When I change the air cleaner in spring, one of the choices is an NRHS unit. I can buy the horseshoe breather unit they have or get some breather bolts. What is the real difference? Does the breather bolt leave all kinds of gunk all over? Does the breather unit send it to the floor unless you have a catch can much or is it merely a spot here and there?

 

The NRHS Hurricane Flow is an excellent choice.

I've never seen breather bolts that didn't wind up leaving some oil residue on the side of the bike when it's run hard. On the other hand, a horseshoe breather without a filter trap will leave a drop or two on the garage floor.

The pic below shows a filter trap in the discharge line that I used to eliminate the occasional drops on the floor. But after getting tired of cleaning it, I eliminated it, and just wipe up the occasional drop of oil on the floor.

 

I was afraid that like my Powerstroke, it will blow smoke out and leave drops on the floor but thinking back, it isn't diesel oil so it can't be that black and cause problems.

 

To me having hoses hanging is just plain ugly. I bought a bracket with integrated breathers for $80 on eBay. Looks really good and works really good as well.

Something like that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHROME-BILLE...ht_6079wt_1378

 

Looks almost like the SE Heavy Breather unit which sucks the crankcase fumes back to the throttle body for combustion, doesn't it?

 

Has anybody ever ran external breathers with the SE intake? I think it could be done but a couple of holes would need to be drilled.

ETA: I think I'm going to try a pair of those Outlaw breather bolts DK Custom sells and see how it goes. It looks like they would be behind the back plate and not vent hot air/oil into the TB. Personally I don't like the look of anything hanging down below the AC.

 

In your own opinion, would that be a reason why an engine would sputter a lot?

 

1. I might need to rejet it - if only I would have the ***** to do it myself.

2. I have drag pipes.

Sigh. Symptoms on my bike are lots of sputtering for the first 5 minutes of riding and extreme loss of power too.

 

Carb'ed bikes need to warm up before they'll run properly. This is not a bad thing as EVERY motor should be allowed time to warm up before stressing it under load. People with EFI bikes often brag about being able to crank it up and go, but in reality, doing so is nothing but bad practice for the motor.

Crank your bike up first, then while it's warming up, deal with putting on the gloves, jacket, helmet, etc. By the time you're done the bike should be ready to ride.

Drag pipes are exactly that, they designed for use at the drag strip where where the only throttle position is Wide Open. Their performance sucks for street use.

 

This is pretty much what the guy that tuned my bike told me. Advised me to start the bike up and let it warm up for a min or two before riding. I start the bike and then gear up even after I have been riding all day.