[Hillbilly Monster]

I bought a ST2 for a very attractive price...I have a 96 Monster 900 so I'm sorta familiar with the bikes...The ST had an assortment of small issues, ,the good is all the body work and luggage bags look very nice and the bike appears to have been maintained and never crashed..The bad is among a few other minor problems is the entire air box is missing......In the box of parts that came with the bike is K&N pods and some elbows to mount the filters....I have pods on my 96 900M and got it running very nicely with a bit of fiddling with carb tuning ...However, this fuel injected bike might be a can of worms without the stock air box ? It starts and runs ok in neutral but I have yet to ride it any distance on the road...Should I find a stock air box or try out the pods? Thanks

 

[ducvet]

I may have an airbox if you are interested I will check my stash of airboxes.

You should be able to make it work with pods, I see no upside to pods but some people like the "cool factor" of open airbox and the belief that the added noise is also more hp. If the prior owner tuned it for pods the only downside will be rain riding and large cross winds.

 

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I'd say if you have the pods, give them a go and see what you think. The bike may already be tuned for them. Otherwise, from what I've read, they're a PITA as they require dyno and tweaking to ensure you're not actually losing power/performance.

As ducvet stated, rain and increased noise are the other downsides, plus lack of preferred undisturbed air.

I see airbox assemblies on e-bay frequently in the $20-$50 range, so not a big investment. There are a few threads around on porting or chopping those lids for a bit more flow, but noise and water become potential issues again.

 

[Hillbilly Monster]

Uh, I can't be sure it's been tuned for pods.Are chips ot tuning devices available for this ECM?. The advantage I see to pods if the engine is more viable with the fuel tank is raised up and could be easier to service...I'll think about, thanks for the info..

 

[Turbomart]

As stock the airbox lid causes some restriction and power loss. The lid can be cut open for a gain in power but needs a DP chip to give more fuel to compensate for the increased airflow. Rain or water getting in is not an issue because it's under the fuel tank, many people have cut the lid open completely just leaving the outside ring to clamp the filter down. I would expect the K&N pods to be similar to a cut airbox lid. The DP chips are readily available and good clones can be found on eBay but is probably already fitted.
There is a rubber bung on the ecu top cover, underneath is the chip.

 

[belter]

i think it would help an st2 if done right. ime they're bit funny power curve wise, peaking early and not making as much as i would have expected.

i would get some of the rubber airbox to throttle elbows from the 02> monster or sc or hm and fit them with the corse dynamics or intake express style bit bellmouth ends and a big k&n filter over that. imo they need the extra length. st2 don't really have much of a trumpet into the airbox as std. even the ssie rubber trumpets with foam socks would be a lot better i'd think. on them i think the vertical one is longer than the horizontal.

if you remove a hm airbox and fit pods direct to the throttle bodies it'll cost you a hp or so all through. that sort of derestriction should make more, so it has to be a length and entry thing.

 

[bloodycrashboy]

As stock the airbox lid causes some restriction and power loss. The lid can be cut open for a gain in power but needs a DP chip to give more fuel to compensate for the increased airflow. Rain or water getting in is not an issue because it's under the fuel tank, many people have cut the lid open completely just leaving the outside ring to clamp the filter down. I would expect the K&N pods to be similar to a cut airbox lid. The DP chips are readily available and good clones can be found on eBay but is probably already fitted.
There is a rubber bung on the ecu top cover, underneath is the chip.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Air-Box...=item5b5036a645:g:GmQAAOSwtcRcCQEU:rk:25:pf:0

not quite as cheep as stated above, but worth the investment in my opinion

I have a Ducati performance air box lid, DP filter and ECU chip fitted along with DP exhaust cans
my bike is a later model than yours but the air box looks very similar
I've never had a problem with water and I live in the tropics and have ridden through some torrential down pours
the induction noise is obviously a lot louder than standard, but that just gives her a little bit more character
looking at my air box lid, you could very easily modify a stock one to be the same

 

[ducvet]

A properly cut airbox lid should have little to no problems in the rain. Pods however will be exposed much more so you will get water spray directly on the filter material. If you look at the picture of the airbox above you can see the velocity stacks are well shrouded in the airbox so air flow will be directed through the filter on top and not from the sides. If you already have pods why not try them but know the possible downfalls, fueling wise you should get air fuel checked at a dyno.

If you are building a custom or racing ST2 then yes you may find some more Hp by giving the bike more air and fuel to match. If you are looking at a bike where you may favor drive-ability over that last Hp then the airbox will be best. Compromises must be made in any circumstance, pick your poison.

 

[Hillbilly Monster]

ok....this bike does have Staintune mufflers.If I go with a freer flowing air intake what ECU chip do you suggest?
Right now I stripped off the body panels to look it over and check valves and belt replacement.

EDIT, I removed the rubber bung on the ECU..I'm not the first person in there from looks of it...The chip right under the cover with the plastic snap cover is marked Ducati Performance 08054/9 The Internet says this a a performance chip for open exhaust? Would it be adequate for improved airflow modifications? Thanks

 

[ducvet]

That chip should work for a open airbox, there is NO chip made for pods. That does not mean the one you have will not be fine you will just need to get it checked to know. A FIM megazone chip and someone to tune it can be adjusted in 7 zones to work. If you check on here there are people who have made changes to the EEPROM (IIRC) via guzzidiag as well.

The ecu also has a pot screw in the ecu besides the chip you and tune the fueling to some degree with this adjustment though I have seen some damaged units that cannot, the screw should not turn 360 degrees

 

[belter]

i've not seen the dp st2 eprom to read and compare, but the um161 had quite a bit more fuel at the top end - between 6 and 22% more across the wot line.

if you put pods directly on the throttle body, i'd expect there to be not a lot of change all round. fit the rubbers and trumpets and it'd want more fuel for sure.

as eric says, airbox is nice for general use and serviceabilty. depends what your aim is.