I am currently winning a carbon Air box on ebay, but I will need to swap over the latches from the oe, do they need to be drilled out? The trumpet airfilter vs oe, any benefit other than less hassle to fit?
I will soon have another carbon airbox and matching air runners, the one on my sps at the moment, which I am changing for the new one with removable side covers, The one I will sell have the latches on, which are riveted to the airbox. Although this airbox is twill weave and not plain. I had to buy new latches for my new airbox.
I bought a Carbon Airbox without latches. Instead of drilling out the old latches I ordered the complete kit from Ducati (Latches, rivets and washers) and installed them. It was very easy.
Yeah it does cost a little but you could get just the latches from Ducati and the rest from your local DIY. It is of course possible to drill them with a 3mm drill but you need to be carefull not to damage the latches.
I was going to get new latches , use some stainless hardware to bolt up I have not taken the airbox off, was curious what was involved
It is a simple Friday evening job. See the exploded view and list attached. It gives you the order of installation for the latches.
re:- second question - the std filter system works poorly on average as almost impossible to seal such a large plenum, the (rather expensive) BMC system makes the best of it though versus the 'large sock over the inlet trumpets' which works much better at filtering but introduces a larger risk of fire in the event of a misfire via inlets.
Thanks Chris BMC units are expensive alright! Seems to be the best option as you said , do the filters have lifetime warranty like the K&N , just need a clean/re-oiling every so often? Did anybody test the filters on a dyno?
BMC version are well-made, not sure about warranty - I guess there must be dyno data on them recorded somewhere.
From my experience of filters (personal and what I've heard/read), you won't make any gains with any aftermarket filter as the standard filters are not restricting. You may get better filtration? especially if yours 'leak' but it is also quite common for air to leak past the airbox seal, especially on the older models with the flimsy seal (was upgraded for 998 IIRC). I've got BMC filters and they work fine although they only have a small surface area so clog up quickly, on the plus side they are easy to clean as you just whip the tank off and slide them out but the only reason I have them is that my carbon airtubes/intakes have no provision for filters. I did try an ITG in-airbox filter and, for filtration purpose these are probably the best as nothing gets by them but they can be a fire hazard if the bike backfires into an oily/petrol stained sponge, sitting directly under 17L of fuel! plus some claim they can take a couple of HP away due to interrupting the airflow around the intakes? Also some brands don't have an internal frame and so if the filter foam breaks down then it can get ingested into the intakes, jamming the throttles open which is obviously not good. I understand a lot of trackday riders like them though as if you crash and the tank comes off (which it does easily) then it stops the still running engine ingesting gravel whilst lying on it's side. You can also get re-usable filters for the standard in-tube fitment.
