Confused and frustrated

So...

From reading the forums, I have come to the understanding that pods are without a doubt bad for an XJ650 for one reason or another. But every picture of a bobber I see has pods installed.

If I'm wrong, link me to a finished bobber project that doesn't have pods.

So is there something about bobbers that make pods the go to thing or what?

 

Not quite "finished", but she's a daily driver

 

Most anti-pod people are:

A) Trying to warn you away from the headache of getting everything running smoothly (especially if bike wasn't running right before pods).
B) Are purist and like the bikes as stock as possible
C) Are just pod-haters???

Some people get their pod'ed bike to run great, some never do, some go back to the airbox when they give up.

 

What else do you plan on doing with it?

I guess you do have a bobber, I just wanna know how far your going to go into modifying. From what I gain around the net its hard to say exactly what a bobber is... but the heart of every definition states its a "minimalism" bike.

Bobber - Wiki
Bobber - About.com
Bobber - BobberRepublic.com

Well if anyone out there can attest that pods are NOT bad, I'd love to hear from them, but so far nobody has come upfront.

 

pods are work to get going good and even then that depends on your definition of good. I like mine but wouldn't do it over again if I had a stock box. Then again as a ratter I really don't care what it looks like.
Not everyone is cut out for (or just WANTS to hassle with) the effort involved in getting pods running right.

The Kevin Cameron in me wants to crack wise to the effect of "if you're going minimalist why not convert the CDI to points, or better yet manual spark advance via twisting the left grip. THAT'S old school or whatever."

Again, my own view is just to make it run and make it keep running from here to armageddon and beyond. Pods CAN do that, they can even do that in style and improve performance. All it takes is pods, jets, exhaust, sweat, know-how, time, effort, brain drain, tools, exhaustion, frustration, patience, effort, time, more tools... see where I'm going?
Is it worth it? I certainly wouldn't trade the experience for anything (and I'm not done yet) but would I do it over again? well I prolly would actually but I wouldn't be nearly as enthusiastic about it.

Backfire night next week you can see all the pods ya want and talk to their owners.

 

I need to ditch the front fender and center stand. I just installed the TC Bros forward controls, gotta work out a few bugs. Got a mini speedo to replace the stock unit but still waiting on the mini tach to arrive. Then strip, shave & paint the tins. I have a spare swingarm/driveshaft assembly that another forum member will be stretching 3" which should drop the rear another 1-1/2 to 2" without risk of the shaft binding. I'll need to redo the rear fender, probably mount it to the swingarm. I may lower the front end to even it out after the stretch. Still working out the details.

She was completely stock and ran beautifully when I picked her up for next to nothing; threw the Mac 4-2 on and she sounds more like the beast she is while still being mechanically sound. No reason for me to mess with pods.

 

Front fenders tend to come in handy unless you live where there's never any puddles...

But more importantly, that stock front fender hides a really effective fork brace under its mounting "bridge" area. It's not a thin sheet metal stamping everywhere.

No centerstand will merely complicate rear tire changing as well as checking your oil accurately.

Just a couple of things you might want to consider, since it's your daily rider.

 

I understand the front fender from a bobbers point of view, but why the centerstand?

 

The center stand is what you put your bike up on, in order to get a proper oil level in the sight glass for reading.

The center stand is what you put your bike up on, in order to easily remove the rear rim so you can change the tire, or check the rear brakes for delamination... unless you have a motorcycle lift--then that makes rim removal even easier.

Dave

 

Bobbers are meant to be light weight. The centerstand is 20 lbs. or so(guestimating) and if you have a pop up stand at home it's just dead weight.

 

A centerstand is probably 3 lbs., probably less.

Pods are great. I run them on all of my bikes.

 

Did you have any problems with them mechanically, and what kind of difference did you notice after putting them on good or bad.