Is this a good kit/add on...

[CANUCK SPYDER]

Im new to the Spyder family and have spent lots of $$ making my GS little more comfortable, but I havent looked at the air filter at all yet. Had 4200km(2600miles) when I got it and have just doubled it recently. Ive noticed sinced I have owned it and dude form work took it for a run yesterday and figures its running rich. I know they are fuel injected and maybe I am In need of an airfilter. Im not gona run out and buy one will prob at very least put A K&N, But have seen this kit. From what I have read the OEM filters a chore too come out might as well put a expensive kit in..Any one use this and have pros or cons..sorry my question mark will not work... Doughttp://www.kewlmetalstore.com/produc...roducts_id=401

[SNOOPY]

I've seen quite a few people on this forum talk about having a Kewl Metal air filter kit, must be good, but I don't have one to give any impressions.

.

[CANUCK SPYDER]

I've seen quite a few people on this forum talk about having a Kewl Metal air filter kit, must be good, but I don't have one to give any impressions.

.

Not going to rush out and buy one just yet even with good reviews, Up here In Canada prob another month depending will have too park it, Be a good winter project Doug

[bigflax925]

I've heard issues regarding their customer service. Do a search.

I can't comment other than my own experience: I tried to contact them to see if they had this kit in stock and have had no luck. If pre-sale service is this bad, I can't imagine after the sale.

It's a shame, as it looks like its just what I am looking for. I ended up going with a K&N filter at $30ish. I'll spend my money elsewhere.

[oldgoat]

Spyders don't normally run rich. Pull the spark plugs & examine them. Pull the air filter & look at it. You have hardly any kms on it yet & unless you have been riding in "very" dusty conditions the air filter should be just fine. Mine is, after 11,000km. As others have noticed as well, I can't divide my text into paragraphs as the "enter" key does not work on this site.

[CANUCK SPYDER]

Spyders don't normally run rich. Pull the spark plugs & examine them. Pull the air filter & look at it. You have hardly any kms on it yet & unless you have been riding in "very" dusty conditions the air filter should be just fine. Mine is, after 11,000km. As others have noticed as well, I can't divide my text into paragraphs as the "enter" key does not work on this site.

Yes I havent been riding in dusty conditions, and dont get the impression it ever was will check it out but well the weathers here gona ride. Seems to me if was rich woud show in fuel consumption. Recall one fuel up 176Km 10.8Liters and that was straight Hiway that cant be bad..... Doug

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I doubt very much you are running rich. The computer adjusts for most types of conditions gas etc....I have both the high performance Green filter and the K&N and can't tell the difference ,except the K&N was a lot less expensive.....The kewlmetal set-up from what I've heard is cosiderably louder sounding than stock ( which you can't hear at all). This could get quite annoying. I also have heard if you get the K-Metal set-up you will probably need some type of Power Commander to correct the fuel mixture.......And as far as increasing your performance...Wellllllllllllllll there is an old saying if you arn't increasing you Horse Power by at least 50 % you arn't going to FEEL IT......EXCEPT IN YOUR HEAD..............Mike

[jwulf74]

Spyders don't normally run rich. Pull the spark plugs & examine them. Pull the air filter & look at it. You have hardly any kms on it yet & unless you have been riding in "very" dusty conditions the air filter should be just fine. Mine is, after 11,000km. As others have noticed as well, I can't divide my text into paragraphs as the "enter" key does not work on this site.

Regarding the "enter" key...it appears to not work with IE, but does work with Chrome.

Also works on my Droid which is what I am on now...

[Chupaca]

your filter may be dirty.. Then again maybe not. I put in the K&N and works well. It is easy to install and being washable will last a long time. No need to have a fuel control system. The kewl metal air system is noisey as you hear the air flowing through. It is said that though noisey it opens up the area under there because you remove the air box and things are cooler. If you are doing major maintenance during the winter you can get a better look at things and decide which way to go...choices choices..!!

[Magdave]

Regarding the "enter" key...it appears to not work with IE, but does work with Chrome.

Also works on my Droid which is what I am on now...

It also works with IE in "com


pat


ability

mode.

