I had a chance to ride a TBA with a Freak setup this weekend. Wow! What a difference. I rode with a local RAT group this Saturday, and a guy named JD had a Freak setup. He told me to take it for a spin. (BTW, I met some really nice people and we saw some beautiful country along the St. Croix River that splits Minnesota from Wisconsin.) JD's bike had high bars and footboards, so it felt a lot different than mine so I didn't really feel comfortable taking his bike too far, but I could tell the throttle response was a LOT more aggressive than mine. JD kept saying, 'You gotta let it breath!' Now I am convinced that getting rid of the airbox is the key.
Here is what I noticed. The Freak gathers air like a ram air device, under the formerly fake chrome filter guards. Then the air only has a short, direct path to the carb throat, maybe 2 or 3 inches, with positive pressure pushing air into the carbs. Contrast that to the stock air box. The air has to find its way under the seat, and could actually be fighting a venturi type vacuum from the air pocket behind the rider's legs. It flows into the snorkle, or the hole in the top of the air filter and then experiences an energy robbing pressure drop as it expands into the volume of the airbox, not to mention all the twists and turns and friction along the way. The air has probably traveled 20 inches or so through twists and turns and different cavities before it reaches the carburators. It's no wonder the engine has a hard time pulling anything in with the stock setup.
I'm looking at my setup. I'm running Staintunes and 138 main jets with no snorkle and a drilled out bottom. I've tried 140 main jets but I felt like the power was dying off on the top end, so I backed off to 138s. By going with the Freak and the recommended 160 jets, I would be jumping up 22 notches in jet size. That's about a 16 percent increase in flow through the engine. It's no wonder that JD's bike crackled and popped, and mine seemed to putter after that ride.
Well, the bottom line is that ride on Saturday is going to cost me a Freak kit this winter.
Ride safe, and oil your chain.
Cody
