HOW TO: Lars airbox mod and AIS BLOCKING

jumb5150

Member
From what I understand get a Power Commander and you'll get rid of the popping with the proper map. Also keep in mind that designs by manufactures are done so for many reasons such as market placement in categories such as insurance, wide variety of customers, etc. if they came out with the most powerful bike possible it would eliminate potential customers. Bikes are designed with specific targets like the FZ8 is designed as a commuter bike. This fact doesn't mean that a user of this specific bike shouldn't modify the bike to meet their desires. Just realize that if you modify one thing that it will effect others and additional mods may be necessary to take full advantage.

Power commander does not get rid of the popping. I had it on my Fz8 without blocking the hose and it was there.
 

jumb5150

Member
If I wanted more power, I would 've bought a bigger bike. I love the FZ8 for what it is. What I'm saying is, if I do all the mods possible, what do I say when my buddies stock CBR1000-RR blows me away in a race..............:idk:

I do this because I enjoy tinkering and learning about my bike.
 
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Camo

Guest
Isn't this the point of mods.?, or is it just to beat stock 800's.......:rof:

The point of mods is to improve, enhance or better your own ride.
Who are you racing? Is there an FZ8 cup or are you riding your local spots trying to win the local GP cup lol.

The only way you're going to outrun a supersports is if the guy riding it is a pathetic tool.
 

jumb5150

Member
Brilliant post and instructions!!

On another note, what mirrors do you have and do you have any pics?

I have cheapy mirrors from ebay. They are Tomok knockoffs. Works perfect for $30 mirrors.

here they are on my old bike

DPF_2280 by jumb5150, on Flickr


DPF_22473 by jumb5150, on Flickr

Here they are on my new bike

 

jumb5150

Member
The point of mods is to improve, enhance or better your own ride.
Who are you racing? Is there an FZ8 cup or are you riding your local spots trying to win the local GP cup lol.

The only way you're going to outrun a supersports is if the guy riding it is a pathetic tool.

Wait....You mean i have been training for the Fz8 cup for nothing?
 

Lee_533

New member
Well, on the track I outrun 1000s all the time. Anybody can ride a bike fast in a straight line. If I wanted a bike just to go fast in a straight line, I would have bought a Hayabusa. I bought the FZ8 because I love the look of the bike and it's got tons of low end power perfect for coming out of corners. This bike (once you change the suspension) is great on the track. I outrun my buddies Gsxr 600 and I only have the Ohlins rear shock. I did the airbox mod just because it gave me a little more umph (not like a PCV and full exhaust) but a free mod so what the hell? I don't race people on the street because it's dumb, it doesn't show any skill. I love going to the track and like I said, this bike will outrun any 1000 on the track as long as you have the skill. I plan on blocking the AIS because I have a Leo Vince coming and I want to hear that baby sing.
 

AlCab

New member
From a performance stand point its common sense more air means u can use more fuel witch makes more power

ONLY IF the hole is too small to begin with. The engine can only suck in so much air. When you make the intake as big as it needs to be at WOT, there is no benefit to making it any bigger. You can't possibly know how big that hole needs to be unless you do a little 'rithmetic.

Also keep in mind that designs by manufactures are done so for many reasons such as market placement in categories such as insurance, wide variety of customers, etc. if they came out with the most powerful bike possible it would eliminate potential customers.

Insurance rates, to my knowledge, is based on the type of bike (cruiser vs sport bike, for example) and engine displacement, not horsepower. As far as powerful bikes eliminating customers, that's why Yamaha makes an FZ6, FZ8, and FZ1. The customer can choose how much power and how much they want to spend. So why not make each bike as powerful as possible (within cost constraints of course), especially if a larger intake inlet (which has no added cost) results in more HP? It's definitely a selling point when comparing similar bikes from other manufacturers especially in performance oriented bikes.

Everything is built to a budget and as we have a low cost bike, I highly doubt Yamaha used their best engineers or spent alot of time on this task.

You don't need your best engineer to figure out the optimal size of the intake. It's not rocket science. All I am saying is that if a larger hole truly has performance benefits and no downsides, and there is no additional cost involved, don't you think the engineers at Yamaha would have figured this out? I think we need to give them a little credit.

I want to share a relevant story so you all know where I am coming from. Years ago, I owned a Porsche 911 which I tracked and modded. I also belonged to a very active Porsche forum. We all thought the stock airbox was restrictive too and a lot of us tore it out and installed a K&N cone filter intake in it's place. More flow=more HP, right? Well, one guy on the forum, who tracked his car a lot, decided to get to the bottom of it. He took back to back dyno runs with only the following changes: stock airbox with K&N drop in filter, K&N high flow intake with stock airbox removed, and wide open intake (stock airbox completely removed, maximum flow possible). The results were surprising. The K&N conical filter high flow intake actually produced a few less peak HP than the stock airbox with K&N filter (not 10-15 more HP as claimed by K&N), and with no intake at all, it made less power than with either the K&N conical set up or with the stock airbox. So he sold his K&N conical intake and went back to the stock airbox with a K&N drop in.

