Jet Kits: Dynojet vs. K&N

Hey guys I'm thinking about getting a jet kit for my 85 VF500F.

I've found stage 1 kits from both K&N and Dynojet, HOWEVER the Dynojet kit is $125 and the K&N kit is only $35!!! Am I missing something here? Why in the heck is the Dynojet kit 90 dollars more? Is it that much better? Does the K&N kit not include something?

WHAT IS THE DEAL?!

Have any of you guys used either of these with any success anyway? What do you think?

Here are links to the two kits:
Dynojet
K&N

 

I looked for pictures of both kits, and they look like both kits have the same items in them anyway!

8 jets, 4 needles, some little clips, a couple drill bits, and a screw.

So now I'm really intrigued!

 

Hmnm yea man I'm all about getting a jet kit, thing is from my perspective, after having a chat with Mike Valsaco, ex HRC tuner for the factory Honda team back when they used the RC told me not to go with either of those kits, as the gains are way to minimal for the trouble. Now HRC made a jet kit which went out of production in the mid to late 90's, I'm hoping one of these days I'll trip over one, so for now, I'm stuck leaving well enough alone.

 

The K&N's are just reboxed Dynojet kits, they look the same because they ARE the same. K&N has been liquidating the old kits for a couple of years now. Either they had a lot to get rid of or nobody wants them.

My opinion (even though it wasn't asked for) is that the Dynojet kits are not worth the box they are packaged in. I've never gotten one to dial in properly. Ever since I've referred them as 'Dynojunk' kits. Many years ago I switched to Factory Pro jet kits and can honestly say that I've not had one single issue with any of them. Take that for whatever it's worth.

As they say, your results may vary.

 

Ok I check out the Factory pro website (LINK), and that kit looks like it's got some more stuff than the other two!

But still... $130! Are they really that good? I mean, what kind of difference is there between this and the cheap K&N kit?

P.S. Jamie you seem to be the 1st gen pro around here so your opinion is always welcome as far as I'm concerned!

 

I 2nd the DynoJoke reference, leave it alone. You can get better results from just buying jets (under $5/ea) and maybe shimming the needles (if they don't have multiple clip slots). You just need to know what sizes to get. As for the Factory kits, they have way better needles and lots of jets to cover most setups. You are only running slip-ons? And maybe doing some intake mods? Probably only need to go one or two sizes up, at most, and raise the needles.

 

Yeah I've got some old Cobra F1 pipes, which supposedly don't require re-jetting, and I've got a K&N filter. I kind of feel like messing around with the intake more though, so by then I should be thinking about re-jetting, right?

 

Correct. The slip-ons don't require any changes, but if you start opening up the intake you'll need to richen things up a touch.

 

Actually I've found that slip-ons DO require rejetting. They mess up the flow so much that it takes some adjustments to get the power back to stock (if you are lucky, that is). That doesn't mean a full jet kit is required, normally you can get away with just shimming the needles. Main jet changes aren't necessary most of the time, but with a K&N being on there too you might need to go up a size.

Jet kits can make even more power when properly tuned. The Dynojunk kits really blow. They require drilling the VERY expensive slides which effectively ruins them. The whole drilling thing is a sign that the kit was designed very well. The Factory Pro kits have a much better needle taper and overall are better quality and tune more easily. Keep in mind that we are only talking about 1-2hp here. The biggest gains you will get with a jet kit are in the areas of throttle response and driveability.

 

Haha wow, I've been reading about carb tuning on the Factory Pro website... sounds like a frickin pain in the butt!!! I would like to try and get my bike running as well as possible, but I'm kind of unsure about messing around with the carbs. I would hate to make it worse!

 

It's not really that hard, but it IS easy to do it wrong. For what you'll need to do for the K&N filter and maybe opening up the airbox, just shimming the needles, all you do is take the tops off the carbs, pull the needles and add a M3 or M4 washer (about.020") under the clip and put it all back together. You may also need to adjust the air screws, but that's all easy stuff.

It's when you need to change the pilots, mains and needles for a full exhaust, individual filters and cams that things can get tricky. It just takes patience!

 

How do you know when you've got it set up right? Don't you need a dyno to test it?

 

If you were doing a full rejet-yes, eventually. For your stock motor with slip-ons and mild air box mods it isn't really needed, unless you just want to know what HP and AFR you're starting at, and you have some disposable cash that you can't figure out what to spend it on.

Start with plug checks, drivability, ect. For you, just get it so there's no flat spots, hic-ups or bogging, then you could take and have it checked. The Air-Fuel-Ratio is the most important info for you, which is about 14ish.

 

I have a 86 VFR 700 with a K&N Air-cleaner and a set of Kerker cans. I purchased a Dyno-junk kit and messed with it for a year (jet changes and moving the needle clips up and down, etc.) come to find out the taper on the needles were wrong. I ended up going up a couple of sizes on the mains (used honda jets) and shimming the STOCK needles 1mm. Never ran better.

 

Don't be afraid, the kits come with instructions that include baseline settings. I've found that the Factory Pro kits only need one adjustment, if any at all, from the baseline settings to be perfect.

 

Hmmm ok. This weekend I'm hoping to get the F1 pipes on there, and then I'll see how it runs after that. If it's messed up I'll try shimming the needles, and if that doesn't work I'll maybe try re-jetting.

That's logical, right?

 

Make sure the slip-ons have a good tight fit onto the collector (no gaskets needed for them) and go from there.

 

My Cobras leaked like a sieve without the gaskets...

 

Sorry about the necro, but I'm getting ready to rebuild a set of carbs and wanted to refresh my jet kit intel.