I have to ask if keeping the stock intake configuration were imperative to the operation of these old bikes, why can't Honda maintain support for them by reproducing the often damaged rubber parts?
Because when Soichiro Honda died, his mandate that parts continue to be produced for every Honda ever made, was overturned by those in the company determined to follow a business model for profit.
Honda DOES make parts available when a demand is presented. But, they will not lose money doing so. In some respects it becomes a chicken and egg issue. Parts aren't available because there is no demand for them. People don't order them because they find a more immediate substitute "that will do", or because they feel the part is too expensive, etc. So, from a certain viewpoint, people putting pods on the bike becomes a "cause" for why original replacement parts aren't available. The threshold for demand likely varies with the part in question. Costs for setting up tooling, minimum production runs, warehousing costs, distribution costs, have to add to the bottom line without negative impact. You can bet that if all the distribution centers suddenly had orders for 100 sets of carb couplers, a few months later, they would no longer be on discontinued status.
Those parts deteriorate and there is little alternative.
The fact is, that these parts are also destroyed by ham handed neophyte mechanics, too. But yes, you are right rubber and plastic are not centuries durable. However, how many manufacturers produce a consumer product expecting a 50 year life cycle? Again there are economic trade offs. Some companies actually produce product with planned obsolescence. I expect Honda used the most favorable items that current materials science had to offer at the time.
Could you explore, at least some of the theory, why pods do work, what their limitations are, and in what situations they might be appropriate? This way the guys who are running pods aren't instantly on the defensive and the argument is fully balanced.
Wow. I think that is a tall order on many levels. I do have examples of the stock equipment to examine/analyze. I do not have every example of every pod ever produced, or from every manufacturer, to analyze/examine. When I searched the internet for filter cross section pictures, it was nearly impossible to see internal cutaways of pod filters. The marketing is all geared toward outside appearance, rather than how they work internally. This is not a bash, but simply an observation.
It's not that I haven't looked for a superior pod filter. I just haven't found one, whose design said much beyond "we're shiny and keep out the bugs". I think those are the buyers they are trying to reach.
Some observations about pods:
- Individual pods preclude the possibility of delivering the same air pressure, air quantity, air temperature to each of the four carb entrances.
(Isn't the goal to have all four cylinders firing the same and producing the same power in concert?)
- Pods do give the possibility (not a guarantee) of more total filter media area offered to engine induction.
If for example, you increased the volumetric efficiency of the engine such that it required more total volume of air, then a larger surface area of filter media, or one less discriminating in the particle size passed through it, would be indicated. But let's face it, this is only required of the stock engine operated very near or beyond the red line, and those engines modified away from stock specifications (bore, stroke, cam, ports, valves, etc.)
Anyway, if you had just one big pod (to gain large filter surface area) and moved it away from the carb entrance and had the proper flow ducting into each carb... Viola! a "benefit" of pod (singular).
But, if "the look" (which let's face it is akin to a religious argument, not a technical one) of four individual pods needs a technical champion, I'm not sure I can provide that function, due to lack of positive technical data. And, I suggest that it might be easier to convince a group of persons that orange is a far better color than black. As has been said, personal preference trumps just about any technical merit in this matter, among those of a predetermined outlook. I just don't think you can change the laws of physics by popular vote.
Cheers,
