Air Box removal
 

Stuck on what should be a very easy and straightforward job. Installing new spark plugs on my 11. All plastics have been removed. Tank removed. Airbox lid removed. Now, the airbox is held down by 8 8mm bolts surrounding the carbs. The top bank of 4 bolts + 1 bottom right are easy but how the F)*& do you get the remaining 3 bottom bank bolts out?

The rubber stacks coming out of the carb throats are in the way. Do this just slip off? If I can yank them out it would make removal of the remaining bolts easier BUT I don't want to damage anything by pulling too hard.

Do they just pop off or are these rubber stacks held down behind the airbox?

Stuck

Well I got those suckers off. Enough yanking on them popped them right off. Once I got the freakin airbox out and had access to the plugs I figure let me check valve clearances. I'm not at 6000 miles yet but everything looked real good. Nothing out of spec from what I could tell. Cover back on, new plugs installed, assembled the airbox and bolted it down.

Now those little rubber velocity stacks - biggest pain in my ass Ive ever dealt with. After f***ing with 1 for over an hour and getting nowhere I decided to leave them out for now. Assembled everything back together. Changed oil and filter - what a mess.

Took it for a ride and everything seems great. Low end hasn't changed, mid and high end, no change. What in the hell are those stacks supposed to help anyway? I'm sure not having them cost me at least 1 or 2hp but nothing I can.

hahahaha, ya gotta love it when something so small will kick your arse. But I have not played with the removal of the velocity stacks on the 11, but looking at the manual, a couple bolts per stack, should not be that bad. Are they sticking which is the issue? In where abit of oil would help slide the stacks in place?

The weren't sticking at all. The stacks are a medium-hard rubber that flexes but not that easily. There is 1 upper bolt and 1 lower bolt for each stack/carb. The top ones come off no problem. The lower bolts are impossible to remove with the stacks in place and you can't remove the airbox until these bolts come off.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong but it seems that you bolt the box down and then re-install the rubber stacks. I don't see any other way to do it.

Getting the rubber in the carbs isn't that difficult. What is extremely difficult is getting it all aligned correctly. I kept pinching the rubber on the lower side of the carb throat. It's supposed to be very smooth internally but my installation was way off. 1+ hours of this nightmare spent on a single carb and I through in the towel.

Please don't tell me the stacks go on first and then the airbox is bolted down around them.

hahaha, ok I will not.

But going through the manual, it does not explain that procedure. But it looks like the stacks (which are paired) are installed after the airbox lower is installed.

Exactly. And getting those suckers back into the carb throats correctly is a real pain. I tried greasing the hell out of it. It did make it easier to work with but still could not get the stack to seat correctly into the grooves. I gave up and figured I'd run it to see what happens. Since it runs without any noticeable performance degradation that's how it will stay until the next scheduled service. Maybe by that time I'll learn a trick or two about this and get it done the right way.

I never remove the stacks. I just remove the box from around them. Not sure what your refering to having to take those off. I operate on the K.I.S.S. priciple :D

I'll have to look closer next time. Are you sure? My bike is a 1997 ZX11. I swear there is no way for the airbox to come off without all the bolts surrounding the stacks being removed. Early on during my adventure I only removed the top bolts. I didn't even see the bottom bolts until I looked closer. I was yanking on the airbox and took a closer look because it felt like something else was holding it down. All of these bolts hold the box down onto the carbs. The stacks come out of the carbs and stick right into the airbox.

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong but it's definitely worth another look.

I want to say that in the manual they show it coming off without the stacks coming off. I have removed the airbox like a half dozen times without having to. There are alot of bolts and the first time I had to keep searching to find the last few. Once they are all removed I just pull the air box up and off. There is a bolt on the outside right lower corner and 1 more bolt down low between carb 2 and 3. You have to remove the rubber plug on the back/middle of the airbox to get to it.

Aha!!!! that's what the rubber plug is for. OMFG! I wondered about that. I'll have to check this out next time I have to service it.