Today I decided to pull the fairings off for the first time, lift and remove the fuel tank, remove the airbox cover and air filter, and then remove the airbox restrictor plate. The job took me about 40 minutes from start to finish and was incredibly simple. I'm really enjoying how easy this bike is to modify, repair, and maintain. Since this mod is easy and free, I figured I could reverse it if needed for whatever reason.
Here's where things get interesting. After removing the airbox restrictor plate, I took the bike out for a 30 minute ride and was amazed at the difference it made. The bike seems to have TONS more torque throughout the entire RPM band, but most notably, at very low RPM. The bike will happily pull itself along in sixth gear at low speeds that it didn't previously like and it pulls like a freight train from those lower RPM's.
Also, being a 2020 model, my bike didn't suffer from the terrible throttle snatch of the earlier model year bikes, but it was still there enough to be slightly annoying. Low speed throttle inputs are now buttery smooth with no more jerkiness. No longer do light inputs of the throttle cause the bike to lurch forward and same goes for closing the throttle. No more of the previous hard "on/off switch" feel. It's smooth on, smooth off.
Lastly, I noticed the bike will idle along at very low speeds in first gear without me having to manipulate it by feathering the clutch in and out. I have a roundabout near my house that I previously had to feather the clutch in and out in order to follow slow moving vehicles around. Now the bike will pull itself along at 8-10 MPH with the clutch out and the engine at idle speed. I used to have the same problem in parking lots. Very low speeds required a lot of clutch manipulation in order to keep the bike moving at very low speed and prevent it from suffering that on/off jerkiness. I went to my son's high school parking lot and tested this some more by cruising around in first gear with the clutch out and the bike will simply putt around the lot at idle between 8-10 MPH.
In summary, I never really realized just how bad this bike was with low speed movement and on/off throttle inputs until I've now ridden it without those issues. It's like a totally different bike and I couldn't be happier. I'm intrigued about why simply removing the airbox restrictor plate would make such an extraordinary difference in the ridability of this bike. I can only assume that the restrictor plate was so effective at restricting airflow that it was acting like a carbureted bike with the choke engaged and now without it in place, the bike can breathe properly.
Has anyone else with a stock bike removed the plate and noticed anything similar?
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