'82 XJ750 Maxim Pods with Flow Straightener

Hello all, I am fairly new here given that I just inherited an 82 XJ750 Maxim in dire need of some TLC! For future reference, I will post a build thread when I'm close to or finished. I am replacing a lot of stuff on the bike and I got pod filters to put on, but please spare me the 7 layers of hell, at least for right now! I saw that there were various posts about turbulent air causing issues with tuning an already difficult carb, so my question is, has anyone attempted to use flow straighteners either in the pods or in the air box connecting ducts (if installed between the pods and carb)?

I'm planning to use the pods, I know I will probably never get it to run optimally, but I think I can get a lesser of the evil if I use some honeycomb airflow straighteners. I'd have to make them up, but I think it would alleviate some of the concern. Anyway, I figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone has tried this before. If not, I guess I'll try to be the first if I can do it without sucking one into the carb! I very much respect your opinions and experience, it has helped me out a lot so far, so just go easy on me with the whole pods thing!

Any thoughts on this? Thanks a lot!

 

if airbox is still in bike get it up and running correctly before you travel the pod road to anguish.
rebuild carbs, check shims , compression test, rebuild brakes

that way you will know it is running correctly before you go pod .
fyi to date no one here who has done the work of pods has claimed complete success.
we have had one member make the air box boots look like pods with a wrap around type screen.

it is also about rejetting for the flat spot, possibly slide needles can be changed gets costly to do the experiments

 

I'll claim 99.9% success with my pods. But xj550h is right. Leave that airbox on until you're 100% the engine is set up optimally. Check your valve clearances, get your carbs squeaky clean, then make sure they're synced and tuned for the best performance possible. Then venture into the world of pod filters. You're on the right track to 'fix' the air between the pods and the carbs, I used the stock air boots from the airbox with my pods and it fixed my dead spot completely.

 

@steber would you post what you did as far as jetting and air box boots. what bike and exhaust you have in the mods section
title it 99.9%pod success. this is much needed info for the podders

compression numbers and shim clearances wet set levels, would be nice if you have them written down someplace

your avatar looks like a maxim 550 with modified exhaust.

 

I'll see what i can do. I'm not sure I have my shim clearances written down anymore, When I switched them all out i errored on the side of exactly spot on or slightly loose depending on what shim I needed. I think my thread is probably archived from when I shimmed my valves, I will see if I can dig it up. You can check out my current build thread and see a video of the bike on a few tests runs. I think jets are always a moot factor that cannot translate to any one bike, due to altitude and climates. Believe it or not, I did not need to rejet my carbs from stock. I've ran several plug chops throughout the RPM range and run a nice light tan color. The bike is an XJ550 and its stock exhaust without any mufflers, as of now. I'll consider post a new thread, maybe someone can repeat my success. I been running that way all summer without any issues. The bike is now parked for major overhauls.