Plastic Intakes RULE!

The following pictures were taken after I modified a junk Triumph Air Breather Assembly to fit the caburetor throat... I added the "Triumph" points cover to the top of the assembly because, while my raggedy Goldwing will never be confused with a Triumph, it IS a triumph to actually see an idea (crazy as it may be) come to fruition. Folks, I have put all of this information on to the site not to brag or show off, but to show that it CAN be done... And be done by "Joe Schmoe"... I am NOT a mechanic, metal fabricator or anything like that, and I was able to make this critter work, so YOU should be able to do the same. If you think you want to try something similar, please feel free to zap me your questions. I am more than happy to help with anything I can.

This is "head on" view of the carburetor as seen front-to-back. The throttle and choke assembly are located at the "front" of the carb. As you can see, there is nothing "special" about my work... I believe in the power of zip ties, Blue RTV and bailing wire. =)

Running a throttle "counter" spring to the throttle assembly allowed me to get rid of the "pull" cable to the handlebar control. It gives good feedback and feels almost the same as the stock throttle at the handlbars. The choke assembly is run to the lower frame rail on the bike. It's pretty convenient and hardly noticeable, but I keep wanting to reach up front to where the stock choke was placed. =)

This view is "back to front" as seen from the saddle. The vacuum advance and air/ fuel mixture screws are located on the right (fuel pump side) of the carb making adjustments very easy. The fuel inlet is at the very top of the carb assembly... As I wrote before, I was concerned about the stock fuel pump's ability to pump fuel so much farther and higher than with the stock carb set, but it has not been issue. The only "modification" I made to the bike frame is to hammer the top frame rail over a bit to make room for the inlet valve. Look just below the "Air" tag and you may be able to see the squashed frame rail. I probably could have moved the entire carb assembly over to the right by making the intake runners longer on the left side and shorter on the right... As it is, the assembly is hanging solid and without any noticeable defects.

Long-term Updates

I'll try to keep this area of the site updated weekly until I am convinced there will be no sudden or catastrophic problems with this arrangement.

Added: 6/14/05-- I have a total of 100 miles on the assembly as of today... Noticeable issues so far are limited to an off-idle stumble after I sit at a stoplight for some time. The carb is loading up a bit, and stumbles from time to time at take off. So far, a quick "blip" of the throttle has cleared the problem without additional issues. I added a home-made air breather today and am hoping it will help restrict air flow a little bit, helping with the loading up problem. I have previously downloaded Holley's service manual for this particular carb (Holley 2110), and it has a detailed section on adjusting the fuel/ air mixture... This will be my next task before taking the bike back onto the road. I am confident that I can get the air/fuel mixture straightened out soon. Even if the carb continues to load up while idling, I am very, very happy with the results so far and plan to keep riding the wheels off of the bike. More coming soon!

Added: 6/17/05-- So far, so good... Found a small intake leak at the rear of the intake manifold. Added more blue goo and it looks good and back to running fine... Having thoughts about "sealing" the inner part of the intake manifold with some sort of impermeable coating. It looks like left over gas is "pooling" in the bottom of the manifold and "eating" through the blue goo making a leak... I'll have to nose around for stuff. The fun continues! =)

Added: 7/8/05-- The whole reason I decided to try and build an "alternative" intake was to see if a common guy or gal could put something together "on the cheap" and have it work out... So far, my experiment has worked out great! To date I have racked up about 600 miles on the set up. It seems to be holding together well, but there are a few things I would do differently if I did it all over again:

1. I bought a Holley 2110 carburetor off of eBay cheap... The carb itself is working just fine, however, I must have made a calculation error when trying to figure out how big a carb I could use. I thought the 2110 would work just fine, but it tends to "load up" if sitting for more than a few minutes, or at longer stop lights. This isn't much of a problem for me as I can keep the bike running at a stop by blipping the throttle, but it is obvious that the carb should have been smaller. My next modification will be to order a smaller main jet for the carb and see if I can jet her down a bit. On the other hand, I have NEVER had another motorcycle launch as hard and run so quick as the wing does now. One of my other project bikes was a KZ 1000 P-4 (Police Special) that had oodles of engine work done to it when the cops had it to make it go fast and I use to say that it was THE fastest, and quickest bike I ever rode... The Goldwing, stripped down to nothing and with the big carburetor, beats the Kawai hands down. It's super quick and I could not be more pleased when she's up to speed.

2. I have had one intake leak so far... The leak was located at the rear of the intake and I suspect it was seepage through the rubber gasket where the two halves of the intake bolt together. Originally, I used Blue RTV to "seal" up the intake, but after a few days, and when I noticed the leak and removed the intake, it was obvious that fuel was puddling at the rear "floor" of the intake and then deteriorating the RTV Blue. The makers of RTV say its good at gaskets but to avoid continued and long term exposure to fuel, so I took the intake apart and used Indian Head Shellac to seal up the halves and THEN coated the external manifold with a think layer of RTV. To date, this mod has worked without any problems. Fuel still puddles (and probably will until I jet down the carb) but it has not seeped past the Indian Head Shellac. THAT stuff, by the way is worth its weight in gold, if ya' ask me... I have re-used MANY head gaskets over the years by glopping good ol' Indian Head on the gasket before re-installing it. (Good stuff, Maynard!) =)

3. I figure the PVC pipe will become brittle over time and may start to crack. Some friends have told me to expect this and I will probably scrounge some inch and a quarter steel tubing from somewhere and replace the PVC with it over the winter. On the other hand, it would be neat to see just how long all of that plastic holds up. =)

01/1/08