new ramair kit

The rear is the part of the filter that gets most squished by the bearclaw. That might indeed be something that points to Wreckas rocking engine theory. Wonder if it would make sense to trim some foam back there pre-emptively...

If your engine is rocking there's something wrong.

It's not rigidly mounted, it's rubber mounted, and if you rev it the entire bike moves. I have no doubt the engine moves a little side to side as well on the mounts. Whether or not it moves enough to cause failure of the filter is more debatable.

More to the point the bearclaw is affixed to the the tank - and that most certainly can move relative to engine.
The OZ-Claw has less rigid mounting too.

Edited to add. As RamAir have said - in half jest - that they intend to pop to Spain when Stage 2 is done - and do the test fit on the Bike they measured up (mine) - It's maybe something I can try and bring up with them. maybe they can reduce the rear pot height a bit. Again - Colin and I designed Stage1 by eye. Colin modelled based on having first modelled 3 K&N's in 3D.

He also did this filter - which is un-f*cking-believabley LOUD. It out roars the THUGS exhausts and wind roar, and that's at 100mph.

barbagris said:

Well - I suggest you visit them and see.

The R3 thing is a tiny tiny tiny part of what they do. We're a tiny turnover and minimal profit group.

Frankly if I were them I'd have turned the project down. ITG filters did just that - said it was IMPOSSIBLE TO BUILD.

But they're youngish aggressive and willing to take risks. If you've never ****ed up in R&D - then you're unique and should be earning millions a day somewhere.
Pretty much my entire free time is speant in R&D - And like Thomas Edison - I have discovered 1000's of ways not to do things.

Let's be clear - WE (that is Colin with some pushing from me) designed it. They simply took his design. IF YOU CAN DO BETTER - I'm all for it.
I certainly do not have Colin's 3D skills. So if it looks cheesy - your beef is with us - Not RAMAIR.

Ages ago K&N did a special filter for Guzzis - they had so many issues - they simply pulled them as they were too much hassle.

The Stage 2 Ram-air will be 3D modelled from scratch by them. They used 3D measuring equipment Colin and I did not have - we did it by eye and knowing what 3*K&N's looked like.

Click to expand...

Sorry you got all upset about my comment. I was just pointing out that it looked cheesy when I first saw it in the pictures..... then later on seeing the problems with it splitting and not staying on the throttle bodies just proves that I was right.

mully95 said:

Sorry you got all upset about my comment. I was just pointing out that it looked cheesy when I first saw it in the pictures..... then later on seeing the problems with it splitting and not staying on the throttle bodies just proves that I was right.

Click to expand...

Hell, mully, I don't give a **** if you think it looks CHEESY - I just wanted to make sure you realised who's responsible for it being so. Colin and me - not RamAir.

In regards the splitting - I can't understand HOW - as mine has been though extremes of dry wet cold and hot - and has never complained.
My gut says it's how it's mounted and clamped. Part maybe the OZ-Claw rather than Bear-Claw. I did use mine with the OEM claw for a bit but mine is lined with sound deadening - maybe that helped?.

But again others have had issues mounting and mine was never prone to popping off or anything. The revised stage1 went on with only the gentlest push. And you could feel it index into the groove.
I am (as some may have realised) a bit obsessive compulsive about doing things RIGHT - and given the reported issues with early stage one - made sure I could understand how it "fitted" rather than just shove it on.
This meant I was rained upon by an unexpected English rain shower. The one ruddy cloud in the sky had to come right across their courtyard.

I think Wrecka suggesting cable ties might well be enough. I also initially used TRIUMPH clamps with longer screws rather than the Ramair ones - as the prototype came without and I had already made the sensor cable. This is a different shape. Again maybe this helped. I now have RAMAIR clamps but barely tightened. There's no mechanical need to and no air-bleed to worry about.

I know what RamAir are planning for the Stage2 kit and it's RADICALLY different in many ways. Both Colin and myself were present when RamAir 3D modelled my bike and they started making up forms etc. We saw the filter solution for a racing Porsche that the new one is based on. But they're WAY behind as they keep getting money making contracts - silly blighters.

I also know how many are out there (well I did in April) and really there are not as many as you'd think. I have a good feel for what most mfrs would consider a minimum production run of niche product and the sales are WELL BELOW THAT. These are pretty much bespoke made to order units. So if they need to change - they can. And if we can identify WHAT is happening - they will.

@barbagris have they given you a idea on when we will see the stage 2 design?

warp9.9 said:

@barbagris have they given you a idea on when we will see the stage 2 design?

Click to expand...

Chris (the technical manager) told me not until late August at least.
They've had one or two nice things fall in their laps - which have upset the established foam filter marques.
So I think they're making sure they hit targets with a buffer.
Also they'd just won a small (and really very very small) military contract when I was there - that has plus and minus points regarding creativity.

If I was in the UK - I'd be doing pester visits every so often. I need some RamAir foam to repair the Land Rover's pollen filters, guys - no honest!.

I'm actually curious now as to how many of the failures happened (or were the worst) on the rear-most intake. Material fatigue is a thing, and if the engine moves back and forth constantly on the rubber mounts and pushes and pulls on the filter against the claw, it wouldn't even be surprising if there was eventually a failure especially with heavily tightened clamps.