Spike air cleaner pros/cons

[Thee_masonator]

I'm late to the discussion, but I have some insight. I bought a 2007 rs 1700 midnight star that has v&h dual short pipes and the krator brand spike intake. The intake has more air leaks than should ever be acceptable, and the filter element is literally getting sucked into the engine. It crumbles like an old wicker chair. I like the look, but for the sake of my motor I will be getting a 'regular' filter setup.

[daveto]

They make rain socks that repel water to go on the filter. If parked in the rain any old plastic bag will do.

[Chromepony]

What do you do if you get caught in the rain ?

[ctkog]

That looks good.. great ground pounder look.. nice job.

[drumsonly2002]

Gram's bike looks great with the spike http://www.midnight-ride.com/ground_pounder.htm

[HotRod]

Why not build your own? It's not a spike however I think it still looks mean. Fabricated with some scrap aluminum and some off the shelf Spectre brand parts. About 80.00 in material costs.

Rod

[daveto]

I also like the one on Curt’s bike where it has a forward facing cone filter minus the spike. I will see what the parts shop recommends when I go test fit bags there in the spring. To clarify the barons filter cover hits my leg, I have not tried any other filter options as of yet.

[Clown]

I had one for awhile, it never touched or rubbed my leg in any way, but after a while I though it looked a little out of place, the one I had was quite heavy also was always afraid it might fall off, though it never did.

[daveto]

I appreciate the comments so far, keep them coming. I will not be doing anything till spring or later. I currently have a barons bak and it hits my leg. As far as the nut inside coming loose I would put a glob of silicone over the nut after installation to keep that from happening as well as some lock washers if they are not part of the kit. For the filter I would replace with the knn that fits spike. I prefer the look of the spike but would install a small round knn if no one has made the spike run correctly. Ps everything I own looks like it can hurt you, i prefer it that way.

[FDRUCaptain]

I like the look, looks kinda mean. But, I've not heard much good in them running right or holding up too well. And for price, I just stuck with a universal K&N.

[TimB]

I've read posts of the nut? coming loose inside the housing & getting sucked into the motor. You have better options.

[G_Conway]

I didn't go that route because I don't want anything that can stab me if the bike ends up on top of me.

[BubbaKahuna]

Most of the spikes I've seen used a K&N filter which breaths a lot easier than a paper filter. Just the filter alone shouldn't require rejetting a carbed bike but opening up the pipes AND an open filter usually required a rejet to run right.
EFI bikes shouldn't have any trouble because the ECU should be able to handle the changes automatically. If not, you might consider a Power Commander or Cobra ECU to open up the options for ignition mapping.

[daveto]

I really like the look of the spike air cleaner, has anyone installed one and got their bike to run correctly? I’d rather not waste the money if my bike will run poorly. Thank you for any info you can provide!