Pod Thoughts

Ive read a lot of posts on here about pods. direct fit is turbulent. using the air boots helps a little but cant calm the air in the short distance. has anyone thought about using some kind reducer/baffle inside the Joints? kind of like the exhaust. just to stop some free flow?

 

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of pods?

Everything I have read here has been about how hard it is to make the XJs run right with pods. The carbs are very temperamental and do not like changes unless you are willing to do a lot of work trial/error if you can even get it run the way they are supposed to.

 

There was an extensive thread awhile back out pod modifications. Maybe I should call them 'PODifications'!!!!! lol

Personal opinion--the engineers designed it just right to begin with, and got pretty much everything out of the engine that can be gotten efficiently. The idea of 'going to pods to get better performance' actually turns into a 'going to pods will only give you worse performance and more headaches'. Leave the airbox and filter as is.

I will feely admit-- Hi, my name is Dave, and........I have a set of pods. (Hiiiii, Daaaave.......we love you) THEY ARE ALL IN THEIR BOXES SITTING ON THE SHELF.......that way no one ELSE can abuse their bike with them !!!!! bwaaaaahaaaaahaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaa



Dave F

 

yep, alot of bikes run wrong with pods. plus if you have the slightest amount of humidity in the air or of course its raining, your allowing moisture to enter the carb and eventually the motor not to mention they look dumb

 

The TURBO bike runs well with 18 pounds of boost (modified waste gate)
Maybe an XJ would run well with TURBO carbs ?? (and PODS)

 

There has been copious discussions about PODS.

We are now entering the third decade of owners trying to get their bikes to run right with Pods.

The very best advice anyone has come-up with, ... so far ... is:
"You have to re-jet"!
Then, ...
"You have to re-jet, ... again".
And again ...
And another time ...
Then, once more ...
And, another time after that ...
You get to be one of the greatest XJ Carbs on-and-offers there is ...
Because ...
"You have to re-jet"!

There are some things in this wonderful world that just seem impossible:

1) You can't fine-tune an XJ-Bike after installing Air Pods
2) You can’t count your own hair
3) You can’t tolerate getting soap in your eyes
4) You can’t breathe through your nose with your tongue sticking out
5) You just tried #4
6) When you tried #4, ... you realized it IS possible ... but, it made you look like a cute puppy dog!
7) You're smiling right-now, because you realize that you've been had!
8 - Now you're thinking about who you are going to get with this gag!

If you want to try Pods, ... go ahead.

SAVE the Airbox, Boots and Clamps.
You'll be glad you did!

 

Bunch of Pod haters around here. :lol:
These CV carbs are hard to get adjusted right with pods, but CAN and HAS been done by several members. There's a thread called (Pod success stories) I believe, Timetoride started it.
Pods do require a bit of re-jetting and not every engine is the same. The velocity stacked pod works, although I have seen some without the velocity stacks that work.
The real answer to your question is: Yes it can work, but are you willing to go thru the hassle. :wink:
My opinion is:
If you have a Maxim and want to do the mod, go for it or change to different style carbs. If you have a Seca, leave it stock.
Could also do the EFI mod.

 

+1 to the "Pods are a load of rubbish!" argument.

I have seen testing done on cars, generally there is no improvement or a loss of power from stock factory air-box. Dicking around with them on a bike is a pain in the ass and you likely don't gain anything, they are just Piles Of Damn Sh1t. They look cool though, good for show bikes I guess. Like real sow bikes, ones that never get ridden, ever.

Also in Alberta, it can be a bit dusty sometimes in places, Pods don't filter as well and lots of people swear by them, or not by them as the case may be. After a season of riding with them here you are supposed to see significant drop in compression values across the board. Time to bore it out and put in over-sized parts!

 

Good man :lol:

Oh and @ RickCoMatic-: #8 = Wrong! (the rest was on the money though )

And Neronova surely that's how pods gain the performance, the abrasive dust comes thru the pods, bores your engine out for you & then you have bigger capacity, ergo more horse power? :lol:

 

By several members who claim they are satisfied with performance.
SEVERAL ... members.
Several.

If that was "Several Dozen" members, ... there wouldn't be such strong opposition to the POD-MOD.

I ran the numbers in another Pod-related Post.
The "Success" rate was .348 or less.
Not even close to One-percent.
Shy of One-half of One-percent.

 

Or, from an optimist's perspective, over a third of a percent! 8O

I think the people who have succeeded are simply those like Allen Millyard (creator of 5 cylinder Kawi KH's, V12 "Z2600" and a Viper bike), who do things they're told "can't" be done, just to prove it can in fact be done... All well and good, without these lovely, bloody minded people we wouldn't have Viper engines in road legal, and ridden (no silly "artwork" contracts there), machines. More power to them, the world is a better place for the likes of Millyard & Barnes Wallace... But for the vast majority of us, step away from the pod, it's not worth it! :?

