Unipod air filters

[mark1969]

Ok, so I installed my new fork springs and checked my compression - all 4 were 146-148 psi on a relatively cold engine (few mins warm up) so I'm happy with that. It seems good from what I can tell. Next job is installing my new Unipods. I have a question about oiling them. It may have been asked before, but I haven't been able to find the answer.

Question: Do you oil the inside of the filters? It seems difficult with the metal cage/spring inside them. I think I'm ok with how much oil, having looked at a few videos on Youtube, it's just whether to oil the inside as it says to do on other Unipod filters. Any definitive answers please?

Thanks! 

[Firehawk068]

I oiled both the inside, and outside of mine.
I put them inside a zip-lock bag and worked the oil into the foam as well.
You'll just have to adjust the metal springs when you're done. 

[FJmonkey]

Just pull the springs out to oil them....

[mark1969]

Sorted, thanks for tips. Fitted and tested on a decent run today. They certainly make me want to ride the bike harder by keeping it in the power band now. I had a great ride just knocking it down a gear or two and enjoying the induction roar. Lovely! It transformed the bike into a 600 (albeit a heavy one..).

Makes for a different riding experience, but a great one. Highly recommended. They wanted to slip off the carbs, but I realised it's best not to tighten too much, just enough to make them secure...

I love them! 

[mark1969]

Sadly, after all my excitement of a few weeks ago and a few long rides I'm sorry to say I've turned full circle on the unipods. They DO make the bike growl amazingly and give a good acceleration hit at higher revs.

However, they completely flatten the mid range which I've realised is where I do most of my riding. I liked the torquey roll-on that the original airbox gave, the ability to overtake at normal road speed often without changing down. The amazing torque that this bike was given at inception is what I love. Where I live, overtaking confidently and quickly is essential because it's lots of twisty roads where opportunities are limited and I'm not sure I want to HAVE to drop a cog or two to achieve that every time. Before these were fitted I was able to ride in top gear AND overtake more crisply and safely. Now I'm having to use the gears more, and it's all a bit flat and flabby frankly until higher revs are reached.  

I've shimmed the needle, tried larger main jets and many combinations of them, but nothing seems to make a difference to how I like to ride in the mid range. So yes, I enjoyed the brief bike personality change into a more sporty version, but for me that's not what the FJ is about. A personal feeling and I'm going back to stock..

And yes it does of course make it easier to take the carbs out, but unless there is a problem they don't come out much anyway, and I never really had an issue with that before. It was curiosity that made me try the Unipods and I'm glad I did. So it seems it was a 'nice to have' not a 'must have' for me. Maybe I ride like an old granny most of the time, or maybe I value my licence. Either way, riding above 6000 revs much of the time is not my cup of tea..

I've screwed around with air filters and jetting on bikes over the years, but for me it has often ruined the mid range power alongside a 4-1 exhaust. The way it was designed seems the best unless you are a track type rider or like revving the nuts out of this bike, which it seems I don't. I've finally learned that I like it the way the factory intended.

I realise plenty of people like the Unipods, but I just don't like the way it flattens the power delivery. I've lost the flying backwards on the seat feeling that I loved and instead have a powerful twist and go moped feeling to the power delivery. I'm not having a go at those who like them, and I really wish I did, but I don't, so today I changed back to the old airbox. Having tested that yesterday, it made me realise which I prefer. It's just crisper acceleration with the airbox. I still have a K&N panel filter and 112.5 main jets, so a bit of possible tweaking with the needle and that will do me.

It IS personal preference, and for those that like pods that's cool, just wanted to give my opinion about them. I can't believe I'm alone in this..!  

And so I look forward to more mid range mediocrity that still pulls me backwards on the seat...albeit more smoothly and crisply.

[ribbert]

...my opinion ...... I can't believe I'm alone in this..!  

It is and you are!

Mark, you write in a manner that suggests your findings are conclusive, they are not. Needing to drop back two gears to get the same acceleration you had before??
I don't know what you've done but pods alone are not going to suck the life out of your mid range performance.

I'm not a particular fan of pods, even though I have them, so I have no barrow to push defending them.

My riding partner has a late model BMW, our bikes have always had identical roll on acceleration from any speed in top up to about 100mph when the FJ starts to pull away, with only minor differences from external factors effecting the way the FJ runs on any given day.

With only the addition of pods and re-jetting, the acceleration of the bike from idle in 5th gear through 100mph and anywhere in between, remained much the same and there is no noticeable rush above 6000rpm.

Like most here, I spend the bulk of my riding mid range and would not tolerate anything that compromised the torque.

I can tell if my bike's performance is off even by a whisker and I have made no such observation, verified by the side by side check with BMW.

Noel

[mark1969]

...my opinion ...... I can't believe I'm alone in this..!  

Mark, you write in a manner that suggests your findings are conclusive, they are not. Needing to drop back two gears to get the same acceleration you had before??
I don't know what you've done but pods alone are not going to suck the life out of your mid range performance.

My opinion is not conclusive but right for me at this time, hence sharing those views. I'm not arrogant enough to think my way is best, I'm more confused with how I don't love the pods. I thought long and hard about sharing my views, because so many like pods. Honestly? to me they are a pile of cack.

We all like different things on bikes and I'm not saying I'm right and everyone is wrong. All I can say is my own point of view, and right now after spending money on various jet kits / filters over the years my view is they provide a lovely noise but completely ruin my riding.

Taking a look around the internet once you start digging you realise that some others feel the same on various bikes. Maybe it's a 4-1 pipe thing? The fact is, for my bike and lack of roads where you can really open up they flatten the bikes pull until you get to well over 6000 rpm - hence my dropping 1-2 gears comment. When I overtake here, I'm often travelling at 50ish mph which necessitated a drop in gears (with pods) to achieve the acceleration I get without pods. The roll on for an FJ is pretty damn good with the stock airbox but is completely ruined by the pods, something which I found after a few long rides.

