2001 Carb YZF R1 airbox Mod???

[srad34]

I have been searching for common mods to increase (lordy) the power. I have seen on some forums that there is a common one known as 'Ivans airbox mod' but some folk say it buggers up the jets, some not. It involves removing the front section of the airbox exposing the air filter. Benefits are power increase, induction noise and boosted midrange.

Has anyone had experience of this or can clarify exactly what/how much to remove? I already have a BMC filter in there so any experienced comments would be appreciated.

Cheers one and all

[Cibbersicks]

I'd doubt chopping the airbox apart would make for a large enough power increase to notice anything (or any at all, it most likely will go the other way) tbh. It's probably an "all in the head" thing because of the added noise.

You'd be better off sticking with your BMC filter, fitting a nice full system, dynojet kit and getting it set up by someone who knows their beans. Maybe try looking at shedding some weight off the bike wherever you can too?

[MonkeyJim]

personally I would stay well clear of anything like that. I'm not sure that hacking some holes in the OE airbox will have any other effect than to bugger things up.

If you really want to go down that route, source a proper ram-air box [eg QB carbon / Attack] both of which have a 'snorkel' that comes off the front of the box down into the gap above the radiator. then you'll need to get the carbs re-jetted to suit and presumably already have a full exhaust system fitted.

Eventually after lots of cost and buggering about you'll end up with a small gain at the top end and a big hole in the midrange

[rusty]

It seems to be a common theme on most US forums that chopping the airbox up is the only way to get better power figures.

On any of the US Yamaha forums, they speak about this Ivan guy like he's some kind of tuning god and one of his mod's on most bikes is to chop the airbox up. He usually claims that he's done it and dyno'ed the bike and got some daft hp gain!

[Cibbersicks]

However of course I may be wrong, Have a look at who's posted on this page 5 pages down.... R1-Forum

I think this guy knows what he's talking about with R1's...

but it does say further up the page, "Ivan admitted to cutting up 13 airboxes with just 1 working better than stock"

'Better' to what extent? and secondly, if it took this fella 13 attempts, surely there isnt that much of an improvement to be made?

[MonkeyJim]

However of course I may be wrong, Have a look at who's posted on this page 5 pages down.... R1-Forum

I think this guy knows what he's talking about with R1's...

but it does say further up the page, "Ivan admitted to cutting up 13 airboxes with just 1 working better than stock"

'Better' to what extent? and secondly, if it took this fella 13 attempts, surely there isnt that much of an improvement to be made?

Indeed. But Mark from M&M merely says 'he'll bear it in mind', not 'yes I've tried it and it's great etc'. Mark, any thoughts?

also worth bearing in mind that on Ivan's own site under the re-jetting kit he sells, it says

This bike was tested with numerous airbox modifications, different air filters and ignition advancers. None of which would outperform this kit with the stock air filter, at any engine speed above 4000 rpm!

so make of it what you will... but I won't be cutting any holes in mine

[Cibbersicks]

I won't be cutting any holes in mine

Would be a wise move I reckon...

[gsxr renegade]

I'm always a bit sceptical about mods like this, i mean, if simply cutting a hole in your airbox works so well, why wouldn't Yamaha have done it themselves, and sold the bike with a hole in the airbox, IYSWIM.

I'll certianly be leaving mine intact!

[YZ faybo]

There are a lot of "air box mod's" for SRAD gsxr's via US forums, all stating you will now gain xxx horsepower etc etc. They all seem to mention chopping this out and that. Ater to speeking to many Dyno operaters they all say the same thing if it worked so well why dont more race teams ever use them? or Dyno operators offer the service. Some folk even in the states say some of these mods will work in the end to small gains but require alot of work to get the bike some were decent again.

One interesting point the last Dyno man I spoke to about SRAD boxes said, that all the newer bikes have much smaller air boxes and idealy you want to have a smaller space as you can get dead air spaces were it doesnt flow as well as hinders air flow He all so mentioned on certain race bike he has worked on they blocked off one of the two ram air tubes zx or gsxr as it was getting to much air with not enough speed.

Maybe think about filling in parts of the air box to speed the rate in which it get's into the carbs?

[flashgordon69]

Cutting your airbox up is tosh

Get yourself a full system & jet kit

[speedy sie]

There are a lot of "air box mod's" for SRAD gsxr's via US forums, all stating you will now gain xxx horsepower etc etc. They all seem to mention chopping this out and that. Ater to speeking to many Dyno operaters they all say the same thing if it worked so well why dont more race teams ever use them? or Dyno operators offer the service. Some folk even in the states say some of these mods will work in the end to small gains but require alot of work to get the bike some were decent again.

