air intake screen.

[SCE-AUX]

so.... does this look ridiculously restrictive?



should i just rip them out for now and worry about replacing them with something more free-flowing in the winter?

[Danbuc]

That material does look rather restrictive. Something like screen door material or similar with a finer mesh would work better. That piece just looks like perforated sheet metal.

[JEC]

Toss em and put in fine mesh. You could run without them, but after doing that for a season and picking dead wasps out of my airbox I don't recommend it. When they hit with enough velocity they sometimes shoot past the edge of the filter

[DukeDesmo]

I replaced them with a more open mesh and cut some of the plastic away from the rear to make the opening bigger.

[ZDM]

TPO motorcycle parts makes a screen mesh called "hyperscreen" that's supposed to increase the velocity of the air flow when passing thru it....who know's. You can always buy some OEM 2005 999 screen mesh which looks very much less restrictive. The issue with cheap screen door mesh is that it could easily break, plus if it's too big it will allow all sorts of large debris in the filter jambing it up.

[vtwin]

Originally Posted by DukeDesmo

I replaced them with a more open mesh and cut some of the plastic away from the rear to make the opening bigger.

Are you still using the OEM intakes? i.e. do they fit the larger hole still?

[Shazaam]

I also opened up the air intake ducts in the fairing. The main reason is that the total throttle body inlet area is about 3 sq. in but the stock duct openings are only about 2.5 sq. in. So the highest restriction of intake air flow on a superbike is right at these upper cowl inlet openings.

You can remove this flow restriction by using a Dremel cut-off wheel to remove about 1/2-inch of the outer (extreme left or right) perimeter of the pie slice-shaped openings. This gives an additional 0.5 sq. in. of inlet area. More drastic surgery will give you twice the improvement, but it's really unnecessary.

I also removed the stock air inlet decorative screens. I could have left them out, but the problem is that the inlet screens are an important part of the bike's air filter system. They prevent debris, insects and small rodents from entering the air tubes and clogging up the foam filters that, in turn, prevent everything smaller from entering the engine. (So keep the screens clean too.)

Since I use Pipercross filters in the air inlet runners, filter access and cleaning is a time-consuming process, so, I replaced the stock screens with a less flow restrictive aluminum window screening material. I figure that the flow area of the window screening material is more than double that of the stock grill. It sure is a lot more transparent when you look through it.

Since the inlet screens quickly clog-up with debris and are somewhat difficult to clean, I also made removable pre-screens that are easier to clean - and as an added benefit - improve the air filtering without significantly limiting flow.

Here's how. Cut an additional piece of screening to fit the triangular intake opening. Leave an additional 1/4 in. all around to make tabs that fold back and hold the screen away from the screen on the fairing. The air pressure alone is enough keep them in place. Now all you have to do is to pull out the pre-screens for cleaning. The rear screens remain mostly clear of debris and are easily cleaned with compressed air.




Mesh selection

What’s important here is to look at the percent open area of the mesh you use. A good material source is McMaster-Carr www.mcmaster.com Type in "metal mesh" in the product finder section, to see the different patterns.
P/N 92725T42 is a nice honeycomb look.

As an example, if you use 1mm wire spaced every 5mm you get less filtering of bugs and debris than if you use 1/2mm wire spaced every 2-1/2mm.

The difference in open area? None.

[spdfrk]

Originally Posted by Shazaam

I also opened up the air intake ducts in the fairing. The main reason is that the total throttle body inlet area is about 3 sq. in but the stock duct openings are only about 2.5 sq. in. So the highest restriction of intake air flow on a superbike is right at these upper cowl inlet openings.

You can remove this flow restriction by using a Dremel cut-off wheel to remove about 1/2-inch of the outer (extreme left or right) perimeter of the pie slice-shaped openings. This gives an additional 0.5 sq. in. of inlet area. More drastic surgery will give you twice the improvement, but it's really unnecessary.

I also removed the stock air inlet decorative screens. I could have left them out, but the problem is that the inlet screens are an important part of the bike's air filter system. They prevent debris, insects and small rodents from entering the air tubes and clogging up the foam filters that, in turn, prevent everything smaller from entering the engine. (So keep the screens clean too.)

Since I use Pipercross filters in the air inlet runners, filter access and cleaning is a time-consuming process, so, I replaced the stock screens with a less flow restrictive aluminum window screening material. I figure that the flow area of the window screening material is more than double that of the stock grill. It sure is a lot more transparent when you look through it.

Since the inlet screens quickly clog-up with debris and are somewhat difficult to clean, I also made removable pre-screens that are easier to clean - and as an added benefit - improve the air filtering without significantly limiting flow.

Here's how. Cut an additional piece of screening to fit the triangular intake opening. Leave an additional 1/4 in. all around to make tabs that fold back and hold the screen away from the screen on the fairing. The air pressure alone is enough keep them in place. Now all you have to do is to pull out the pre-screens for cleaning. The rear screens remain mostly clear of debris and are easily cleaned with compressed air.




Mesh selection

What’s important here is to look at the percent open area of the mesh you use. A good material source is McMaster-Carr McMaster-Carr Type in "metal mesh" in the product finder section, to see the different patterns.
P/N 92725T42 is a nice honeycomb look.

As an example, if you use 1mm wire spaced every 5mm you get less filtering of bugs and debris than if you use 1/2mm wire spaced every 2-1/2mm.

The difference in open area? None.

Very nice, thx for sharing this.

[Turboflyer]

Maybe for a track bike but the screen looks well kind of like a screen door screen, not very aesthetic. But then agin to each his own. I am sure it is functional. I like the diamond weave pattern. The stock mesh I am sure will work just fine. The ducati engineers surely have that figured out. Good luck on your decision.

[SCE-AUX]

thanks for the replies, guys.

frankly, i just got the bike about a month ago, and am still figuring things out.

i remember seeing the screen epoxied to the fairing. will have to take a closer look to see if there was any trimming done.

DukeDesmo, i do like the ones you have on. was the piece that you removed (which looks exactly like mine) the stock screen?

Originally Posted by DukeDesmo

Shazaam,

will stacking them like that reduce flow? it'd seem so unless the wires precisely line with each other. no?

Originally Posted by Shazaam