Airbox conversion / elimination

[seannbrownn]

1981 BMW R100. Purists look away.

Looking to loose the black plastic airbox. Really love the look of the cone filters off the bing carbs, but from reading other posts it seems really discouraged. Is there anyone out there running with cone filters or the UNI dual layer filters off the carbs that is in favor of this setup? It does seem impractical to have the carb only supported off the engine, and I know there are also performance concerns / the need for a cam breather. But, it is aesthetically pleasing. Any in favor of this?

I'm more likely looking to see if anyone has reverted back to the metal clam shell airbox? those are more aesthetically pleasing. Anyone know the process in converting back to this? what parts / pieces are needed? Is this practical?

Any other similar solutions?

Thank you,
Sean

[mattcfish]

Many will disagree, but I've been running open K&N filters on this bike since 1990. No damage what so ever to the cylinders.
Even when I had the original 900cc cast iron barrels, they always looked good. Of course I don't believe in doing any mods to the bike that don't improve performance. I use really big filters with 70mm long Velocity stacks inside. If you run without the stacks, you will actually loose some performance. I've also fabricated an expansion chamber out of a damaged front cover, that separates any oil from the blow by gas. I run Dellorto's, but I had no problems with the Bings using small cone filters. If you go with big filters and stacks you'll need to fab a bracket to carry the extra weight.