I'm thinking about putting a set of carbon air tubes on my Senna. But, geez - about $1,200 for the pair. I saw Casoli has what they call air tube covers, recessed (whatever recessed means) for a lot less. They look pretty good in the picture they show. Has anybody seen these covers? If so, how do they look? I hate to be cheap with this bike but seeing as the full carbon tubes add 0 to performance (aside from the few ounce weight savings) this really is just a cosmetic change. Should I just go ahead and spring for the real thing? Any advice is appreciated.

-- DaveB (gdbdj@frontiernet.net), January 02, 2003

Answers

If you are just getting them to keep your thumbs from getting pinched, maybe the Ferracci bar risers would be the way to go? I don't know anything about aftermarket air tubes, sorry.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), January 02, 2003.

Andy, do the bar risers change the handling and feel of the MV?

-- Allan Gibbs (Phoenix, Arizona) (Agibbs996@aol.com), January 03, 2003.

Greetings Dave- I feel your pain and understand your dilemma. I for one can’t stand the look of fake carbon fiber. To me the stock MV plastic looks cheap. It’s one thing to make a part from plastic but another to try and make it look like something it’s not. I know there are some that believe it’s a waste of money for the small amount of weight loss or performance gained (almost none) and that’s a fair opinion. Everyone has their own idea about the F4 and what it’s about. I can respect that. For me it’s knowing in my own mind that it’s the real thing and not just a cover for ugly plastic. After all riding the F4 is a personal, and religious experience to me. I also thought of getting carbon air tube covers but from Powerhouse Motorcycles in the UK. These do not have the recesses for thumb clearance but are duplicates of the original profile. They look good and would definitely improve the appearance of the bike. The cost is much less than a new set of air tubes but for me it’s just a step above fake carbon fiber. My personal dilemma is that I would know it’s just a cover and not the real thing. I’ll save my money and go for the real thing some day. I would be fooling myself (and perhaps others) if I didn’t.

-- Tim W (provamo35@hotmail.com), January 03, 2003.

Hello Dave! I have a pair of the Casoli carbon air tube covers on my 1+1 and i love them. Only really BAD thing is that you have to cut the stock tubes to get them to fit. I would have gone with the complete tubes myself but i cant justify spending the cash on that. I recommend the covers only if your willing to cut the stock plastic tubes, me personally on the Senna i wouldnt.

-- Robbie (rpaggen@hotmail.com), January 03, 2003.

Allan, I don't know. I personally wouldn't use them, but from the sound of it they add some comfort. As for the handling, I don't know about that either. This bike already carries a lot of weight on the front wheel so... The way the bars are now feels so perfect though that I'd be afraid to change it.

Tim, that sure is a lot of baggage to carry around... I realize it's a personal thing. I think it's interesting what they did with the plastic. Why just paint it or keep it flat? The texture is cool to me. It's unique. No other bikes that I know of have done something like this. I don't have any problem with plastic, sometimes it's the right material for the job. There's a lot of plastic on the bike...

Are there any claimed power increases by the recessed tubes? Could be, they may develop more pressure at lower speeds or something...

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), January 03, 2003.

erm-don`t know how to tell you this,but the same pattern is also used on the Raptor-------and cagiva`s scooters and piagio`s scooters,best go buy some carbon eh??

-- mike tilston (mike@tilston00.fsnet.co.uk), January 03, 2003.

Greetings people. I have seen carbon dream air tubes and they are larger in volume to create greater air flow. These would be used in conjunction with a larger air box. QB carbon do the tubes and modified air box. These type of extras needs to be in line with other fuel / air modifications eg free flowing air filter, power commander and re-map, race exhaust etc. I think i agree with Andy on the plastic thing. From a design perspective the MV plays with a combination of surface textures and combination of materials used. I dont see any thing cheap in the use of plastic. Which brings me to my final point, I see a lot of F4's with loads of extra polishing. I dont have a problem with this but personally from the original design concept, which is important for me, this becomes a distraction. Take a good look at the top yoke area of an F4. Tamburini really pushes the varied use of materials and promotes this through the different finishes, the top yoke is a testimont to this. It hurts me to see this polished away into just another polished alloy item. And plastic aint all bad.

-- tony beckwith (mcbeck709@blueyonder.co.uk), January 03, 2003.

I think the basic list is something like The Special Parts tubes are carbon for the sake of carbon The Casoli Tubes are carbon with the reccess for thumb lock issues The QB Carbon tubes are like Casoli, but also are bigger to allow more are flow.

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), January 03, 2003.

I also have thought about the Casoli recessed air tube covers. I understand that I would have to cut the air tubes. How much disassembly is required, and how complicated of a task is this?

-- John Milotzky (jmilotzky@wi.rr.com), January 03, 2003.

I just ordered them too and had no idea I had to do cutting!!!!

-- Peter trocco (draggo1@aol.com), January 04, 2003.

with reference to the cosoli recessed covers. The only ones that I have seen were being fitted at casoli's. These were the size of a cigarette packet and holes were cut in the are tubes in situ. The recess panels were then glued in. Tony b

-- tony beckwith (mcbeck709@blueyonder.co.uk), January 04, 2003.

The grating thing about all of this is that the carbon tubes were supposed to be on the Senna as standard (see the manual p.164 and every photo on any website promotion for them). In the end, none were delivered with carbon tubes.

If you are not getting the MV special parts tubes, make sure they have the same weave as the side panels so they match (some aftermarket tubes in Australia have a different weave).

-- Brian (brnbrn@bigpond.net.au), January 08, 2003.

Brian I didn't realise the senna was originally supposed to be fitted with carbon tubes,section 8.3 page180 of the owners manual doesn't list the tubes as carbon items. The weave thing is worth checking on all stuff. The carbon dream bits on my senna do not match the original weave, luck had it that I only bought the plate holder and heel guards before I realised and you can sort of get away with the position there in. I went to look at casoli's stuff and the weave all matched up on all the bits I viewed. tony b

-- tony beck (mcbeck709@blueyonder.co.uk), January 08, 2003.