Airbox Flapper Mods- Entire Assembly Removal - X Specific

I found this thread very informative.

Then I watched the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP333s1nJkA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwr250rforum%2Eforumotion%2Ecom%2Fnew%2Dmembers%2Df1%2Fanother%2Dhello%2Dfrom%2Dtokyo%2Djapan%2Dt640%2Ehtm&feature=player_embedded

For those of you with wr250x machines how "open" can you make the airbox and not worry about water?

Would getting caught in a heavy rain with a wide open top like in the video cause a problem?

Or is it more of a problem for when washing the bike and spraying hose water everywhere? Or stream crossings if doing hard-core off-roading?

I'm liking the idea of leaving the "snorkle" part on the top of the airbox but cutting away all the plastic under it. I'm thinking the hole left by the flapper solenoid (sp?) would be a good place to mount my EFI unit when it arrives. I can just velcro over that hole right?

I'm just wondering how far you guys have gone with the airbox mods when the vast majority of your riding is on paved surfaces.

Thanks in advance.

Water will be an issue whether you own an X or an R², because both bikes can run into the same troubles on pavement and offroad, depending on how agressive you are with your riding style. I ride mine rain or shine. Personally, I feel leaving the top of the airbox open like that, or even leaving the side door off you're taking a huge chance. I've opened mine a bit, but all I did was drill a couple of small 'paws' into the top, and then covered them with Flow-Rite as an added protective measure. Many guys put their programmers where you put yours, some put it next to the battery and others, like myself, have put it where the ECU was, and put the ECU down into the space made available when the AIS was removed.