[CyncySpyder]

Teds Red Sled is a 2011 SpyderFest Eddition RT-S so I know our experience may be a bit different than those that have an RS/GS, but it shouldn't be all that different, at least I wouldn't think

With the assistance of friends, we did this mod ourselves in Teddy's garage when his Sled had right around 28 thousand miles and we're now sitting a bit over 40 thousand. Here are a few pics to help visually explain along the way.
Our OEM Air Filter after 28K miles:


This is how our OEM Air-Box looked, complete with Blow-By oil & also sand:

This is the Throttle-Body wide open after removal of OEM plastics:


This is everything we removed=OEM Air-Box & also the OEM Resonator to allow openess & air-flow:

And this is how the finished product looks in place: Notice how wide open the Engine Area is now:

And this is Teddy Supervising the project:


So, after 12 thousand miles, here's what we've experienced.
In our opinion, a stock RT sounds more like a sewing machine than a motorcycle & I couldn't stand that, along with the heat build up under the tupperware causing the blow-torch effect on the right foot & also roast'n at the front of the seat area. These were our main reasons for doing this mod. With Teddy being a daily co-ryder, I was worried about changing the exhaust & the sound being too loud to be comfortable for a dogs sensitive hearing. Thats when DocRiverside suggested we give the KewlMetal Air-Intake Kit a try as he had already done it & knew that it would cure our ills ........... which I'm Very Happy to report ....... IT HAS

Without the OEM plastic airbox & resonator in place, it is a bit louder than stock. We no longer hear the exhaust at all, and now that old sewing machine sound has been replaced by a lower tone growl. The actual sound level, decible wise, is not really much of a noticeable difference until you roll the throttle wide open, especially under load, like going up hill or towing our camper, then it is louder, but much more pleasing cause its a nice Lower Tone Throaty Growl instead of a streesed sewing machine. Just cruising, no noticeable difference at all & we can still hear the stereo playing clearing, even wearing my ear-plugs and doing 70mph down the Interstate.

As for heat disipation, what can I say? Its a world of difference. Much more air flow than before, and Doc was correct, it helped tremendously on the heat-soak under the tupperware and the front of the seat is no longer scorching & the only time the right foot getting torched becomes an issue, is when the fan actually kicks on.

And now, with the engine compartment so wide open, we've actually been working on some air-flow mods that I'm trying to incorporate to help flow the hot air to where we want or don't want it, especially for Teddy ryding durring the freezing winter months, seeing as we do ryde year round.

All in All, in our experience, this mod is well worth doing

[TexasSpyder]

Spyders don't normally run rich. Pull the spark plugs & examine them. Pull the air filter & look at it. You have hardly any kms on it yet & unless you have been riding in "very" dusty conditions the air filter should be just fine. Mine is, after 11,000km. As others have noticed as well, I can't divide my text into paragraphs as the "enter" key does not work on this site.

You probably are using IE 10, had the same problem and went back to IE 9. Works great.

J. D.

[Bob Denman]

Hi Doug!
You bought the bike used: had the previous owner added any modifications to it that might make it run rich?
Clogged air filter, fouled plugs, or even plug wires that are failing could cause the symptoms.

[SNOOPY]

Teds Red Sled is a 2011 SpyderFest Eddition RT-S so I know our experience may be a bit different than those that have an RS/GS, but it shouldn't be all that different, at least I wouldn't think

With the assistance of friends, we did this mod ourselves in Teddy's garage when his Sled had right around 28 thousand miles and we're now sitting a bit over 40 thousand. Here are a few pics to help visually explain along the way.
Our OEM Air Filter after 28K miles:


This is how our OEM Air-Box looked, complete with Blow-By oil & also sand:

This is the Throttle-Body wide open after removal of OEM plastics:


This is everything we removed=OEM Air-Box & also the OEM Resonator to allow openess & air-flow:

And this is how the finished product looks in place: Notice how wide open the Engine Area is now:

And this is Teddy Supervising the project:


So, after 12 thousand miles, here's what we've experienced.
In our opinion, a stock RT sounds more like a sewing machine than a motorcycle & I couldn't stand that, along with the heat build up under the tupperware causing the blow-torch effect on the right foot & also roast'n at the front of the seat area. These were our main reasons for doing this mod. With Teddy being a daily co-ryder, I was worried about changing the exhaust & the sound being too loud to be comfortable for a dogs sensitive hearing. Thats when DocRiverside suggested we give the KewlMetal Air-Intake Kit a try as he had already done it & knew that it would cure our ills ........... which I'm Very Happy to report ....... IT HAS