So lesson learned for me is that there is more to it than just fitting the least restrictive intake that you possibly can and that the people designing the vehicle maybe do know what they are doing.

Maybe the FZ8 does benefit from opening up the intake, I don't know. Maybe the smaller opening delivers a flatter torque curve, or more torque at lower rpms. But I think it's a mistake to automatically assume that a bigger intake means more performance.

Sorry for the long post.
 

master paper clip

New member
A reason why the air intake would be its small size is for better mpg less air means less fuel... but less power. Just cause its that way from the factory doesn't mean its all performance minded.. good mpg sell just as well as good power figures.
Besides a lot of the time things from the factory are more fuel friendly then performance... all it takes is a brave man wanting more out of what he has to discover these little mods.

Plus u also gotta remember there are still emissions the bike has to meet in places another reason for the small intake hole
 
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Camo

Guest
Either way, you did a great job Jumb. Thanks for making the effort :)
I reckon all the how too's and instructionals should be cleaned up and stickied!
 
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Fazed

Guest
Either way, you did a great job Jumb. Thanks for making the effort :)
I reckon all the how too's and instructionals should be cleaned up and stickied!

Agreed. I think the How to section in general could be cleaned up with posts moved to other areas that are not really how to's.
 

AlCab

New member
A reason why the air intake would be its small size is for better mpg

Wow, ok. You're right - the stock intake is a joke on those guys at Yamaha don't know what the hell they're doing. You obviously know your stuff.

:hbwall:

Movin on ...
 
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bren

Guest
I really need to do the air box mod!! I'm not the best mechanic though.. Worried I will stuff something up lol
 
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cracker0309

Guest
I really need to do the air box mod!! I'm not the best mechanic though.. Worried I will stuff something up lol

The airbox mod is super easy to do and you really don't need any kind of mechanical skills to do it.. If you can follow directions than your good.

I'm running a straight pipe with air box mod along with graves block off plates. There is no popping on decel or rev. Only thing that it does is piss off my neighbors because it's loud as F@@K!!

I haven't noticed and negatives on power lose, throttle response or anything. I can still hang with my buddies stock zx9 and gsxr1000.. They will walk away from me but its at a very slow rate.

So i guess to each his own.. If you want to do it than go ahead and do it.. Another good thing about Yamaha is the factory parts are pretty cheap to replace.. I think the bottom airbox is only $23 for if you screw it up or don't like it than just go buy a new one... It's not going to break the bank.
 
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WARPTH

Guest
good thing about Yamaha is the factory parts are pretty cheap to replace.. I think the bottom airbox is only $23 for if you screw it up or don't like it than just go buy a new one... It's not going to break the bank.

:eek: yamaha australia charge that much for a crush washer down here
 
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Hoover

Guest
Either way, you did a great job Jumb. Thanks for making the effort :)
I reckon all the how too's and instructionals should be cleaned up and stickied!

You had better get busy then mate...
 

e11charlie

New member
I have a question on this. When cutting down the stock can will this (AIS block off) help with the decel pop I keep hearing about?
 

ausfz8

New member
Sorry to resurrect an old topic but I have a question for those who have removed the AIS completely.

1. When you removed it completely did you unplug the electrical connection?
2. did you do anything with that connection if so?
3. have you had any problems of any kind? as in has the bike gone in to Limp mode? has any seals popped etc.?
 

RoadKill

New member
Sorry to resurrect an old topic but I have a question for those who have removed the AIS completely.

1. When you removed it completely did you unplug the electrical connection?
2. did you do anything with that connection if so?
3. have you had any problems of any kind? as in has the bike gone in to Limp mode? has any seals popped etc.?

i blocked it by plugging the hose and plugging the hole in the air box. i havent heard a single pop in over a year since i blocked it off.
 

blues hurler

New member
After looking at this, my concern is that you're not just making the hole bigger, but removing the velocity stacks. I'm no engineer, but I know that there are power-making issues with tuning swirl through stacks and whatnot and I wonder whether it would be better to leave the stacks in place. They must be there for a reason.

And I agree that gains in power are not always as easy as "making a bigger hole." For example, exhaust systems are tuned to make specific backpressures and for scavenging. Most motors make more power with a properly tuned exhaust than with open pipes.

I'm not arguing for or against the mod, I just wish someone could dyno before and after so we'd know for sure. Not everyone's pants seats are calibrated accurately.
 
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