tourpak and saddlebags aboard). He later decided it needed pod air filters to 'make more power' than my 750. After several boxes of sparkplugs, he then sold the bike the next Spring. I heard he bought a G'Wing many years later.

[Don R]

 I agree. I just like talking theory, my bikes with pod types all have Mikuni carbs but I'm still looking at stock airboxes. I even considered buying Kawasaki 900 Z1 reproduction air boxes for the 29 smoothbores on the Rat Race bike.

[HondaMan]

I agree. I just like talking theory, my bikes with pod types all have Mikuni carbs but I'm still looking at stock airboxes. I even considered buying Kawasaki 900 Z1 reproduction air boxes for the 29 smoothbores on the Rat Race bike.

Does that fit?

[Don R]

I agree. I just like talking theory, my bikes with pod types all have Mikuni carbs but I'm still looking at stock airboxes. I even considered buying Kawasaki 900 Z1 reproduction air boxes for the 29 smoothbores on the Rat Race bike.

Does that fit?

 Maybe, but only because the Mikunis are Kawasaki/Suzuki spacing with one of the last sets of Sudco adapter rubbers.

[scottly]

They did not work at all on my gs1100 4 valve motor with a different set of 29 smoothbore carbs though! Even with the baffles removed.

That didn't work on the CB125 I restored, either.
Happily, someone in Thailand still makes [good] knockoff airboxes (or did, in 2012 when I did this bike) for the bike, so it got all new hardware and puttered perfectly into the sunset.

and that cb125 probably made more power than a cb550 with half plugged off crappy Emgo filters!

[Trevor from Warragul]

When I converted my Morini 3 1/2 Sport to Mikuni carburetors I had no choice but to fit K&N filters. I decided I needed a shroud on the forward facing rear carburetor, so I went around the local K-Mart sticking a filter into various stainless steel receptacles. I eventually found a thermos mug with a stainless inner that was a perfect fit. I used a Dremel to cut it in half, and attached it to the filter with Liquid Nails. It works really well, and stops the "ram air" effect at speed.

[dave500]

that is fantastic engineering all done from your head,and it works,dont tell Kmart or those will be sold as bike parts from now on!

[HondaMan]

When I converted my Morini 3 1/2 Sport to Mikuni carburetors I had no choice but to fit K&N filters. I decided I needed a shroud on the forward facing rear carburetor, so I went around the local K-Mart sticking a filter into various stainless steel receptacles. I eventually found a thermos mug with a stainless inner that was a perfect fit. I used a Dremel to cut it in half, and attached it to the filter with Liquid Nails. It works really well, and stops the "ram air" effect at speed.

Nice job, and a good move!

[MRieck]

I guess I'm the luckiest guy on earth ( highly doubt it) because I've used K&N's with stock CB carbs, CR-29's, CR-31's and RS-34's and they all have run very well with AF verified on the dyno. Have run CV-36 carbs/ large oval K&N's on my FJ-1200 with excellent results. Worked well with RS-36's, 38's and 40's. Currently runs FCR-39's and runs perfect. I can't remember how many side draft Dynojet kits with individual K&N's I installed at my shop...dozens of early GSXR's alone.
 Only problem I've had is heavy rain on the CB. The FJ has gone hundreds and hundreds of miles in the rain with no problem as the side covers cover the carbs.
 I've never used Emgo or similar filters...only K&N's or BMC with modern stock airboxes. I also have found most people over jet because it sounds exotic to say I run 150 main jets.
 I have put tape on filters to help tune but never used it to permanently cure incorrect tuning.

[Don R]

 My GS1100 and CB836 on the Rat Race both have oval K&N's now, for a long time they were difficult to find. The 29 smoothbore K&N filters were found on ebay and I eventually got a set for the RS36's direct from K&N.
 It will be interesting to ride with the wide band O2 sensor working to see what (if anything) happens in different wind conditions. The small pods on the GS were wind sensitive for sure. I always wondered about a velocity stack inside a pod.