Pod Filters?

Just want to mention, direct water from a hose onto the filters with the wraps, will allow some water to go through. This is for rain and splashes of water. when i wash my bike i never spray the wraps directly

 

Agreed. I actually cover mine completely with a bag or something and take care not to spray directly at them as well.

 

So mamy people replied to this post and nobody mentioned that CV carbs + pods usually ends up in dissapointment. I have seen a few Xj600 and 750 custom bikes that went pods and each of the projects had the same issues. It usually started with cheap pods from China and some modifications using some kind of additional filtering material and after hours of checking different jets setups people would end up with the bike running ok either in low or mid/high range. One of my friends went with K&N pods and this seemed to be a nice improvement. However, to achieve this result my friend had to visit a tunning shop and they used a color tune spark plug, professional dyno and a 02 sensor. The only reason my friend did not go bancrupt was the fact that his brother in law was an employee of the shop
Also, I remeber talking to a bike builder during some customs bike show about pods and CV carbs and he said that he came up with a solution for getting rid of the stock airbox - it was a custom stainless airbox with cylindrical foam filters, but again this involved some time to get the jetting right + it is definitely not beginner friendly process.

 

posted on first page, no point to beating a dead horse

 

We've been beating that horse for over a decade. It's saved people (well some people) a lot of frustration.

 

So I bought an 81 xj550j maxim that came with pods on it no air box also it has a straight pipe exhaust (4 individual pipes). What jet changes will I need to make for this to work right? I am new to this so sorry for my ignorance.

 

Is their a specific jet kit to use for this mod? I recently bought an 81 xj550j maxim and it already had pods on it (didn't come with airbox) and I want to make these pods work.

 

I am a little late to this party...

Pods, especially the cheap eBay ones, are terrible filters. They will keep out sand and gravel, but they let in far more dust than foam filters.

UNI foam pods filter well, and are generally better made. If you have to with pods, go with them.

Performance-wise, there is no rational way for pods to improve anything. "More airflow" is nonsense. The airflow can only possibly be limited by the air filter at wide open throttle. The rest of the time the limiting factor is the opening between the bore and butterfly. If you really want more airflow, you need bigger carbs, at least until you hit your intake port limitations.

Pods are extremely cheap, cheaper than airboxes and foam filters. Manufacturers would have been all over a cost savings like that, if they could actually make them work same or better. But... they spent money on airboxes instead.

Yes, they can be made to work, but you only gain in looks.

Yes. It's possible.

However, I haven't seen anyone complete such a project yet. There are a couple of threads here with people in various stages of doing it. One guy has been at it three years, I think, but he isn't working on it full time.

There are no ready made kits. There are a couple of ECM options, but you need to find a throttle body that fits, make your own wiring harnesses, and weld in a bung for O2 somewhere. You also need to make a crank trigger. Fortunately, on XJ the crank trigger part is relatively easy.

 

One point I have to comment on here -
"Performance-wise, there is no rational way for pods to improve anything. "More airflow" is nonsense. The airflow can only possibly be limited by the air filter at wide open throttle. The rest of the time the limiting factor is the opening between the bore and butterfly. If you really want more airflow, you need bigger carbs, at least until you hit your intake port limitations."

Mostly this is correct, but it assumes that the standard filter is not restrictive at wide open throttle at high rpms. If it is, then a good pod filter could gain you additional airflow. The problem is likely to be, that at this point the carburrettor settings are going to be exceeded, or at least the jetting will be. The problem is of course, that in order to gain wot airflow you have buggered up the jetting everywhere else the carburrettor operates, (as well as at wot). Hence it turns into an almighty job to get it all right.

 

I bought my 750 Maxim as a non-running but mostly complete bike. I say mostly because the PO sold the airbox and carbs off the bike. I will put on another four carbs other than the Stock CV set.
CV carbs are not performance carbs, not that it's a bad thing just saying.
Cheers, 50gary

 

What happens at WOT is mostly irrelevant to a street bike. Unless you are a racer on a track, you will pretty much never get there.

 

Aw, just FI it.

 

Really? Only if you live somewhere flat in my experience? And if it were true, why would Yamaha fit the X with a 16V engine, or build a 900, or anything more powerful? Exup 1000 anyone? My vmax opens a carb commoning pipe at 6000 rpm, all hell breaks loose...

 

1. X has 20 valves

2. Want an engine with more HP or displacement?—- much easier to just go buy another bike already designed and built that way from the factory

3. vmax... well, I have my 1984, and my 2002——

 

I must be some sort of weirdo then. I hit WOT fairly often when I merge onto a freeway with a short entrance ramp, or go to pass traffic on a 2-lane road. In both situations reliable power delivery becomes critical.
Remember, WOT can happen in any gear, and at most speeds.

 

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us fuel, amen.
Fuel injection is a factory level difficulty project. Substituting different carburetors
is maybe not easy but at least it's straight forward. my 750 is just 4 x 187cc it's not magic hocus pocus but a ICE that needs fuel and air.
Cheers, 50ary

 

for the 550 stock jetsMain FUEL Jet Size: #112.5 Pilot FUEL Jet Size: #35
with pods and open exhaust
up 6 main jet sizes
HCP6928 Aftermarket Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #117.5 (not quite 6 steps)
HCP6929 Aftermarket Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #120 ( 8 steps up)

up 2 sizes in the pilot jets


HCP6952 Aftermarket Mikuni PILOT FUEL JET #37.5. This jet does not have fuel passage holes within the jet shaft.

you may want to consider using the seca 550 spec slide needles too

read the catalog for discription on the seca550 pod
http://www.xj4ever.com/catalog/c-mikuni.html

you are looking at about 45 to 50$ for the initial jet change
then about 25$ per main jet size if you need to go up or down a set.

mains first then do tests then change pilots do tests and see where your at.

you will lose out on the 50 mpg a stock 550 gets.

 

I've been researching it for a fairly long time. The same long time I have worked on this FJ600 rack. Literally years. I gave up and sent it out to be rebuilt, but even after that I fought overflowing for months.

I think I got it, but if it doesn't run without leaks sometime this winter, I will start that project. Yes, I hate carburetors that much at this point.

The most difficult part is finding a throttle body to fit. Otherwise you are making manifolds, and I am not equipped for that.


There is nothing straightforward about replacing carburetors. There is a ton of guesswork, unless you have a gas analyzer, which most people don't. The constant need to remove-replace the rack to change anything. Pulling plugs. In the end, you still get a "close enough".

 

WOT = ??

 

Wide Open Throttle