Teardrop
"S&S" Style
Air
Cleaner
WHY? With the installation of the MaXair kit I removed the ugly stock air cleaner. I must admit that I liked the clean, muscular look of the bike without it (see pics below), but I thought that the classic, retro look of the S&S teardrop air cleaner would be a nice match with my bike. The cleaner would be decorative rather than functional, since the K&N pod filters included with the MaXair kit handle that job. My goal was to mount a teardrop cleaner and make it look like a stock application.
After the
MaXair install--no factory
air cleaner
THE PROCESS. I found an aftermarket teardrop air cleaner on eBay and snagged it for $25. I had planned on fabricating a bracket, but as I looked at the stock mounting points I wondered if I could utilize some of the pieces of the stock cleaner. I disassembled it and found that the bottom plate (see pics below) could be used to mount the new cleaner and bracket.
The major
parts of the stock cleaner--I'll use the piece
on the left
I mounted the bottom plate to the stock mounting points. I took the mounting plate from the new air cleaner and positioned it on the stock plate. I drilled two holes through it and used two of the stock screws to fasten it to the plastic bottom plate.
Here is the
bottom plate bolted into the stock mounting points
Here is the
mounting plate for the new cleaner bolted into
place
Now all that is left is to put the new cleaner cover into place.
Here is the
new teardrop
cleaner
A nice
alternative to the stock air cleaner!
RESULTS. Really nice. I know that appearance is subjective, but I like the retro look of the teardrop cleaner.
Worth the money? Absolutely! The whole project was done for about $25. I only wish that all my V Star mods were so inexpensive.