theoretically, if a person moved the air intake forward, ahead of the engine/exhaust pipes, and you brought in colder air, would that improve the bike performance? If yes, very much?
thanks

 

The kneescrapers do that via pushing cold air, at speed, into an air box system, that is actually pressurized.
The engineering depts of those import bike manufacturers, must think a lot of that design, as the higher the adervised hp, the higher the sales.
Scott

 

My first Harley, a new shovel, loved cold rainy days, when I would have preferred it to take things easy! As for moving the air intake I suspect the benefits are so minor at the road speeds most of us travel at that it is not be worth the effort. The bikes Scott mentioned, those sports bikes with an air hole in the nose of the fairing, probably only get any significant benefit at speeds most of us rarely reach!

Think of cars, where the air intake is inside the engine bay. We don't see them with an air intake from outside the vehicle. If we did then I think the answer to your question would be yes!