Finally drilled my airbox lid...

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Actionman
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Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by Actionman »

after months of getting my jetting right with the lid and snorkel in place on my 02 200,i removed the snorkel and drilled 10 moderate airholes in the lid, lol. I replaced the filter with a uni filter, installed the moose racing carbon fiber reeds id bought, and upped the jetting to a 42 pilot( was 38) and a 155 main (was 152) with needle in second from top slot. Bike is way better with the new setup. I found that the rubber coating on my reedcage is shot and one petal has a tiny amount of space because of it, but it doesnt seem to affect throttle response, and its not much louder than with the undrilled lid as well. Quite a noticible difference in low end now.
2002 KDX 200
rsr02
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by rsr02 »

Still don't know why you want a box lid :wink:
Glad it's running good for you.
1997 220, KLX forks-pipe-reeds-trials tire
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Actionman
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by Actionman »

every time i ride i would find wet spots on my filter, and lots of water drops. Also, my old filter was ratty and id had to make numerous hot glue repairs to the seams. The drilled lid still offers a lot of protection from water, but the holes, screen, and filters i put on the lid allows a lot more breathing . Its a LOT peppier now, but the rest of you probably know that already :)
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adam728
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by adam728 »

Jetting and reed change were likely what you felt most.

I have to say, my old 220 was built, and all removing the snorkle and lid did was make it louder. I went back and forth a lot and seriously couldnt tell. That bike was ported, head mod, bored carb, rev pipe, etc.

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Actionman
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by Actionman »

yeah, my reeds probably needed replacing. i feel a lot better with those bigger jets in it though. Actually, youre more right than you realize cause i had removed the lid before and it ran like crap regardless of jetting. I think the uni filter helped as much as the reeds in the long run. Next up is the 14 tooth counter sprocket so that the stupid 52 tooth rear wont be so low, install my new headlight, install my new linkage , shock and swingarm bearings, and im set til i can afford to rebuild my shock and forks.
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sarrant
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by sarrant »

adam728 wrote:Jetting and reed change were likely what you felt most.

I have to say, my old 220 was built, and all removing the snorkle and lid did was make it louder. I went back and forth a lot and seriously couldnt tell. That bike was ported, head mod, bored carb, rev pipe, etc.

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But the 220 might not the best case for this, given that it was already intentionally intake-limited for better low end (at the expense of revs) by Kaw at the factory.

And of course, there would have to be a corresponding jetting change to match any airbox change, otherwise the power could very well be worse with a less restrictive airbox.
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adam728
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by adam728 »

sarrant wrote:
adam728 wrote:Jetting and reed change were likely what you felt most.

I have to say, my old 220 was built, and all removing the snorkle and lid did was make it louder. I went back and forth a lot and seriously couldnt tell. That bike was ported, head mod, bored carb, rev pipe, etc.

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But the 220 might not the best case for this, given that it was already intentionally intake-limited for better low end (at the expense of revs) by Kaw at the factory.

And of course, there would have to be a corresponding jetting change to match any airbox change, otherwise the power could very well be worse with a less restrictive airbox.
With the porting, bored carb, reeds, etc my 220 wasn't very limited! Despite going to 13/49 gearing (from 13\47) my top speed increased from a stock 72 mph to 82 mph on GPS. It revved about 9400 rpm to make that happen.


I dont mean to say there's no difference, just I couldn't feel it. I also think its normal for people to "feel" more power when an enginr makes more noise, be it exhaust or intake. How many ricers out there lost power going to a huge fart cannon muffler but swear it feels 30 hp stronger?

I'll be slowly doing the same mods to my new 220 as I get it all back together. Plan is stock airbox, but I'll test with the lid off too.

As for jetting, I'm fairly decent at it. And that's an understatement.

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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by KarlP »

Complete lid removal is OK but it does let more trash in. I used to find leaves and twigs and spider webbing when run I ran for a while without the lid. Some years we have 100's of of those big yellow spiders. I found a good compromise was to remove the snorkle and about double the size of the hole the snorkle fits in.
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by diymirage »

if my bike had come with a airbox lid I would have cut out the center, leaving only the very outer edge and then running a screen underneath it
something like a pantyhose or similar
newbbewb wrote:DIYmirage has it right.