Yamaha no doubt put a lot of effort into getting decent performance from its design and I'm happy with that.

I'm no expert, but I research for many many many hours and take my time over all things mechanical, and have a good feel for what is happening when riding. I'm not the fastest rider and never will be, but when I am carrying out my usual overtakes, open the throttle in top gear and the bike is flat so I nearly have a head on, there is a problem.

I didn't go looking for the pods to not work, on the contrary I love the sound of them, but on my bike with my roads and riding they fall well short of what is acceptable to me and ruined my riding rhythm and took away my planning and that's not cool.. 

The bike feels tighter and more responsive to ride with the airbox reinstalled. That's not meant to be conclusive to anyone, I'm not that arrogant. The fact is, it's my reality and I'm sharing it.

Finally, we all like different things which is why there is a massive market out there for all things biking. I'm not attempting to change anyone's mind about pods, but from looking around the net I'm not alone in how they work for me.

[FJ1100mjk]

So, if I'm following this correctly, the only things that you realized from having pods is, a flattened mid-range, and an enhanced top end performance that's pretty much un-useable in typical daily riding situations/conditions? And of course, easier access to the carbs, and a louder intake sound when on the gas.

Did you ever play with, and/or check the fuel levels in the carbs' float bowls?

I too, have seen a fair share of negative comments about people that switched to pods on other bikes, on other forums, but I thought that the people that switched to and use them here, have them dialed in and are quite happy with the benefits of them.

I never switched to them. Opting to stay with and deal with the OEM arrangement.

[Flying Scotsman]

Well enjoy your ride the way it is.
I have never had a fj with a stock airbox so I cant compare all I can say is I have no need to be rev happy on any of my fjs to make mid range power so im not going to change to an airbox without proof it improved performance.
85 1100 pulls strong to red line,86 1200/sold pulls strong to red line,90 1200 pulls strong to red line no flat mid range on any of them.

[Bones]

When I put them on mine I noticed it felt a little bit flat accelerating from about 2000 rpm in top gear, so I raised the needles one notch by lowering the circlip and that seems to have fixed that.

Midrange I feel is the same, still pulls like a train, but top end feels that little bit stronger.

I like them and I'll stick with them, but everybody's got a different view, so do what you gotta do.

[mark1969]

So, if I'm following this correctly, the only things that you realized from having pods is, a flattened mid-range, and an enhanced top end performance that's pretty much un-useable in typical daily riding situations/conditions? And of course, easier access to the carbs, and a louder intake sound when on the gas.

Did you ever play with, and/or check the fuel levels in the carbs' float bowls?

A good summing up, and for info, the float heights were checked last year and found to be in spec (I can't remember exactly what they measured..). It's not a fuel supply problem, it feels (felt) more like a bike that was out of tune. I haven't got a dyno and maybe it would be better to go that way, but I did try a lot of different main jets with the needle on different settings too.

For clarity, the bottom end was lovely on the 42.5 pilot jets at 3.5 turns out, and the top end was damn good too. It was the middle range, where I am starting to believe the airbox plays a great part, hence my refitting it, and where I do most of my riding. Where I live you rarely get above 60-65mph, so maybe that is a factor too? Riding style, roads and preference.

Like I said it could be my 4-1 exhaust and maybe it would better with a 4-2...but I can't afford to test all that, so for now it's been resigned to the tried and didn't like box. Who knows, I may try again in the future..for all of you with pods who are happy, that's great. I wish I was!   

[Arnie]

Well, just to keep straddling that fence and probably upsetting both sides.....
My experience with the Uni DualPods is that removing the airbox did hurt the midrange as the airbox is tuned by Yamaha (who know a bit about tuning) to counter the resonance and typical "holes" in the torque curve.
As the FJ1200 has so MUCH midrange, once I'd adjusted the needles and gone up on the mains, the loss in the midrange was minimal IMO, but it was still there. So when I need to honk from lowish revs I rotate the throttle an additional 5 or 6 degrees.
However, that wonderful intake honk more than compensated (again IMO).
The added benefit of easy access and extra storage space sealed the deal.
I'm keeping my foam DualPods.

Arnie

[mark1969]

My experience with the Uni DualPods is that removing the airbox did hurt the midrange as the airbox is tuned by Yamaha (who know a bit about tuning) to counter the resonance and typical "holes" in the torque curve.
As the FJ1200 has so MUCH midrange, once I'd adjusted the needles and gone up on the mains, the loss in the midrange was minimal IMO, but it was still there. So when I need to honk from lowish revs I rotate the throttle an additional 5 or 6 degrees.
However, that wonderful intake honk more than compensated (again IMO).

Fair comments. I think perhaps its the bit of the midrange that I used that disappeared...hence my rotating the throttle and not much happening aside from a nice growl from the airbox and a close shave overtake..

So me describing the 'midrange' may just be describing a small part of it that I use for the roads I ride and 'how' I ride.

It's definitely all part of a learning curve, so thanks for your comments. Who knows, on a bored afternoon I may try them again...just for fun.. 

[Flying Scotsman]

MPG can be affected also imo.
It takes some tinkering with the carbs to get over 40 mpg with no air box best i saw was 46 mpg on the 86.I think you can get an easy 5 mpg more might get as much as 10 mpg more with tinkering and an air box.
Just my 5 cents worth but I have heard of MPG over 50 with air box.
So More performance with pods and better mpg with a box.

[Pat Conlon]

Mark's UniPod observations about a softer midrange punch is not new. This has been around since the '80's
Tuners have tried different tricks to get rid of this flat spot. For example, Dyna Jet kits have a softer slide spring so the carb slide pops up faster.