Can water get through Outerwears?

[ChippewaTSI94]

Hey guys, I am currently running K&N pod filters with outerwears and I was curious to see if you think that would be a risk splashing through the occasional puddle. Silver Lake has some areas where there is 2 - 6 inches of water and I don't want to have to go crazy avoiding those if at all possible, I'd rather run straight through them. Plus, I hate the bulky stock airbox and things are so much easier to service with it out of the way.

 

But, I don't want to hydrolock the motor. Do you guys think a significant amount of water could get through the double filtering of an outerwear AND a paper/foam pod filter? I'm almost entirely a duner, some snow riding in the winter but I don't really do much on the trails where you might see some more serious water.

 

Any ideas?

[Bansh-eman]

yes water cn be sucked through them, it's your call if you want to ride through them but i wouldnt. Unless you saturate them they probly will repel most of the water as soon as it hits them, but i wouldnt think about taking that chance.

[BigRed350x]

Take your stock airbox and cut it up to act like a shield around your pods. You could even make your own mounting hardware for it if you cut up where it normally mounts.

 

I've ridden through some small puddles and crap without issues. Your engine and suspension will block a good bit of the splash and The little that does get on your carbs will probably atomize with the air/fuel going in. If you are getting your filters saturated like bansh-eman said, I would try and avoid them. Or do the airbox trick.

 

- jared

[ChippewaTSI94]

Take your stock airbox and cut it up to act like a shield around your pods. You could even make your own mounting hardware for it if you cut up where it normally mounts.

 

I've ridden through some small puddles and crap without issues. Your engine and suspension will block a good bit of the splash and The little that does get on your carbs will probably atomize with the air/fuel going in. If you are getting your filters saturated like bansh-eman said, I would try and avoid them. Or do the airbox trick.

 

- jared

 

Jared, thanks for the tip. I was considering doing exactly that, but I wanted to hear opinions on the subject first. The reason I'm asking about it is because last weekend I was up at Silver Lake and the bike ran fine throughout the day. However, later on, I ran through a small puddle and a few minutes later the bike started running like crap. I took the plugs out and the right cylinder's plug was crushed closed.

 

The plug itself was not damaged and did not have any metal debris or particulates embedded on it, so I did not think it was because of the piston contacting it in any way. I was thinking perhaps some water got into the cylinder and because it could not compress, the force crushed the plug gap down.

 

I haven't pulled the head off to look at the piston yet, but I've seen plugs that were crushed because of piston damage and this doesn't look like it. Plus, I re-gapped the plug, put it back in the cylinder, and it seems to run fine now.

 

Strange to say the least. But I want to get back on the dunes without having to worry about it!

[BigRed350x]

You would have to suck a pretty good amount of water in to get it to hydro-lock your plug closed. Maybe your idea of a puddle is bigger than mine. haha! I've run through some pretty impressive puddles at high speed on all my bikes without any problems wtih K&N's and outerwears. Dunno what might have happened to you. The airbox cut up to act like a shield should keep you covered though.

 

- Jared

[peterlocal22]

use the airbox

its the way to go. if you dont and your motor goes you will be pissed you didnt.

just remember to take that little drain plug out. this way if water gets trapped in the box it will just spill out instead of getting sucked up.

peter