Baron's Big Air Kit (BAK)

[Retro Rich]

Added this airbox to my '05 1300 Retro. Great performance enhancement, you can hear the carb "suck" the air in and readily adds more HP and torque. Basically, this is a back plate/mounting adapter, with a K&N filter and chromed outer plate. Different designs available on the outer/cover plate, which is what you see from the side of the bike. Does not stick out any farther from the carb than the stock airbox. The BAK takes in a lot of air, and you will need to re-jet with a Stage III jet kit or do the "Scar" method of carb tuning to get into a Stage III equivalent set-up.

Great quality on the parts, excellent chroming on the cover plate and it is a heavy piece of metal that appears to be quite durable. Most of these come with the rain cover already included now, as well as the Stage III jet kit. A lot even come with the PAIR valve block-off plates as well; total package you can find around $280 +/-. Good instructions. Can be a little tricky to get the nuts onto the mounting studs for the cover plate, which go in behind the backing plate once you already have that mounted to the carb. But, with patience and some good fingerwork it can be done and you'll learn some tricks that work best for you on mounting and taking it back off if necessary. I found the best price for mine on metricthunder.com at the time. Also available directly through Baron's Customs or other aftermarket suppliers.

As FYI, they do not include or have the torque cone available for the 1300X (even though it appears it might be on their website).

[barttoday]

Is the stage III jet kit that is included with the BAK pretty easy to install?? I want a little more kick out of my 1300. I think this might get me where I would like to be.

[Retro Rich]

Well, pretty much...depends on how comfortable you feel with tank removal, taking carb out of intake boot, etc. It's not a hard install, just be patient and take your time. You can also just sell the DJ kit and modify your carb by shimming the needle as outlined in the thread labeled Carb Tuning in the Upgrades/Modification section of this forum, cutting your stock slider spring down and adjusting the A/F with the "d" tool from the kit. The "shimming" method is much cheaper, and easier to do. You could sell your stage III kit on e-bay, another forum, etc.

Either way, you'll notice an increase in HP and torque on the butt dyno.

[barttoday]

Thanks RR, as always.

[Monty]

Wondering if you had any problems when caught in heavy rain ? .................. Monty

[Retro Rich]

Haven't been caught in any heavy downpours thus far with the BAK; never ready anything about anyone having any problems with it. If you buy the complete BAK kit, it comes with a raincover and I wouldn't necessarily foresee any problems being caught in the rain. MHO, if you're in a heavy enough rain to cause the carb to flood out--probably shouldn't be riding anyway. Take cover and wait for it to pass.

[Exile]

Wondering if you had any problems when caught in heavy rain ? .................. Monty

the build of the BAK allows any excess water to simply drain out
in a rainstorm ...

where you have to be very careful is with washing the bike: I
simply tied a plain grocery bag over the bak (the handles of the
bag make for good tie downs) and then washed the bike: when
done, remove the grocery bag and clean up the chrome on the bak.

the reason for doing this is that a hose moves a lot more water
than a raincloud and you could actually drive water past the bak
into the carb and into the cylinders ... not good.

the little water from rain won't harm anything.

[smooth x]

I have had the BAK for 2 years now and love it, No problems in the rain. I leave the sleeve on all the time as I live in San Antonio and it can get dusty here.

[LSU_FAN4LIFE]

i put the BAK on my VTX1300S with V&H Bit Shots and love it..had talked to Retro Rich and he gave me great advise and help when i was wanting to do mine..i am not a gear head in the least but i did it and was not to hard,took me a little longer than other people probably would cause i was taking my time and double checking myself on every step cause i did not want to make a mistake...i love the new mods...thanks for all the help RR..

[rbrookes]

i have the BAK with V & H Big Shots as well, my only problem atm is i'm running too lean with the jet kit that came with it.

had to order the Factory Pro Kit and rejet.

[LSU_FAN4LIFE]

yes i also ordered the factory pro jet kit..my bike run to lean with kit that came with the BAK

[saratogalights]

if you can try shiming the needles