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--Occasionally, I'll get an e-mail from someone who's curious about my air filter. So I thought I'd tell you all about it here and then I could just link back to this post and save myself some time. --We'll call it "Gasman's L.E.A.K". LEAK standing for "less expensive air kit". Cute huh?

--The filter is a K&N RC-1980 (click for link).  It's available at any auto parts store that can order K&N products for about $50.  I ordered mine at the local Advanced Auto Parts.  It's all molded together in one piece, chrome cover and mounting clamp included.  It slides right on to the stock carb with a small clearance from the tank.  It does not stick out at all like some aftermarket breathers.

--This is something new I just discovered, for those of you who want to get fancy with it.  Xtremerevolution.com markets an "ultraflow" air kit for the Honda VTX that is the same shape and dimensions as the RC-1980.  You can buy a smooth or flamed billet cover, sold seperately, that I believe would fit the RC-1980.  No guarantees on that because I haven't tried it yet.  If someone would like to donate the $110 purchase price, I'll be glad to check it out for you.

--The only modification I made to the RC-1980 was for support of the carb and breather itself. I used some 1" x 1/8" thick aluminum flat bar.  Cut two pieces about 5 or 6 inches long and drill a hole in one end.  The size of this hole isn't critical so you can size it for whatever hardware you have available.  Put the support bar against the back of the filter running with the horizontal center line of the filter and mark and drill the hole in the back of the filter.  The closer to the filter opening you drill, the easier it will be to bolt up because you have to reach in through the filter opening to start the nut.  Bolt the bar to the back of the filter using a large flat washer on the inside because you're only bolting it to the thick rubber housing.  The large flat washer will help to spread out the stress.

--Temporarily mount the breather to the carb and mark where to cut off and drill the other end of the supports. Drill them to accept the bolt size that originally held the factory breather to the cylinders.  The factory breather mounting bolts will probably be too long so you will need washers or shorter bolts.  You can get creative here. I used some thick chrome washers left over from a Kuryakyn breather.  The front support bar should line up perfectly with the front cylinder but the rear will require about a 1/2" spacer due to the cylinder offset.

--Now you can mount your new L.E.A.K.  The provided clamp is just a big hose clamp and it's fine but since there is a very small lip on the OEM carb, it's possible to overtighten the clamp to the point that the breather throat pops itself off of the carb.  Snug is good enough in this instance.

--Before someone asks, I left the idle adjustment knob on its factory bracket between the pushrod tubes.  I just painted it all black so it wouldn't stand out.

--Normal rejetting advice still applies, just like any aftermarket breather.  I'm using the same settings that I used with my Speedstar K&N and my shortlived Kuryakyn Hi-Five.  My settings are in my profile and my MPG varies from 46 to 51. See the pic below.

 
gasman (gargoyle59)