Advice on ram air! Pluhz help. Lol

[Lew L]

Well if you ask:

Ram air intakes must be in a high pressure point at the very front of whatever vehical it's on. Kawasaki learned the hard way on the ZX-11. Also the expansion from the intake to the air box/filter has to be very gradual( Suzuki learned this the hard way using small dia tube dumping into a large air box)
Intake on the side of a motorcycle are in turbulent air and will not build pressure. The size of the intake and its length( volume ) are critical to having a ram system actually build what little pressure they can.

On my ZX-11 I extended the intake about 1.5 inches ( known as a Kucherman diffuser as seen on all jet engines), made sure the air box was:
1. well sealed
2. insulated from engine heat
3. had smooth passage ways to the air box

Sean will have all the correct answers.

Happy New Year ya'all
Lew

 

[Hoove]

I have the Vgas with UFO ram air scoops that Sean pictured. It took him quit a bit of paint prep to make them look good for me. The ram air scoops have a tube that runs from the front inlets of the scoops and runs out and connects to the T connector between carburetors on each side. Mike at UFO explained to me this was to keep the carburetors from running out of fuel at high speed. Apparently I have not gone fast enough to experience the fuel starvation issue or it only applies to setups without the tube "like the forward facing stacks on the orange bike Sean pictured?". I was not happy with the fit and finish of the filter inserts that UFO provided so I modified them and replaced the foam with with something I found at the hardware store. I have had the bike at triple digit speeds and it seems that at over 60 mph it just pulls harder the faster it goes. Of course the bike runs rich at low speeds. Im hoping its better with the upcoming PCW 1500 engine. Getting accurate dyno numbers with ram air is impossible where I live as i don't know anyone here who can pressurize the scoops to get accurate readings at speed. Regardless of all this the fake scoops always bothered me and now I have some that aren't and I like them weather they help or not they seem to work just fine and I think they look great "thanks to Sean" and most importantly I like them and thats good enough for me. Did I pay to much? probably but Ive been wanting to do this since I got my first V-Max an 85 in 1992

[/IMG]

 

[DigitalArts]

Awesome responses guys I think I'm set on making a set of them unless I can find one in a usable color for under 400.

Any ideas on how I could fulfill either of those options?

And is there a simple way to keep the bike from running rich at low rpm without motor work? I thought the carbs naturally evened out a/f ratios since the air vacuums the fuel o.o

 

[one2dmax]

Used is pretty much non-existent and not sure if I have ever actually seen a used set available? Even then $400 for your max cost would be unrealistic. If your time is cheap enough then you're going to be far better off making your own set. The sets made now are done from a mold which took some time to develop and even then the output product took some effort to smooth up and look really nice (not so much the scoops but the connections to the carbs).

Here's the guy that makes them (I can sell his products too):
http://www.ramair4vmax.com/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.htm

You can use his images to get an idea what you're getting into.

Sean

 

[sdt354]

I worked in the boat building field for a long time as a mechanic, but have seen the amount of skill & time fabing stuff like this. My hat is off to you for even taking this project on.

 

[speedcostsmoney]

install some home made velocity stacks check posts to find, gonna be better cheaper and get more results

 

[lastwhiteman]

I know this thread is dated but I have some input and some advice needed. I put the vgas system on two years ago with the ram air scoops all installed by Jon and Mike. Did not like the foam "filter" on the front. I didn't consider that to filter anything but the occasional leaf or bird. I had parts and pieces of round and flat K&N filters from various projects left over so I cut and installed the K&N filters at the front where the foam was. I have not noticed any difference in performance, only now am actually filtering out most abrasives, I think (hope). I can post pictures if anyone is interested. The problem I have and started before the carb switch is the bike wants to make a bap bap bap sound when traveling at a constant speed, usually around 65 to 75, sounds like a miss at that point but if I just squeeze a little throttle it quits. Anybody else get this? Had the bike for around 10 years with 70,000 on the clock.

 

[sdt354]

I know this thread is dated but I have some input and some advice needed. I put the vgas system on two years ago with the ram air scoops all installed by Jon and Mike. Did not like the foam "filter" on the front. I didn't consider that to filter anything but the occasional leaf or bird. I had parts and pieces of round and flat K&N filters from various projects left over so I cut and installed the K&N filters at the front where the foam was. I have not noticed any difference in performance, only now am actually filtering out most abrasives, I think (hope). I can post pictures if anyone is interested. The problem I have and started before the carb switch is the bike wants to make a bap bap bap sound when traveling at a constant speed, usually around 65 to 75, sounds like a miss at that point but if I just squeeze a little throttle it quits. Anybody else get this? Had the bike for around 10 years with 70,000 on the clock.

Pics are always welcome. Post um up, please

 

[lastwhiteman]

Here's the pics. I cut the filters into circles that fit in the front of the part where the foam was. I used black RTV to stick em in there because I wasn't too concerned about appearances at this point, kinda my general attitude anyway, just wanted to see if it would work. I have plans to cut some aluminum rings that will allow me to capture the perimeter of the filters and have a place to cover the filters with the perforated stainless in the second picture. Going to eliminate the carbon fiber insert altogether.

 

[wayne z]

I know this thread is dated but I have some input and some advice needed. I put the vgas system on two years ago with the ram air scoops all installed by Jon and Mike. Did not like the foam "filter" on the front. I didn't consider that to filter anything but the occasional leaf or bird. I had parts and pieces of round and flat K&N filters from various projects left over so I cut and installed the K&N filters at the front where the foam was. I have not noticed any difference in performance, only now am actually filtering out most abrasives, I think (hope). I can post pictures if anyone is interested. The problem I have and started before the carb switch is the bike wants to make a bap bap bap sound when traveling at a constant speed, usually around 65 to 75, sounds like a miss at that point but if I just squeeze a little throttle it quits. Anybody else get this? Had the bike for around 10 years with 70,000 on the clock.

How long has it been since the carb sync was checked?

 

[lastwhiteman]

Well, never.......
I did often with the stock carbs installed, trying to save face here. I've been trying to gather info on these carbs before tearing into them as I suspect I may have sucked in a June Bug or something due to the crappy foam "filters" supplied with the carbs. Found this http://www.factorypro.com/tech/tech_tuning_procedures/tuning_FCR_Burns,Pat.html and looks like a good place to start.

 

[redneksoldier]

That was a good read. I think I might just have to put together a lambda sensor now lol. Having additional tuning tools never hurts. I might even make a way to use it on the quads.

 

[lastwhiteman]

We have lambda sensors on all the roads leading into this town. Stopped at the border you might say. LOL