Air Pod/Jet change quesiton

colehooey

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So I'm wanting to put Air Pods on my stock carbs and I have a few questions. I know you need to change the jets, but do you need to change the main and the pilot jets? And if so how do you know which ones to upgrade to? Also, how do you test the mixture to know it's good once you have installed the jets? Is it the sort of thing you just "feel" out or is there some way to quantify the whole process?

Much thanks,
A newb! :)
 
Also, I will be doing the 2-1 exhaust from Mike's plus the Reverse Cone Megaphone Muffler he has. Not sure if that will help with anyone's suggestions. I'm just looking for some general thoughts concerning which jets to use, I know it takes a lot of trial and error.
 
http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/mechanics-corner/133371-carb-rejetting-question.html#post2051123

And while your at it save god the trouble and kill a kitten yourself .

I mean read it . and if you can find your way around the abortion of a search engine that BTK uses read all the posts Mark and I have made about the subject . I look forward to seeing the pictures your drunken friend takes and posts on rotten.com . I'd rather eat fermented chum from spawning salmon .
I'd much rather eat the southern end of a northbound skunk . I'd rather vote for Barack Obama for president . I'd rather ...

~kop
 
Use UNI foam pods instead of the K&N type pleated and tapered style. CV carbs don't like a pleated or tapered style filter. Something about disrupting the airflow at certain RPMs. The UNIs will be easier to tune for. I found the last little tuning glitches I had disappeared like magic when I switched from (real) K&Ns to UNIs.

As far as jetting recommendations, figure one or two up on the pilots and one to three up on the mains. You may need even slightly more on the mains depending on how free flowing your exhaust is and which carb set you're dealing with. Without knowing which carb set you have, that's about the best (and only) info I can give you.

Sure, the factory airbox is a nice set-up but these bikes are so old and usually neglected/abused that it's not always an option. The airbox and stock filters on mine were trashed when I got it. Pods were the cheapest alternative and after sorting the jetting, the bike runs fine. Pods are all I've ever run but I have ridden airbox equipped 650s and mine doesn't run worse. In fact, I think it runs better. But I put the time and effort into making it do that. I don't doubt that tuning a CV equipped 4 with pods is a nightmare. Probably why I don't own one, lol. But tuning a 650 for pods is perfectly doable.
 
5twins, thanks for the advice! Appreciated. It's the stock 81 carbs so I believe 34mm Mikunis are stock for that year? (Correct me if I'm wrong?)
 
Bob, you're right UNI is the bees knees, and they (arguably) filter better (from what I hear). Which ones are you running? They sell many different types.
 
I use their standard straight black pods, #UP4200 (2" flange I.D.) for my 38s. The BS34s are better served by the #UP4229 which has a larger 2 1/4" flange I.D. You can also use the dual layer versions (UP4200ST or UP4229ST). I didn't go with them because mine are hidden behind the factory side covers and I also wasn't sure the larger diameter dual layer version would fit behind the covers as well.

http://www.unifilter.com/online catalog/universal.html

Uni-CheckValve.jpg
 
Well mostly, yes. You also want to check your plug color during the process to make sure they're not all white (too lean) or all black (too rich). There's a lot more to it than that though, lol. I've been doing it for years to all sorts of bikes so it comes a bit easier to me, the new guys not so much. When testing, you'll want to watch for stumbling, break-up, or flat spots and note what RPM they occur at. That will tell you what circuit and jets to change.

For just pods on the BS34s, most go one up on the pilots and 1 or 2 on the mains. Every bike responds a bit differently to mods and jetting changes based on the overall condition of it's motor so you'll just have to experiment. You have a general guideline to go by now and that's what's important. The 650 doesn't require large increases in jet sizes for mods but usually does need some. Some other bikes do require major changes. For instance, modify an old Yamaha RD350 2 stroke and you go from mains around 100 all the way up into the 160s and 170s.
 
Do you have to mess with the jetting when going from stock air filters to the K&N's that fit the air boxes? (YA-1152)
 
K&N says no but every bike I put K&N airbox replacement filters in ran better with a jet change. They ran OK without it but had better performance (in the top end mostly) with a change. The change was usually just a main jet size increase of one or two. I never tried the airbox K&Ns on a 650 but if I did, I would definitely go up one on the mains to see if it improved things. We're only talking like $6 or $7 for a pair of main jets here and if you really want to get all the performance available to you, you'll need to try this. That's the only way you'll know for sure.
 
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