I love my 400. It's the coolest little bike I have but your mechanic is right, pods suck on a street bike. I run them on my GSXR1100 because I have flatslide carbs and a bunch of mods (big-bore, pipe, cams, etc). They tend to take the mid-range completely out of a street bike and in the case of the B400 that would make the powerband very narrow (all top-end (even more than the way it is stock)). If your bike has very little in the way of engine mods this would not be a good up grade IMO. I just did a jet kit, end can, K&N, snorkel removal on my street 400 and it really put a smile on my face.