Hey all! I wanted to start this thread because I need in site on velocity stack air cleaners... First off I absolutely love the look of em, look raw and bad@$$ in my opinion and I'd love to throw one on my Nightster. Only problem is, for quite a few advertisements for the velocity stack i keep seeing the "For racing or show ONLY!" disclosure. Soooo what's that mean? Are they bad for everyday use? Thanks for all your replies in advance!

 

Well for one even with a screen the are still susceptible to sucking things in the intake. Hence the disclaimer.

 

I haven't used them on the sporty, but I have 2 on my old BSA chopper, looks bad *** and really adds to the chopped look. Never had any issues with them over the 20 years i've had them on, Although, they could be a big issue if your ride in dusty conditions alot.

 

My buddy has one on his Big Dog chopper and so far so good, but he is trying to custom make a K&N to fin in it. I'm not a fan of running engines with out air filters.

 

At best, running an open stack will accelerate wear to your rings. At worst, something solid will get sucked in and tear up a piston, valve, etc. And, man, they do have a powerful suction at the bell mouth. Adding a small filter inside the stack is bad for horsepower production. Stacks do look mean, though. I ran one on my old Ironhead for about a year with no dramatic ill effects, but I may have just been lucky...

 

i like you wanted one too and didn't want the wear and tear on my engine so i got one that had a filter. unless you have a sock it sucks in the rain. besides that i get the look and the durability of a regular A/C

 

Open velocity stacks are fine for a race motor that gets rebuilt frequently, but probably not the best idea for street use. I have seen a couple of models posted here in the past that include a small cone shaped (K&N type) filter element inside the stack. I'm not sure the air flow performance would be all that great due to the small surface area of the filter element but it would get you the velocity stack look without risking motor damage.

Edit: oldschool beat me to it.

 

Thanks for all your reply's everyone!!! Hey Oldschool, that looks bad@$$!!! I love the idea of a filter too for that added protection, what brand is the above and where did you get it? Thanks!

 

I love the look also, but scared to chance sucking something like a piece of gravel in my motor.

 

Velocity stacks are cool but when you can suck in anything smaller than a small chicken they aren't such a good idea.
The ones with the filter inside work just fine as long as you are more interested in looks than performance, big filter spells big performance.
I like them so well I designed my own air cleaner with a velocity stack inside of it, I've used it for years and it works great.