Actually if I recall, some of the first Ninja's with ram-air were carbed. And there have been some muscle cars with a functional ram-air that dyno'd an actual power increase...one of the Olds 441's and/or W31 seemed to have the best system...and apparently it wasn't just a cold air benefit because they tested with and without an introduced air flow to mimic a moving vehicle. But you're right...some carb/air intake setups can cause intake havoc. When the K&N individual air filters were popular for mulitcylinder bikes, some worked extremely well under most any conditions and some would get weird fuel/air delivery issues at speed or other situtions. I'm pretty sure our CV carbs are not good candidates for this type of filter or running open to the atmosphere. They seem to perform better with some modicum of dead air space prior to the carb inlet because of the more sensitive vacuum slide.

Carbs are at one moment quite simple while at the same time often confounding the best tuners with a funky problem. This is where many would claim the FI system to be the cure for everything, but just wait until a throttle position sensor or one of the myriad other sensors throws you a curve...or the fuel pump in the tank goes out...or the computer signs off. Nothing's perfect.

 

I guess if the Venturi were far enough downstream, it's the flow of air across the opening, and not so much the actual pressure in the column of air that matters the most. Then again, to get the MOST fuel when relying upon the Venturi effect, I would think the actual location of that opening in relation to the smallest airway opening would depend partly upon whether we had boosted intake pressures or, conversely, more negative intake pressures. Seems like Fuel Injection would yield much more precise titration. As you mentioned: with precision comes the "other" reliability issues...TPS's being a common one, as well as fuel pressure regulator sensors, etc.

Anyway, thanks for helping with my curiosity on the subject!

 

put a kdx snorkel on, it supplies enough air, and keeps it QUIET.. I think the air limiting step on the stock klx was the snorkel.. try running with the lid off and compare to snorkel removed.. no difference in performance i bet.. just mt 02