First oil change

[SportsterDoc]

I live at 8,000' and have taken my CB to 14,000' many times (also joined by the Ferret and Offroad on their CB's). No issues with the stock air intake, or anything else, at those elevations. The bikes work great up there and have plenty of power, precise fueling, and excellent drivability. No need to overthink this.

I like the intake sound, whether air flow is improved or not.
Reminds me of buying a taller air filter for a 4 barrel carb to allow air flow around the circumference, rather than just through the silencing tube...or the open element on the Carter AFB on the 350 in my Datsun pickup.

Also, the air filter can be inspected by only removing the right side cover.

Curious, if you wear ear plugs and/or a helmet (as you should) how the heck do you hear "intake sound" with wind noise and the exhaust? I take it you don't wear either when riding?

Seems like messing with a snorkel on a finely tuned machine just to hear "intake sound" that you may or may not hear properly equipped is a battle not worth fighting?

Helmets: I wear a helmet to (a) comply with NRS 486.231 when I am in Nevada or CVC 28703 when in California or and (b) to keep my head warm or keep the sun off my head when in Arizona or Utah. I ALWAYS wear eye protection and ALWAYS wear gloves. When I started riding on the street in 1963, there were no helmet laws in California nor M/C endorsements. I've had two crashes (not counting slides in the rain or on ice or dirt bike end-over-end) in 1963 and 1981. Was not wearing a helmet either time. 1963 resulting in a broken back and body cast, but no cuts, abrasions, etc. Repaired the bike and rode it wearing a body cast...until my parents forced me to sell it! 1981 resulting in injured wrist (minor) and scuffed boot. It folded the forks on my 1976 CB750F, but I was able to ride it back to my shop. Not against helmets, but prefer freedom of choice. I was party two in both instances. First should have been avoidable with more experience. Second would have been very difficult to avoid.

Battle: When I operated Cycle Tuning Unlimited, decades ago, I did very little trans, clutch or top-end rebuild, but did mostly "tuneups", which involved replacing points, setting gap/dwell, setting timing custom for the motor (often a major improvement, but more time consuming that just using a timing light), adjusting/jetting carb and often modifying the air box. This was on everything from 125 cc dirt bikes to the first years of the naked Gold Wing. "Tune-ups" also included skirting the intake side of two stroke pistons on bikes before the implementation of reed valves. Every client was satisfied.

OTOH we all could buy vehicles and leave them totally stock, but I do not find that as enjoyable...although the CB1100 is close to perfect, form the factory.

Researching before the CB1100 purchase, I read on this forum that there was little to be gained from opening up the intake and that may be correct. On the New Triumph Bonneville forum, the opposite was posted.

On Sportster.org, several dyno charts showed significant improvement on modifying a Sportster (883 or 1200) to stage 1 with high flow intake and less restrictive exhaust. More HP came from the high flow intake.

Some of those dyno charts were posted by George Crim
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/lsr_gallery.htm

Two common ways of doing the intake mod:
a. Spend $100+ for a Screamin' Eagle high flow unit
b. Drill the air box or otherwise circumvent the limited flow around the ham can.

On my XLH883 I went the SE route along with 49 state legal H-D "Torque Mufflers".

On my 1200 Sport I drilled out** the back of the air box on the OUTSIDE the filter and drilled 1/2" diameter holes in the center of the mufflers (required 8" long drill bit). **actually done on a mill, 1/2 dozen 3/4" holes.

The % improvement was very close.

I am not twisting anyone's arm to mod as I did, but did offer photos to anyone interested.

After 600 miles, the snorkel mod and a LED tail/stop light are the only non-stock items. Once my Dart Marlin arrives, I am probably done.

On my 1976 CB750F, I did an air box mod, replaced dual points with a Martek 440 module, replaced factory exhaust for (a) appearance and (b) to facilitate riding off curbs. Had to weld a large washer inside the after-market exhaust to reduce the obnoxious decibel level. Reamed out the washer ID until it no longer sounded like a Cadillac 500 ci at full throttle...resulting in a mellow but throaty note. Also added a mini switch on the headlight bucket if I wanted to run without a headlight and an indicator light powered though a zener diode with a threshold voltage of 13.8 VDC. When illuminated, it indicated minimum stator/regulator output.

This is way too long, but hope it provides some comfort level for my minor mod.