One interesting point the last Dyno man I spoke to about SRAD boxes said, that all the newer bikes have much smaller air boxes and idealy you want to have a smaller space as you can get dead air spaces were it doesnt flow as well as hinders air flow He all so mentioned on certain race bike he has worked on they blocked off one of the two ram air tubes zx or gsxr as it was getting to much air with not enough speed.

Maybe think about filling in parts of the air box to speed the rate in which it get's into the carbs?

the air box mod on a srad is a known mod as the flapper padle restrict air flox to the carbs,cutting this out improves air flow to the carbs,the full on factory air box on a srad is nothing like the road box ther is no inside sub divider,not even an air fillter.,so i gues the factory race bikes are crap then!

and the zx7r factory air box is half the tank and half the comlpeat bottom of the bike,so againe crap?

and as for faster flowing air,the srad factory ram tubes funnle the air down the tube wich slims down as it enters the frame to force the air into the air box.wich then is shaped in side to cascade the air over the throtle inlets,all nice and neet.

and as for your dyno men,yes you get dead air in every air box,its a down to the shape,and as they are trying to get bikes lighter and smaller,they sacrefise the air box size,wich means they have to pay more attention to the shape.

the air box harmonics are far greater in a larger air box than a smaller box,so in my eyes ,the bigger the better,with in reason.

and as for big hp gaines,i can see the bikes rev up better,and i would say that you would get a hp increase,just remember a road bike is a road bike,and the air box,exhaust and some of the internal parts are there to make the engine wot it is a road bike,made to do some miles.

the race bikes that they are trying to make them in to dont have this problem,with emosions,noise,engine rebuild after 600klm,but the air box mod can be done cheep,and quick for next to nothing.

want to know about air box's and harmonics,just go over the carting sites,as the air box is the be all and end all on a cart engine,just as important as the exhaust.

shape size even the construction material is all part of the air box.

as for the r1 air box,iv never realy had much to do with them,but a gsxr srad box yes,and i can say it does work.

[exuprob]

I tried the US airbox mods on my 4XV by using an airbox bought on the 'Bay (so I could always go back to standard if needed) and, needless to say, I went back to the standard arrangement.

The cut about box was noisier and made a big low end flat spot (still using exup valve) but felt flat higher up (didnt Dyno it, just used my seat-of-the-pants dyno!) so popped the original box back on and all has been well ever since.

Bike manufacturers know best......................most of the time!

[sonic]

I had a V&M motor in my old R1 race bike.It came with the QB carbon airbox fitted but there is an awful lot of work to do to the carbs to make it work properly.I did get it working well but then went to flatslides with foam sock filters.Gained power everywhere and also benefitted from greater throttle response so if you can afford to go this route.Fuel consumption really suffers though!!.

Bit more involved than the simple airbox mod you were asking about,hope it helps though.

[hamill12]

Theres a very nice QB carbon air box on ebay item number 320577290224 for 1998 4xv starting bid £99 buy it now £200.

[uggiebear]

A nice balanced airflow is an essential part of unlocking a good power torque curve on an engine. On the old forum their was one very good piece on better airflow and mods, trust me chopping holes was not one of the ones mentioned. Any decent tuner will gas flow his head after his work. Rifling out cast etc by an amateur will not always improve performance (recent article in pb on the r1 or gsxr proves this). These hp claims are just that more airflow at a certain place but overall ride or usability dramatically affected. I had a ram air box on a 2001 R1 it was great made loads of noise bumped up the hp and torque but cost in fuel consumption. I am not sure what your after, maybe a little tinkering something to do or a bit of tweaking. But way up the pros and cons first. Getting it right will be a lot more than the bargain you had on e bay. Good luck and i hope you get what you want out of it.

[addiction269]

Ive got a open filter on my rsv,the hooked carbon one. There are others that work in various ways,this has got some dynos to show the difference before and after. It does do something on these, but obviously they are fuel injected and respond well to a pcIII and good set up. Ultimately its a small gain and a big noise. Depends if you really need to be chasing the HP's ?

[foo]

I also experimented with a ram air box on a 2001 5JJ, and couldn't make it work satisfactorily. Eventually I went back to the stock airbox with a free flowing filter. I'm not yet convinced that ram air boxes can't be made to work, but the riding characteristics of the bike were much worse when it was fitted -- as was said earlier, you seem to lose a lot of low end and midrange, which on a road bike isn't really an improvement.

I'd like to try again with a set of FCR 41s, but that's a whole other story.