Ive read a few things about air-cleaner upgrades, alot of guys going with the K&N filters and such and ditching the stock garbage. OK, but seriously--- does it make any difference? Enough of a difference to justify the cost and time involved? Even if not much performance is gained, Im still willing to do something different because this stock cleaner is a major P.I.T.A. to get to. Im curious, why would they put the air-cleaner, a maintenance item that needs to accessable, in such a screwed up place? I have a HELL of a time getting it out to clean it and re-oil it. And for you guys switching to a K&N or whatever, where are you putting it?

Also, what can I do with this stock exhaust? I thought about cutting it down, making it shorter and gutting it out. But again, other than make more noise, will it do anything for performance? If I do these mods, will I need to do anything to the carbuerator?

Currently, the little quad will go 17 to 18 MPH with my 60 lb daughter on it @ full throttle. For now, thats fast enough--- but she's getting alot better, shes been riding it for almost a year now and is already talking about wanting to go faster, and climb steeper hills where alittle extra power would help out.

 

Erik,

I would go with a UNI pod filter in place of that crappy airbox design. Clamps directly to the carb, and is real easy to get to after that. It made a noticeable difference in the low end of our 150, and at 16$ it was the best bang for the buck. K&N's are more costly and won't give you any more of a gain than the UNI's will.

 

Thanks for the info. Looking under the tank, at the carb air inlet, there isnt alot of room for a direct clamp-on filter-- so Im hoping those UNI filters are rather small. If its any too big, it will hit the starter motor which is DIRECTLY under the carb inlet (maybe 1" to spare). Are these filters available at most motorcycle shops?

 

Erikthered,

The reason why most go with K&N is because you can get them in just about any size needed even for tight spaces. You can go direct to the K&N site and look under universal filters. Just measure the flange of the carb and the amount of space you have for the filter and look it up on the site. UNI filters are great also but sizes are limited and wont fit in most tight areas. K&N is more expensive but well worth the money to save the motor because the stock filters are junk. They do give some nice power gains for the money. If you ride in water I would also suggest the pre filter that goes over the K&N to help reflect water.

 

Thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it. Im going to look at the K&N filters website and see what I can find. That stock filter doohicky is a STUPID design, something these fellas need to look at making much more easy to get to.

With the exhaust, I was thinking of simply cutting the stock pipe in half, maybe even down to 1/3 its original size, and gutting it. I would cap the end with a larger diameter exit than the tiny little stock pipe. Any thoughts? I know it will be louder (no big deal), but will it pay off any in the performance department? Will I need to do anything with the carb after these changes?

 

 

Doing the exhaust will probably not yield any benefit, except make it louder. If you do, you will have to rejet the carb to richen it out.

 

I found a small 1 1/4" inlet UNI filter today, its a tight squeeze but it fits in there. I can really hear the intake now, kinda annoying actually. We'll see if it makes a damn bit of difference in performance.

I think Ill skip the muffler cutting if all it'll do is make more noise-- especially if I have to mess with re-jetting the carb.