Re-route hoses

[mrdozer2you]

Ok, I,ve heard different things about this but havent found any instructions on how to do this. Here's how I did it and what you will need.

2x 5/8" plastic male tee's ( hardware store )
1x 2.5'-3' piece of 5/8" rubber hose ( I got fuel line hose from auto parts store)
1x small breather filter ( auto parts store )

total cost- about $9
time- 20 minutes

1. Remove airbox fairing
2. Take off top air box cover
3. Remove lower air box ( dont know what its called but there's 4 bolts holding it to the frame.
4. Disconnect the air sensor and take off lower air box and shove the 2 hoses back through their respective holes, it slides off the air intake ( big rubber horn looking piece)
5. I had to cut maybe 1" off the stock hose on the left side in order for the T's to fit and not pinch the hose
6. Connect the 2 hoses on the bike into 1 of the "T" connectors
7. Connect the piece of hose you bought to the other end of the "T" connector
8. Take the hose and run it under the frame towards the back of the bike so that it comes out near the swing arm in the rear. ( this is the hardest part and took me the longest, I used some black cable ties and connected the hose to existing wires to keep it off the engine )
9. Establish where you would like to put your breather filter ( mine is on the left side near where the swing arm and side rails meet )
10. Cut hose and connect the other "T" connector and breather filter
11. Connect the hose to the last spot on the "T" and run it down to somewhere on the inside of the swing arm ( a small bit of oil may drip out of here from time to time so make sure that it won't drip on the path of your tire. You can connect a catch can as well if you like but a minimal amount of oil will drip if any.)
11. Out of your leftover hose cut maybe a 6"-8" piece and shove one end through one of the empty holes in the lower air box. ( thats where you removed the hoses in the beginning ) Then shove the other end of the hose through the remaining hole.
12. Put everything back together and you're done, and remember to make sure that the new hose is secured and not rubbing-pinching any thing else

Sorry about not having the techincal terms for everything but hey i'm not a mechanic

 

[mrdozer2you]

Oh BTW, this is not emission legal in all states. It basically is re routing crank case gasses from being recycled through the engine. Causing rough idle, popping, missing, and generally running like crap. I've also heard that this can add a couple HP but havent noticed anything myself, but it does run alot smoother and there's no more oil splatter in my airbox [up]

 

[2Evil4U]

Did you plug the holes in the lower airbox plate? If not, you're pulling dirt into the intake after the air filter. Whatever you use to plug the holes, make sure it goes on from underneath. Don't need stuff coming loose and getting sucked into the intake. Otherwise, sounds like a decent cheap alternative to the ubiquitous catch can.

 

[mrdozer2you]

11. Out of your leftover hose cut maybe a 6"-8" piece and shove one end through one of the empty holes in the lower air box. ( thats where you removed the hoses in the beginning ) Then shove the other end of the hose through the remaining hole.

So....yeah

 

[Das Bolt]

Was the rough idle skipping ect. the reason you did the mod.in the first place? I've got a race ecm but I didn't open up the air box yet and my bike is running like you were saying. I've had the tps reset at the dealers twice and it's still not running right.

 

[2Evil4U]

Whoopsie. Missed that step.

 

[mrdozer2you]

Yes, thats the reason I did the mod. Definitely worth the 9 Bucks. The dealership won't tell you to do it because it changes the emissions of the bike. Basically those hoses that you re-route are putting exhaust gasses ( mainly Co2 ) back into your air box to be recycled through the combustion process again. So your engine is getting clean fresh air mixed with un used crap from the crank case. This can and does cause the roughness and missing, skipping etc. So by doing this mod it's taking all that leftover exhaust and dumping it outside the airbox instead of inside it.

 

[hottoddy69]

How does other Buell owners feel about this mod?? "Buellparts guy" etc.?

 

[TZippria]

I am very interested... post some pictures.

 

[anrusso]

Just posted a question regarding oil burn before finding this thread. I plan to do this soon even if solely for the performance improvements, but does it also help reduce oil burn off?

 

[MrOrange]

I did the breather hose mod about 3200 miles ago, with the hose vented back by where the fuel scupper drains. I really have not noticed any difference on the oil consumption since I did the mod. My XB9s usually needs oil every fill up, unless I ride like Grand Ma, then the consumption is not too bad.

 

[mrdozer2you]

It's still going to use oil, it just keeps crappy un burned gasses from going back into the air box and back through the motor. Thus reducing the "popping" and "missing".

 

[anrusso]

Well it turns out that my oil consumption was actually from a blown crank seal. All that oil I thought was burning was actually dumping into the primary. This goes back to topic because it could potentially be from a clogged breather. Will this reroute take care of this or would is an entire line check in order?

 

[mrdozer2you]

I think if its a clogged breather then you will need to check/replace the whole line. Re-routing the hoses is only beneficial if they are functioning [cool].

 

[zombieBUELLer]

i was bored last night so i figured i would give this mod a shot. went down to the pep boys bought everything i needed. i spent a little more than $9 and it took about me 30 min. i ran the hose forward and mounted my breather near my oil cooler.

as far as the benefits of this mod go. no more idle surge/pop or missing under 2500 rpm.

thanks mrdozer2you for the easy to follow write up.

 

[His_and_Her_Buells]

Does anybody know if this will void warranty or is reversable if warranty service is required?

 

[06xb9r]

You can change it back if you need to but I just had my bike in the shop and they didn't say anything about it.

 

[dunroamin]

I just did the re-route of the breather and it is a very noticable change. makes riding below 3000rpm easier, it takes away the poppinig and surging. Just a little correction on the hose size it's not 5/8 hose it's 3/8hose on the breather.

 

[mrdozer2you]

Yeah, the T's are 5/8" sorry

 

[Stylie420]

So I got stuff to do this mod, but am wondering where others mounted the breather. If there is anyone that has done this on a firebolt could post some pics showing where you mounted breather. Also I had to get 3/8" tees and hoses, maybe its just different on 2008's.