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Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by zepplin153 »

Actionman wrote:upped the jetting to a 42 pilot( was 38) and a 155 main (was 152) with needle in second from top slot.
38/152 Thats where my 200 is comfy. It seems aweful lean for a 200 doesnt it?
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Actionman
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Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by Actionman »

zepplin153 wrote:
Actionman wrote:upped the jetting to a 42 pilot( was 38) and a 155 main (was 152) with needle in second from top slot.
38/152 Thats where my 200 is comfy. It seems aweful lean for a 200 doesnt it?
Do you use the airbox lid and snorkel? I had misgivings a lot about that lean of jetting, but i finally just realized that the lid/snorkel wasnt letting in enough air to use any bigger jets. Believe me, i tried a 40 and 42 pilot a million times and adjusted the damn airscrew a million times to make it work, but a 38 was the only pilot i could have nice response with the lid and snorkel and at my +1350 altitude. A warning though: i found out yesterday that my reed cage had a place near the front that the rubberized coating was damaged, allowing one of my reeds to have about 2 sheets of paper sized gap beyween the reed and the seat. Im not sure if thats beyond the acceptable amount of gap for a reed, but it could very well cause the low end blubber that i could only jet away by using a 38 pilot. Its possible your reed cage has similar wear. My next item of purchase is that $75 reed cage, just so i can rest easy that my intake tract is tight and up to spec.
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Actionman
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by Actionman »

KarlP wrote:Complete lid removal is OK but it does let more trash in. I used to find leaves and twigs and spider webbing when run I ran for a while without the lid. Some years we have 100's of of those big yellow spiders. I found a good compromise was to remove the snorkle and about double the size of the hole the snorkle fits in.
yeah, i drilled about 8-10 holes of 10mm diameter, epoxied screen to the bottom, and covered the screen with a sheet of filter foam i had handy. Id have done it way sooner, but my stock filter was falling apart at the seams and id had to make numerous repairs with a hot glue gun. I wasnt about to risk a big increase in dirt while that sorry filter was in there. My old bike really likes that influx of air and bigger jets now, and im trying my new cel needle tomorrow to see how that pans out. I may be leaning them all out again woth the cel if what ive read on these forums is true. Im having a lot of fun tuning now since the bike runs so well now!
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Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by jeeptech1 »

My air box lid is drilled out. I only run it when its dusty/sandy. I use landscaping fabric attached to the bottom of the lid. Works awesome! Breathes the same and the filter stays nice and clean.
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by adam728 »

Actionman wrote:
zepplin153 wrote:
Actionman wrote:upped the jetting to a 42 pilot( was 38) and a 155 main (was 152) with needle in second from top slot.
38/152 Thats where my 200 is comfy. It seems aweful lean for a 200 doesnt it?
Do you use the airbox lid and snorkel? I had misgivings a lot about that lean of jetting, but i finally just realized that the lid/snorkel wasnt letting in enough air to use any bigger jets. Believe me, i tried a 40 and 42 pilot a million times and adjusted the damn airscrew a million times to make it work, but a 38 was the only pilot i could have nice response with the lid and snorkel and at my +1350 altitude. A warning though: i found out yesterday that my reed cage had a place near the front that the rubberized coating was damaged, allowing one of my reeds to have about 2 sheets of paper sized gap beyween the reed and the seat. Im not sure if thats beyond the acceptable amount of gap for a reed, but it could very well cause the low end blubber that i could only jet away by using a 38 pilot. Its possible your reed cage has similar wear. My next item of purchase is that $75 reed cage, just so i can rest easy that my intake tract is tight and up to spec.
Again, likely reeds. Reeds that don't seal have a larger effect the lower the rpm, and make a rich condition (fuel is picked up from the circuits at both the intake vacuum and the escaping positive pressure pulse by the unsealed reeds). The airbox lid is hardly a restriction when the throttle is open 1/16 th of an inch.

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Actionman
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Re: Finally drilled my airbox lid...

Post by Actionman »

yeah, im definitely gonna buy a new cage. If id found out it was bad the day before i couldve ordered one, but i bought a new headlight and swingarm & linkage bearings. I thought it was especially strange that some folks on the forums were at the same altitude as me but could get away with 45 pilot jets. Now i know that leaky reed was probably why i couldnt mske anything but a 38 work.
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