Longer runners like that help smooth airflow into the throttle bodies at high RPM. The idea is similar to headers on the exhaust ... the ones without the runners wouldn't do anything more than just add air like the triple filters.
On an R3 I don't really think having long runners on the intake would make much difference since they aren't 12,000 rpm engines. Short velocity stacks would probably work better in this case.
But they sure are a conversation piece aren't' they?