DIY: Open up factory intake duct on 07-09 Honda CBR600RR

[Gear Head]

Got this from a my buddy on another forum (Demented). This is his bike and he did an excellent write-up on it.

Here is how to get rid of all of the flow and noise restrictions inside the stock air intake.

Step 1:
Remove mirrors



Step 2:
Remove the two center screws for the windshield that attach the front to the stay



Step 3:
Remove the four screw/plugs from under the front. It's easier to use a phillips attachment for a drill with an extension on it for grip since it's hard to fit a screwdriver in there.



Step 4:
Remove the two screws that attach the stay to the lights/front. There is one on each side.



Step 5:
Pull the front off. Be careful because the 3rd eye is attached and the wires are fairly short. Unsrew the two screws holding the 3rd eye onto the front.



Step 6:
Remove the upper and the mids. It's easier to remove the upper and mid as one piece. Unclip the turn signal lights. Orange on the left, blue on the right.


Step 7:
On the left and right side, unclip the two black shields from the tank. They're just annoying and get in the way.





Step 8:
Unclip the front harness. Be careful when unplugging the large molex.


Step 9:
Disconnect the lights and BAS from the harness. There are 2 white and 2 black plugs. Unplug them by pressing down the flap that has the white dot on it.



Step 10:
On each side of the air intake, pry back the metal bolt retainers and unbolt the intake. When you are working on getting the 2nd side off, hold the whole front assembly in one hand so it doesn't fall as you remove the last bolt.



Step 11:
Remove the whole front assembly. You'll need the forks/wheel relatively straight to get the air intake out of the frame.



Step 12:
Remove the lights from the stay. There is one screw on the front and one on the bottom attached to the bottom plastic piece.





Step 13:
Un bolt the back of the stay from the air intake



Step 14:
Remove the bolts on each side of the stay/intake. You will be able to remove the intake from the rest of the front assembly.

[Gear Head]

The intake should be all by itself now. Bust out your dremel or any other tool of your choice to remove the material.


Step 16:
Cut out the rounded part in the intake that has the two holes In the back. I found that using a hammer and a flat screwdriver works better at knocking everything out, but be careful with the screwdriver. You might have to patch up a hole or two like I did. If you do go that rout and do have a hole to patch, the easiest way is to use a soldering iron with a flat tip.









Step 17:
Clean up the edges where you removed material. I used a dremel with a 120 grit barrel attachment and a wire wheel to remove bits of the fiberglass that were just hanging around.








There are two pieces of plastic on the stay that stick into the air intake. You can leave them in, cut them, or rip them out. I ripped them out and will continue the tutorial with that.



Step 18:
Rip off the two pieces of plastic from the stay. There's only a small rivet holding them in and is easy to pull off.


Step 19:
With some thin gauge aluminum or stainless steel that you can get from Home Depot, Lowes, or even Walmart, fab up some plates that seal up the holes in the intake. I used 32g stainless steel as I had it on hand. I cut the metal, bent it, and placed it into the intake. Sealed it top and bottom with liquid silicon gasket and let it dry. Make sure to let the silicon stand until it skins over, then insert the plates ontop of it, then add more sealant ontop for added insurance.




Step 20:
Put everything back together the way you took it off, unless you got pissed and a hammer to get something off, lol.


Before I did this my bike was really lagging in the 3000-4500rpm range when going from a stop. The engine would want to bog down and not run until the RPM's got over 4500rpm. Now, the bike wants to run when it hits 3000rpm. The power curve also feels much more smooth all the way through the RPM range.

[HANS]

he get any before and after dyno numbers on that?? or have people in the honda world been doing this mod for a while?? i ride suzuki so i wouldnt know

[Gear Head]

No dynos but he did feel a difference in throttle response and top end.

[compulady5]

Why did Honda put that hump in the intake to begin with?

[speedylocksmith]

probably to limit it. So they can sell aftermarket parts etc...

[Gear Head]

Originally Posted by compulady5

Why did Honda put that hump in the intake to begin with?

For emission and noise restriction purposes. It actually is a bit louder with this mod. Sounds like a cold air intake would on a car.

[HANS]

i was thinking more along the lines of fuel economy. seems thats what most of the newer bikes are geared towards instead of performance.