My 97 carb 900 has been fitted with cones by the previous owner and I have been given by him most of the parts that would be needed to turn it back to the factory air-box and any parts I need I can source on flea-bay , it doesn't run well at the moment and some of the running problems are probably due to some very tiny specks of rust in the tank which I have off and am waiting on a tank cleaning and coating kit ,should I take this opportunity to return to factory air-box? I have seen the airbox removal video on you tube and with the carb removal just to change the filter scares me,does the carb set have to be removed every time the airbox needs the filter changing ? if so what do I need to do to aid better running with the cones ? advice please as even the mention of carbs terrifies me as I am not in any way a techie or mechanic ,keep the cones or go back to the box ,I am planning to keep the bike another ten years as it is very low miles and just lovely ,just need to sort out the problem and the tank needing lined ,,,,no luck
My previous experience of fitting K&N type individual cone type filters reaches back to the early 90’s, it’s just a pity that my memory doesn’t What I do remember though is that in order to get them to run anything like standard there was quite a bit of work involving stripping the carbs down and fitting different jets, air screws and the like so you may find that your carbs don’t have the correct jets etc for the stock airbox. They never ran as good as stock just gave a more noisy intake sound and if the bike was left out in the rain and the filters got wet they ran like shit.
It sounds to me like the fitting of the cone filters was an expedient move, perhaps because for quite some time until recently the standard airbox for T300 models was unobtainable. If it's not running very well it could be that the jetting hasn't been changed to match the freer flowing cone filters? The genuine, standard airbox IS now available, though it isn't cheap (£61.44 from FOWLERS) and, IMHO looks better and is likely to perform better ..... assuming you are running standard jetting. I haven't removed an airbox for a long time but I don't recall ever having to remove the carbs to get the box off - it's a right, royal PITA to get the box off but, my spectacularly flawed memory seems to recall it being awkward and difficult, not impossible. It just needs a lot of pulling, tugging, shuffling and swearing ...... and skinned knuckles. It was - perhaps still is - a common mod. to unscrew and separate the original airbox halves (the originals were made as 'sealed' units but were screwed together) and replace the internal filter with a K&N unit which could be cleaned and re-oiled, unlike the original paper element. This didn't really mean any less difficulty in the servicing, it just meant that you weren't paying a small fortune for the plastic housing every time the filter was due for removal. The T300s, when fuelling correctly, run very well indeed on the stock set up - I'd be inclined to return to standard and be prepared for a little extra effort every couple of years to replace the airbox.
Hi,I have decided to return to the standard set up as you suggest and am sending the carbs off for ultrasonic cleaning , I have most of the parts for the standard air-box as they came in a bag with the bike ,I have sourced the missing parts on fleabay ,hopefully once it is all back together it runs better and i can then enjoy the bike as I was hoping to,I have a Thunderbird with the same or similar engine and it runs like a dream and has never given problems ,I didn't think the carbs needed removing but seen an on line airbox removal on you tube and he said to remove it but it looked to me that it was possible to remove the airbox without going to that length but as i will i guess have to have the carbs cleaned I will take your advice and get a K&N filter thanks all yet again .... Alan
You are doing the right thing by going back to standard. Triumph spent a load of money to get the fuelling right and many have tried and failed to do the same with pods. I believe that the crt kit works well tho.
I now have all the parts required and am sending my carbs off for cleaning as I just couldnt do it after watching a video ,can you tell me what a CRT kit is please ....
I think he means CRK Cafe Racer Kits https://www.caferacerkits.co.uk/news/2016/10/23/crk-triumph-cafe-racer