 

You got to be one heck of an optimist to get all hinkey for a third of one-percent!

I think the best approach on rendering advice to someone who comes-in looking for advice on Air Pods is the truth.

They present a formative challenge.
Not everyone who tries them is happy with them.
It might take having to experiment with jetting numerous times.
You should only install Pods AFTER you have Fine-tuned the Bike STOCK, ... so you have a good-running situation too compare too ...
And, return too.

 

I'll bet even Barnes Wallace didn't have PODS on his Brough.

 

Success stories of PODS thread

Maybe if more of these podders would post their stories, we'd get all the way up to 0.5% ?? 8O

 

I think that basing the success rate on posts may be over-representing the successes. I find that it's rare for a person to be willing to share their failures with the world. Even EFI bikes require some "adjustments" for individual filters to work as well as an airbox does. How many successful AMA Superbike teams use pods now? (I honestly don't know anymore)

 

0. <-- :wink:

 

I doubt you'd find any.

Most Racing Teams use Custom-made "Screened Velocity Stacks" on the Throttle Bodies.

A set of Race-prepped Screened Velocity Stacks go for $600 ~ $1900

http://www.oppracing.com/product_displa ... ty-stacks/

 

Whether the Pods can be tuned is secondary to 'do you actually get a performance boost.' I contend that you don't because there is no significant restriction of air-flow to free up. The air pump (engine) sits less than 12 inches from the filter, it's a straight shot, is your throttle response slow?? nope.

Want more air? Throw in a V-max style velocity stack that feeds the box-then set about re-jetting, and burning more fuel.

Rick your making me laugh for sure!

 

Rick, how many people have to do it before you'll stop saying it can't be done?
I've noticed that most of the people that have done pods have left the site because they got tired of hearing it won't work.
It seems like anytime somebody wants to modify a sacred XJ from its (MY Precious) stock form, we get to hear all the BS. blah blah blah... pods don't work...blah blah blah... hardtails are death traps..suicide shifters and foot clutches will kill you...blah blah blah! It's getting to be like listening to a old man telling his kid not to hot rod his car.

 

Rick was not saying it can't be done. He was just saying that it will take time and effort to make it run right. With time and patience you can succeed, most run out of patience and go back to stock. I have tuned several bikes with PODs because the customer wanted it for looks. Even with rejetting they never run as good as a stock setup but they do run fine, Its hard to get that mid-range throttle stumble out. There are many of us here that prefer function over form.
I like the looks of the POD filter but prefer the smooth running stock setup.

 

I agree its hard, which is why a lot of people haven't done it. But some people have done it and been satisfied. I personally wouldn't go through it, which is the reason I changed to round slide carbs.
It just seems to me that a person should be able to get good advise about doing a mod instead of opinionated advice against it.
I'm not singling you out Rick, I just happened to ask you a question in the first sentence. Rick didn't actually say can't be done this time, he just implies it.
I've been on other sites that have many bikes with CV carbs equipped with pods and no complaints. I have also seen people come to this site with a bike they just bought with pods and complaining of running issues. Those running issues could be dirty carbs, wrong jets, dirty filters, gas flow problems, out of sync carbs, firing issues or valve related problems. But the very first thing someone will say is "get rid of the pods and put the airbox back in".

 

OK.
I'll try to be bipartisan.

You can put Air-Pods on an XJ-Bike.
But it' not a matter of opening the box, putting them on and go.
Some people claim to have installed Pods and are happy with the results.
What the results are is a matter for investigation and discussion.

It's evident that the process to achieve a satisfactory state of fine tuning hasn't been discovered yet.
The Forums are littered with posts from experimenters who have gone to great lengths too find the answer for themselves and others.

Some people say you only have to rejet.
Others say rejet and shim.
Some have tried developing their own Manifolds out of everything except paper mache'.

Until there is a definitive formula that is far more successful, explicit, and does not require a great deal of experimentation; I'm not going to recommend Pods be installed without ... what is in my opinion ... a necessary caveat about the all too obvious "Down-side".

Simply telling someone, about to abandon the Airbox and Boots because they are all excited about how great the Bike will look with Pods installed, that they are going to have to rejet, ... is closer to leading them astray than imparting good advice.

Therefore:
I will continue to advise the uninformed, that yanking-out the Airbox and Boots so that they can stick some Pods on the Plant, thinking that it will look much better and go lots faster is a perilous adventure. And has been, for a good many who have tried, an exercise in futility.

 

Ok Rick, I'll try not to get aggravated so easily in the future too. LOL

 

Well that escalated quickly. i have thought about EFI. but i dont know how right now. havn't looked into it. ik its been done on here.

 

There are a couple of threads on EFI conversion. Go to the Forums - XJ Modifications and search EFI. Something is bound to turn up. However this could be a costly mod, but have many benefits.