YZF600 Tank V's FZR600 Airbox

[thatkid]

Well i've been pondering where to go in regards to the airbox, my son said just cut it up it wont work as it is. Hmmmm.... but i don't want to tape the thing up, well weld it with the soldering iron like when i fixed my fiat airbox, ahhh.... good idea son.

so i thought about it for a while, pulled the air box apart, put just the bottom half on the carbs and laid the tank in place, there was contact sh#t. ok it needs cutting, so off i set. here's pics but unfortunately i did have to use tape

first i placed a rule over the bottom half, so i wasn't cutting through the breather nor the drain then marked it up.


slide the 2 halves together to mark up for cutting



here's the result, 1.5cm shorter


close ups of the breather and drain



the top on (wonky btw) nearly ready to mark up then cut


look there's the WHITE TAPE holding things together for a test fit


if there's any contact i want to know exactly where, as little cutting as possible, so i put gasket sealer on the underside of the tank to show the contact area


more TAPE and another test fit


tank fits no contact, just 2 smallish holes to TAPE over , don't think so their getting welded with some pieces of polycarb


air intake cut


just needs welding up, Tomorrow weather permitting, the fumes don't do your lung's any good so needs to be done outdoors, hopefully there'll be no performance related issues, fingers crossed

[yamaha_george]

Mawler
Shame on you


we have as search engine & a Wiki this has all been done before both as a mix'n match & 3D jigsaw. might have J/Ksaved yourself some hassle

[thatkid]

I saw the hybrid box, its pinned top of this forum, but no answers as to any performance issues, didn't see the jigsaw though, i've read your pods without the need for jetting aswell, just i have no pods or spare waste/fall pipe

son thinks ive done a grand job

[yamaha_george]

I saw the hybrid box, its pinned top of this forum, but no answers as to any performance issues, didn't see the jigsaw though, i've read your pods without the need for jetting as well, just i have no pods or spare waste/fall pipe

son thinks ive done a grand job

M
Ahh nice to be a hero, yeh you are right the jigsaw got pulled cannot remember why, the hybrid box seemed to draw critisism from some but the principle was sound enough may be some one of your thinking / ingenuity took a look at it ?

Anyways keep it well documented & lots of photo's for another HOW_To.
thanks
Y-Geo

[thatkid]

i looked at the hybrid airbox many times over the past 4-6 weeks,

1 the air filter appears to be squarish in shape (mines a round k&n drop in)

2 i read someones post on the thread, duno who he is but he sounds like he knows what hes talking about, think he's got grey hair and a tash but im unsure, someone here will know him. here's the post

The idea is pretty cool
However for those of us who have NEVER seen a YZF air box next to a stock box your point gets lost.as t what the exact difference is and why this is required.

The point made by some one else about airflow is valid, why cannot you make just a "gasket" from the board why all the holes ? Is something required to hold the single filter in place ?

Good effort but a little more in the way of pictures and explanation is required & please for us older folk use white space in your text to make it easier to read
Thanks
Y-G

now that bloke whoever he is is clued up, but no one posted a pic of the yzf airbox, and yeah why not just a gasket? no answer. yeah the board must hold the square filter in place

3 the same bloke piped up with this

G,
what ever you do PLEASE do not forget the PICTURES of the two air boxes side by side BEFORE you start the changes.

Not every one has seen them, to get a handle on the why where for etc

Thanks

he posted that almost a year ago yet still no pics

so i thought he may be old but he's not total senile yet im not wasting money for a airbox that i don't even know will do the job (no pic of the airbox nor a year/model number), i know i'll do it for free, no outlay.

EDIT

well it was my son's idea, and that wasn't criticism.

[yamaha_george]

Yeh that old guy has a lot to answer for and the lack of pictures is not one of them :-}}}}

[thatkid]

Can any one recall the cut up 3d jigsaw air box thread? where there any performance issues? any pitfalls? did it involve DUCT TAPE any help/info would be greatly appreciated.

The only example iv'e found (not on this forum) involved duct tape, which will eventually find its way down the carbs.

If i get any performance issues, which hopefully i won't. The obvious restrictions in the airbox, (filter not included) are the rubber tubes/trumpets anyone ever trimmed them?

Iv'e thought this over, i didn't just wake up yesterday and think oh i'll chop the airbox, Dad used to always say "more haste less speed" i was like' yeah ok old man, his wisdom's proved correct many times over the years.

On any new project i research, do a little, think, do a little more, think. Best if you only have to do things once and not start from scratch. You know how it goes.

Today i dressed the cuts, made a slight chamfer on the outside edge's using a coarse file, tack welded the pieces together. With a little pressures using a low heat 12 watt soldering iron i made the first welds both inside and outside. I reassembled the airbox, using the offcuts as filler i finished the welds with a 100 watt instant heat gun, 8 welds in total.

bottom inside first weld


bottom outside final weld, tapes only there to reuse in the final test fit.


top inside first weld


top outside first weld


top side first weld


the profile of the airbox tapers lower @ the front, higher @ the rear, i used a heat gun (hot air paint stripper) to soften the polycarb to ease things into place


holes taped up ready for the final test fit, no blue gasket sealer on the tape = no tank/airbox contact, btw there was no contact.


i used offcuts to fill the holes, just need welding


cosmetics are my last concern, the airbox is probably the ugliest part of the FZR, i've sanded so any possible future cracks will be easily visable no other reason

[yamaha_george]

Can any one recall the cut up 3d jigsaw air box thread? where there any performance issues? any pitfalls? did it involve DUCT TAPE any help/info would be greatly appreciated.

