Ram Air - can we get more air into the V4 airbox?

Back in the noughties (or was it the nineties?), Ram Air was all the rage for bikes making 130 - 150 claimed bhp and pronounced air intakes and pressurised airboxes were marketed as adding extra power as the speed rose......

The standard air intakes on the road Panigales with an extra 50+ claimed hp look pretty small relatively, mainly because the headlight sits in the upper part of the intake.

I have done a bit of desktop research (browsing, basically) and seen several Y-shaped air ducts that sit in the fairing intakes and channel air directly to the snorkel and into the airbox.


These seem to take the place of the headlight.

However, it seems that the headlight (or dummy headlight) is needed for securing the road (or Ducati Track) front fairing (which has 2 screws just below the screen), which makes it look as though the race air intake won't support the fairing without some additional bracketry.

It appears as though to use such a intake would mean going to an aftermarket fairing and a DB Holders / MotoHolders front frame.

Here is a nice example of a front frame with intake (no fairing mounts by the look of it, apart from the top where the mirrors used to sit):

https://ukroadandrace.co.uk/product...acket-and-intake?_pos=18&_sid=bcd204952&_ss=r
Has anyone successfully run the Ducati Bodywork without the (dummy) headlight and used one of these race intakes?

Secondary question (maybe it should be the primary) - do we think our V4 bikes can make full power with the headlight taking up 40% of the air intake?
Thoughts?

cl955 said:

Back in the noughties (or was it the nineties?), Ram Air was all the rage for bikes making 130 - 150 claimed bhp and pronounced air intakes and pressurised airboxes were marketed as adding extra power as the speed rose......

The standard air intakes on the road Panigales with an extra 50+ claimed hp look pretty small relatively, mainly because the headlight sits in the upper part of the intake.

I have done a bit of desktop research (browsing, basically) and seen several Y-shaped air ducts that sit in the fairing intakes and channel air directly to the snorkel and into the airbox.
View attachment 52283

These seem to take the place of the headlight.

However, it seems that the headlight (or dummy headlight) is needed for securing the road (or Ducati Track) front fairing (which has 2 screws just below the screen), which makes it look as though the race air intake won't support the fairing without some additional bracketry.

It appears as though to use such a intake would mean going to an aftermarket fairing and a DB Holders / MotoHolders front frame.

Here is a nice example of a front frame with intake (no fairing mounts by the look of it, apart from the top where the mirrors used to sit):

https://ukroadandrace.co.uk/product...acket-and-intake?_pos=18&_sid=bcd204952&_ss=r
Has anyone successfully run the Ducati Bodywork without the (dummy) headlight and used one of these race intakes?

Secondary question (maybe it should be the primary) - do we think our V4 bikes can make full power with the headlight taking up 40% of the air intake?
Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I don’t think it would matter much to do “ram air”. The system isn’t sealed as the intake air flows through the frame around rhe steerer. It’d be really difficult to pressurize the airbox especially with those frame cutouts. I think the biggest benefit would be how to keep the airbox as cool as possible since there’s so much heat that soaks everything

definitely need more power!

DB holders cheap tat
also wasn't there issues with the mounting angle of the IMU with them?

Good to know. Thanks.

pierobon mate...........can fit with or without the headlamp and std fairing fitment....

andyb said:

pierobon mate...........can fit with or without the headlamp and std fairing fitment....

Click to expand...

Thanks Andy. Have you kept the dummy headlight or gone to the Y shaped duct?

All the intakes are the same Y shape, it the fairings that limit the space leading to the intakes

cl955 said:

Thanks Andy. Have you kept the dummy headlight or gone to the Y shaped duct?

Click to expand...

ive kept the dummy headlamp at the moment pierobon front subframe with the holders fitted. ill remove the dummy and go to the y piece soon...

the Y piece will not perfectly fit to the sandwich top bottom of DP race fairings. I imagine it would be loose in that space

I doubt it could ever really be a true ram air setup as the air from the inlet merely enters the air box. It has to make a turn to get sucked into the stacks. More air is always good, but what's the problem you're trying to solve?

The air enters here...



But there's no defined path for the air to reach the stacks; it's just open space within the airbox. Pic, airbox top off.

The problem is in my head (story of my life).
Thanks for the pics. The area of the aperture for the air entry in the first picture looks considerably bigger than the letter box entry point with the headlight in the way. 15,000 RPM on an 1100 will be demanding a lot of air, although to be fair, any major restriction would have shown up on dyno runs.
I don't think that the Ram Air marketing often represented a properly pressurised airbox, but yes, more air has to be good.

I also like the idea of saving some weight and the simplicity of the Y piece.

You could always throw a turbo on it

SuperDomestique said:

You could always throw a turbo on it

Click to expand...

Turbo bikes are super fun

When you use those ‘race snorkels’ my understanding is that they are essentially the same shape as the standard one. The gap is closed where the headlights are by using a ‘race’ front fairing that has a drop down bit of fairing where headlight or headlight dummy is now.

I’ll send a pic of my track front fairing when I get home.

Are electric turbos banned in racing? Surprised this isn't a thing. You could put an electric turbo at the intake inlet and pressurize the airbox that way.

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craig bush said:

Turbo bikes are super fun

Click to expand...

I once rode a friend's 280 hp Zx10r turbo... treated it with a lot of respect.
Shortly after that, he looped it and wrote it off!

cl955 said:

I once rode a friend's 280 hp Zx10r turbo... treated it with a lot of respect.
Shortly after that, he looped it and wrote it off!

Click to expand...

Ooo damn. Agreed - “with respect” is how I rode my turbo gsxr1000 at about the same power (225 @ 8psi, 300 @ 12).

Damn, I miss that thing.

It would appear that the air box is sealed (like most Ducati ones). So a big massive funnel should add pressure and HP when you're at speed. And the feed from the Y tube should lower turbulence. If you really want more HP add valve timing. So again has anyone got the cam specs for the R cams. These could be the same but this would be one of the few times where they were the same. Typically the R cams have steeper ramps and more timing but the stock cams have some seriously steep flanks particularly the on the closing side.

good morning
I modified the original false headlight by inserting inside a db holder intake