Without the OEM plastic airbox & resonator in place, it is a bit louder than stock. We no longer hear the exhaust at all, and now that old sewing machine sound has been replaced by a lower tone growl. The actual sound level, decible wise, is not really much of a noticeable difference until you roll the throttle wide open, especially under load, like going up hill or towing our camper, then it is louder, but much more pleasing cause its a nice Lower Tone Throaty Growl instead of a streesed sewing machine. Just cruising, no noticeable difference at all & we can still hear the stereo playing clearing, even wearing my ear-plugs and doing 70mph down the Interstate.

As for heat disipation, what can I say? Its a world of difference. Much more air flow than before, and Doc was correct, it helped tremendously on the heat-soak under the tupperware and the front of the seat is no longer scorching & the only time the right foot getting torched becomes an issue, is when the fan actually kicks on.

And now, with the engine compartment so wide open, we've actually been working on some air-flow mods that I'm trying to incorporate to help flow the hot air to where we want or don't want it, especially for Teddy ryding durring the freezing winter months, seeing as we do ryde year round.

All in All, in our experience, this mod is well worth doing

Very nice write up!

[quickster47]

Im new to the Spyder family and have spent lots of $$ making my GS little more comfortable, but I havent looked at the air filter at all yet. Had 4200km(2600miles) when I got it and have just doubled it recently. Ive noticed sinced I have owned it and dude form work took it for a run yesterday and figures its running rich. I know they are fuel injected and maybe I am In need of an airfilter. Im not gona run out and buy one will prob at very least put A K&N, But have seen this kit. From what I have read the OEM filters a chore too come out might as well put a expensive kit in..Any one use this and have pros or cons..sorry my question mark will not work... Doughttp://www.kewlmetalstore.com/produc...roducts_id=401

I have the KewlMetal on my RT Limited and have just received another one to install on my ST-S next week along with new plugs and wires from BajaRon. I did not use their filter but went to Lowes and found the slightly taller paper filter that cjackg found and bought 4 of them. Paper filters give you much better filtering than the K&N type, IMHO.

You do get a little more intake noise but nothing that doesn't make the Spyder sound a bit more aggressive. My wife did not even notice anything.

Carl

[oldgoat]

It also works with IE in "com


pat


ability

mode.

I've just set it at that

and it works now

Thanks

[SNOOPY]

....My wife did not even notice anything.

Carl

That's the best type mod.

[daltmeyer]

Ive got the Kewlmetal Air Intake on my 09 GS/RS and love it. However I also have 2 Brothers pipes and Juicebox. It all works together well but I had to learn how to adjust the Juicebox.

Ive got plenty of room under the hood now and can change my front spark plug without hassle. And I promptly did just that, upgrading to Bajarons plugs and wires.

[bigflax925]

^ That's a clean engine!

[daltmeyer]

Ive got a Uni filter slipped on over my K&N. I learned this trick here on the forums.

At least if I have to rebuild my motor I wont have to get the stock air intake off to get started. So Im a half-a-day ahead already.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

In my days with dune buggies there was extensive testing done and came to the conclusion that K&N and Fram filters let a lot of grit get into the throttle body and therefore the engine. This only takes a couple of hours riding. yes we dont ride Spyders in sand.. or do we ? Grit is grit. We are talking top end rebuilds after 4 hours.

Straight treated paper filters are VERY bad news. The aircraft industry learned that years ago.

Truck filters (18 wheelers) are the best (DUH) but they are very large. UNI type filters (foam) are OK but not great.

K&N is all marketing, like Bose sound systems.

Thanks for identifying all the problem products ........Now that we know what we shouldn't use ......Please tell us what we should use ???????....Mike

[CANUCK SPYDER]

Hi Doug!
You bought the bike used: had the previous owner added any modifications to it that might make it run rich?
Clogged air filter, fouled plugs, or even plug wires that are failing could cause the symptoms.

No I think the bike was bone stock, less the taller windshield. I was riding yesterday and maybe its exhaust making my eyes burn a little. At hiway speeds really shouldnt be a factor I wouldnt think. Seems to me read somewhere they like too burn out exhaust gaskets..It only had just over 4000Km when I got it...D