| Author | Message | ||
     Cobra66 |
I've been thinking of either doing an open air box mod or drilling holes in my exhisting one. I've heard there may be a slight decrease in torque but I am wondering how much. Is it worth the trade in hp for torque and is it worth the extra noise from the intake? How much louder is the intake? | ||
| Mtnmason |
well of course the air box delete is going to allow the intake to pull air through the easiest, however it is all for naught if the module is not tuned accordingly | ||
| M1combat |
The intake gets pretty loud with just an air filter sized cap over the filter. I removed the cover and cut out a piece that just covers the filter. It's louder for sure. No idea if it's better. Not enough to feel anyway... | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Is your inner air box not well ventilated? My 07 has huge cut-aways from the factory. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I've got a XB9 airbox that's got a bunch of holes in it if you want to give it a shot and not have to cut your stock one. If you are interested in it I can post up some pics for you. I bought the cover and base along with a high flow race type filter when I found a good deal... I only wanted the filter so I don't have any need for the extra airbox and I've been meaning to list it here. | ||
| Trojan |
It will depend somewhat on the year of your bike and which airbox you have fitted. All OEM airboxes are compromise between efficiency and noise reduction, so power can usually be improved on pretty much any bikes stock air intake system. If you have an early (2002-2004) XB9 then the airbox design wasn't great. Drilling holes will improve it slightly but to make a big difference you need to either fit an open airbox top or swap the airbox cover for a XB12 item that is much better in design (then drilling this will improve it further of course). Later models had holes in from the factory so changes will have less benefit. However changing to a completely open filter even from the last of the XB models will still give an improvement of a couple of bhp, although intake noise will be increased of course. | ||
| Cobra66 |
Is it true you loose torque or is it even enough to tell. | ||
| Trojan |
Is it true you loose torque or is it even enough to tell. I ran one of these on both our XB9 and XB12 based race bikes and didn't lose any torque at all  http://www.trojan-horse.co.uk/prods/96.html You may have to remap/retune your fuelling if you run this and a relatively open exhaust though. Either ECMspy or TFi etc would do it. | ||
| Greg_e |
How much does the downward spike in the top cover really get you? I have an 03 and the top cover is flat, just wondering if it is worth tracking down a later cover or modifying my cover to provide some sort of air smoothing device in the center. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My friend turned his 2004 inner airbox into a saltshaker with a holesaw and added a K&N filter. He claimed a noticeable improvement. I think the 2007 were the first year of the factory-installed cutouts in there. Just make sure you don't chew away TOO much and bypass the filter or make it so it can no longer latch down. | ||
| Greg_e |
I'll add that I think chopping holes in it is the wrong way to do it when there are products like the one Trojan showed to get the job done without hacking something to trash. But that's just my opinion and take it for what it is worth. | ||
| Geedee |
I recently fitted a 2007 inner airbox to my 06 12Firebolt and was surprised at the difference. Pulls better but does suck louder. I like it. I was already running a K&N filter. Was a bit lumpy on start up but smoothed out after a short time. I am going to give it a TPS reset. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I ran an open airbox for a while (with just the lid over the filter itself). It was pretty loud. Sorta sounded like a miniature helicopter hovering under your chin. I've since switched over to the 07+ airbox top. It's much quieter with minimal change in performance. | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
I did'nt hear much more noise from the intake with an deleted airbox ,the only difference was that it was popping a lot more through the exhaust on a hot day when riding hard. so i put the swiss cheese airbox cover back on! | ||
| Glitch |
How much does the downward spike in the top cover really get you? I forget the numbers, but it's enough benefit to actually feel. As soon as the XB12 bikes came out and we found out about the airbox, everyone was buying them, it is a noticeable improvement. It was cheap too, I got mine from Tilley's H-D and it was $35, of course that was in 04 and Buell was still around... | ||
| Expatriate00 |
Is it an improvement over the Buell factory race kit, or was that part of the mod just a filter? | ||
| Glitch |
It is an improvement over the Buell Race kit. When I bought my bike, I had the race kit installed before I picked it up. After the XB12 came out, and we found out about the new style air box, I bought one. I noticed a the difference. If you box is stock, and you can find a newer one, get it, you'll be glad you did. | ||
| Imaposer |
This thread isn't too old to dig back up I hope.... Doing my research about things to do to my 06 uly, and going to the 07 airbox sounds like the best option to me. But, it seems the $40 best bang for the buck solution is no longer available? Am I wrong? Any source for these? | ||
| Greg_e |
You mean this conversion: http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-p rodshow/A9304.html Not $40 but should do what you want. | ||
| Imaposer |
Nope, that's a full open air box mod. I don't think I want to go that extreme since I still have the stock exhaust with servo and a non-race ecm. Maybe some day I'll go with an aftermarket pipe, open intake and race ecm, but that seems like something that would be best to do all at one time, not piece by piece.For now, changing the airbox top to the 07 style seems like a small improvement that would be worth the cost they were when available. I'll search for a used airbox and cut it up if I can't find one. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Well here's this, you inspired me to try and clear off the garage shelf a little bit more. I have some large drill bits and can open a few more holes if anyone is interested. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/21/ 681839.html |
