Discussion Pod Filters are the best...

Pod Filters are the best...way to start a discussion on 250cc.com

I see a few mentions on here of just how stupid pod filters are. And must admit I have installed one on my TW200 scrambler project. The original airbox is both enormous & fugly so I removed it.
I then grew a beard, got a tattoo & began wearing outdated ugly clothes that fit poorly in all the wrong places, almost tried avocado on toast but fate stepped in to save me as the overpriced "hip on instagram" place I was at had run out of free range butter that day

Now just as soon as I installed the filter, I thought I saw the speedo needle tremble in anticipation of being wrapped around right back to zero...Seems about right, so I ordered some monster jets just to be sure the power levels double. Apple says Pods are mega hip, its just a silly air filter, really the roads here are not dirt, probably don't even need a stupid filter, I mean what can go wrong ?

Ok in all seriousness, help educate me on why Pod filters, & us pod people suck so much ! Is it because they suck so much air ?
So far I have learned the issue lies mainly in the fact pods can cause a turbulent airflow (makes sense) & that for the most part they really mess with the CV style carbs the worst (it says Velocity right in the title so i can imagine turbulence can readily alter said velocity) & also that pod filters may work okay at WOT (PERFECT ! The bike is slow enough that WOT is pretty much all the time LOL)

Luckily it turns out my TW scrambler project has the older non-CV carb (i think, still researching that) so I may be OK. But do you guys have any other useful insight as to;

WHY POD FILTERS SUCK ?
What are the alternatives to a fugly airbox?
Any funny anecdotes ? ( seriously laugh at hipsters, super motards, cafe racers, I dont care, lets have fun ! never lumped myself in any category, but maybe a tiny bit of all of them at times, so I get to laugh with all, so long as I can laugh at myself too)
OK Fire at will !

 

Any idea what the Srx250 has for a carb ? I was under the impression its almost a hybrid CV carb ? No plans to pod filter my SRX but i'm still learning it

 

Wow this is all excellent tuning info !
It sounds like many bikes have a CV carb. & a CV carb + Pod filter= poor vacuum fuel metering.
Poor metering=poor performance

I gather 2 strokes do not have vacuum to run a CV carb so pods OK. Would be funny to try a CV on a 2 stroke !! Now a 1800cc bike that might need pods ? is HUGE, my CAR is only 1500cc I dont need that much power in a bike just yet LOL
I do like performance for sure, but in all honesty the bike I put a pod on is a whopping 200cc 13hp trail bike (TW200) so pursuit of performance was not the objective, itaball about the looks...I need to delete the big plastic airbox to achieve the desired profile.
Now I do understand putting looks ahead of performance is backwards to many, & its not even that the airbox is heavy, just ugly.uNow if a fool was so inclined to just keep "dreamin" & just HAD to remove a clunky plastic airbox (or lets just pretend its an unobtainable part for now is there any other alternatives to a big ugly air box or pod filters that suck ? (their undersized elements inwards)
It sounds like turbulence is at least one issue (I have experienced bog/surge from strong crosswinds on a bike, just from an opened up snorkel & or a missing rubber flap wind guard near the intake snorkel & thats WITH a stock airbox) so perhaps a pod filter if placed in a well protected, non turbulent area would be better than out in the wind...

Boy this really messes up my plan to clean up the bikes look. I may have to devise some kind of airbox that "looks" cool but provides good non turbulent airflow, or get a slide carb ($$$)
Maybe make something like a clear plexi/perspex box with a velocity stack inside that draws from a hidden panel filter. That way maybe I can get the open frame "look" without going backwards performance wise.

 

And I (currently) have no plans to remove the stock airbox on my SRX250, but it sure sounds to me just like the xt600 carb described like a 1/2 & 1/2 hybrid. Perhaps the best of both worlds, tho a bit complex

 

I did consider an aluminum airbox, would be much easier to make than from clear plastic. Plastic could insulate from heat better & be see thru so less visual obstruction for "looks" too but that idea may be scrapped depending on what the final plan becomes.
The links Maelstrom provided are VERY in depth, literal scientific equations to calculate speed of sound & resonant tuning...oh boy thats some serious math ! This bike was designed sometime pre 1987 so perhaps it is before manufacturers went all Albert Einstein on intake flow... yet if any manufacturer would've been tuning things like resonance back then, it would likely be Yamaha, makers of both fine pianos & hifi stereos.
Based on those tech articles it sounds like many airboxes get tuned to even out intake pulses with resonance, particularly in the midrange where valve overlap can cause a loss of torque.
Too bad I am not a scientist with a supercomputer & team of R&D techs to "do it right", since the airbox is already incomplete it needs replaced with something, but sounds like inevitably I will lose at least some power along the way unless going with a stock box that scientists possibly precisely tuned circa 1987. Well everything comes at a price I suppose...

 

Dannoxyz's mention that the ninja 250 & 600 both have similar sized boxes is interesting if you take the tech articles maelstrom provided into consideration, tho perhaps both engines have similar resonant frequencies thus a similar size box works on both, maybe they would "harmonize" if revved together ;(