The only example iv'e found (not on this forum) involved duct tape, which will eventually find its way down the carbs.

If i get any performance issues, which hopefully i won't. The obvious restrictions in the airbox, (filter not included) are the rubber tubes/trumpets anyone ever trimmed them?


Today i dressed the cuts, made a slight chamfer on the outside edge's using a coarse file, tack welded the pieces together. With a little pressures using a low heat 12 watt soldering iron i made the first welds both inside and outside. I reassembled the airbox, using the offcuts as filler i finished the welds with a 100 watt instant heat gun, 8 welds in total.

Mawler,
I will have to watch over my shoulder to see you do not nick my job

DO NOT trim the rubbers if you remember the bike when fitted with PODS has a mid-range hole that is because the inlet tract length is too short if you trim the trumpets same thing will happen.

AS to duct tape it is not fuel proof hence it getting sucked in. There is a type of foil tape used by light aircraft DIY'ers called 1000mile an hour tape or some such and that is a kind of epoxy style glue on it and will literally hold wing skins in place if a crack appears and you wanna fly home.

Seems your Dad was much like mine and did a good job on getting his son started in the right track, count yourself blessed if he is still around remember to tell him thank you.

[Genesis]

That turned out Beautiful; I might try it just to try it.
I have not run the Bike with the hybrid box yet, but the reason I went that route is I was concerned of air volume.
I am truly sorry for not posting pictures, my life has been up and down the past year and a half, so I have not been able to devote the time I would like to my Projects.

[thatkid]

Today i set out filling/welding up the 2 hole's, the 100w instant heat gun immediately started smoking then pop, i had to use a solder station set on max. The welding process took a lot longer and was not as efficient, after sanding i could see flaws in the welds and re-welded them. The tank fitted over the airbox with no contact.

A possible issue came to mine, if these pieces of polycarb work loose and end up down the carbs then they would jam the inlet valves open so Tomorrow i'll be reinforcing both inside and out, using offcuts welded horizontally over the other pieces, you can never be too careful.

top


top inside


inside close up

[yamaha_george]

M,
the way you work I would forget the solder station & heat gun & buy a plastic weld gun and filler rods (or use the original stuff for filler.
If you put horizontals on the inside you risk TWICE as much falling in! take a look for the aircraft tape( a pal put his on a plastic tanked MX bike back in late 70's tank is still leak proof 2 yrears ago when I saw it last.& this copes with westindian sunshine & rain.

[thatkid]

The reason the reinforcement came to mind, was because i wasn't getting as good a weld with the solder station, and those bits would do some nasty damage. These airboxes are polycarb that's why i used the offcuts as filler. Your right about putting more inside the box good point. I'll look into the aircraft tape, if im not happy with the reinforcing. Thanks.

[thatkid]

This experiment is far from complete, and I'm even further from 100% satisfied.

Like i said. More haste less speed, so I've concentrated on other issues, the front mirror stay, the routing of fuel pipes to the repositioned fuel pump I don't want them chaffing/leaking, my VR location and protection. All of which will be rechecked and regularly inspected. While concentrating on other issue's I find it helps take my mind off things, sometimes answers just pop into my head without thinking, no stress/hurry?

I came up with this. Before welding, with the heat gun pre heat (not over heat) the airbox . That should improve the speed and efficiency of the welds. As an unexpected result, it exposed flaws in the previous welds, which i repaired. Then i though how can I stress test. Yes the airbox will under go stress, and if it fails be prepared to rebuild your engine.

With the airbox disassembled, i flexed the weld area's and the welds showed signs of failure!!!!! not good . I've re rewelded inside and added extra reinforcement on the outside of the airbox.

I strongly recommenced this is a, Don't Try It At Home Experiment. Probably why the 3D jigsaw thread got pulled?

On another note, I've also reconsidered the Hybrid airbox, IMO it doesn't only cut down the volume of the air box, That spacer also cuts down the air filters efficiency (more than half) to deliver air flow to the carb trumpets/rubbers/equalisation tubes. What happens when the constant airflow, trying it's hardest to bypass the spacer and the vibrations caused, fracture the said spacer?

[thatkid]

Well I finally got everything done, except painting the tank and tail. No rain Today lovely dry roads = time to test the performance, she pulled good and hard all through the rev range, no flat spots. Now to swap to my recently cleaned/serviced spare carbs, and inspect the airbox for any fractures in the joints.

[gogofizzpow]

To strengthen the airbox from one of my previous bike ventures, I got some of the foil tape and wrapped everything and formed and pressed all the wrinkles and airbubbles out to create one smooth silver surface. If not to just help with strength, it may of helped transfer heat away from being absorbed by the black plastic. (Im putting no scientific claim in this) Maybe it might help your handy work