Air Filter Change Questions

So I am approaching 10K miles on my bike and am starting to think about changing the air filter. Not sure what the standard is for bikes, but on my car I always like to pull off my air filter every 10K miles and give it a nice clean and re oiling. Does that apply to our bikes as well?

Second part of this question is, would I be better suited to drop some extra dough on a K&N reusable type filter or should I just go with another OEM one? I run a 2Bros slip on and have not tuned the bike. If I upgrade to a K&N style filter, would a tune be necessary?

Any and all input welcome!

ebster1085 said:

So I am approaching 10K miles on my bike and am starting to think about changing the air filter. Not sure what the standard is for bikes, but on my car I always like to pull off my air filter every 10K miles and give it a nice clean and re oiling. Does that apply to our bikes as well?!

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On something like this, I would recommend that you have to use your own judgement. Once you get the filter out and inspect it, If it's nasty, clean it more often, if it's still decent , then 10K is about right.

ebster1085 said:

Second part of this question is, would I be better suited to drop some extra dough on a K&N reusable type filter or should I just go with another OEM one? I run a 2Bros slip on and have not tuned the bike. If I upgrade to a K&N style filter, would a tune be necessary?

Any and all input welcome!

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No extra tune should be required for just changing to a K&N. The airbox is the restrictive part of the air intake, so even though the K$N might be freer flowing, the engine is still only going to breath in what little air that can pass through that little airbox opening.

I think how much "freer-flowing" the K&N was/is disputed. Overoiling could reduce the flow. IMO, if you're only going to change/clean the air filter once per 10k miles, I would not get a K&N. I believe the real gains with washable filters are in cost... If you drive/ride a LOT and/or in dirty environments, the cost of buying a reusable is offset by not having to buy a new filter every year.

Phil_RC_1 said:

No extra tune should be required for just changing to a K&N. The airbox is the restrictive part of the air intake, so even though the K$N might be freer flowing, the engine is still only going to breath in what little air that can pass through that little airbox opening.

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Good point. So lets say I wanted to increase the size of the airbox opening. With that extra airflow a tune would be necessary, correct?

ebster1085 said:

Good point. So lets say I wanted to increase the size of the airbox opening. With that extra airflow a tune would be necessary, correct?

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i did the airbox mod and running an aftermarket exhaust...i just disconnected the battery after riding it. people say it will reset the ecu

plus dyno'ing a bike is expensive in ny! lowest price i found was 250 (not including the powercommander)

Seen this question loads over the years,25 yr ago it was the norm for guys to put aftermarket exhausts etc on their riides,usually that in turn meant upjetting carbs,and change the stock airbox to a set of K&N.s,9 times out of 10 unless it was professionally set up problems arose,usually always a trade off,ie gain in low end power but gain a bit more midrange or vise versa....
My own opinion was theres no way your average DIY mechanic could beat Mr Yamaha,Kawasaki etc in the Race/Develop department so i tend to leave things stock,these days ECU's,fuel injection and all the tech stuff that decides how our bikes run would definatley put me off attempting it.....
So in a long boring way ive basically said id stick with OEM parts lol:BLAA:

QwickFliCk said:

...i just disconnected the battery after riding it. people say it will reset the ecu
)

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There's a couple problems there. On the older FZ's that don't have an O2 sensor, it has an Open-Loop EFI, or think of it as a very tunable carburetor. It's not smart-technology or self tuning.

On newer models with an O2 sensor, they are still only part-time closed-loop,, that is, they only self tune via O2 feedback at partial throttle and lower RPMs (I don't know the specific throttle % or RPM range but it is only actively self-tuning in the cruising range). To do it right, there's no getting around needing an EFI tuning module and a good dyno tune.

Not saying your bike doesn't run great, just sayin that it probably isn't at the ideal Air/Fuel ratio all of the time, or making the best/effiecent power that it could be.

ebster1085 said:

So I am approaching 10K miles on my bike and am starting to think about changing the air filter. Not sure what the standard is for bikes, but on my car I always like to pull off my air filter every 10K miles and give it a nice clean and re oiling. Does that apply to our bikes as well?

Second part of this question is, would I be better suited to drop some extra dough on a K&N reusable type filter or should I just go with another OEM one? I run a 2Bros slip on and have not tuned the bike. If I upgrade to a K&N style filter, would a tune be necessary?

Any and all input welcome!

Click to expand...

According to the instructions, cleaning and re-oiling is only necessary at 50,000. I will be checking mine more often than that, but it's not necessary to do anything with it at 10,000. I just changed from my stock filter at 10,000, too, and noticed it was dirty, though. Cleaning and oiling the filters is pretty easy, and over-oiling isn't a problem if you do it carefully and give it time to dry. I bought it partly to save a little money in the longrun, but I've gotten some mild performance and sound improvments. I had a oiled filter on my last car for 90,000 miles without any issues. YMMV.

I think I will prob go with a K&N reuseable filter unless the price is outrageously high. I already have a filter cleaning kit and have been using these filters on my car for years with great success. I know every machine is different depending on filter location, exposure, etc, but with my car the filter is flat out nasty after 10K miles. I usually clean and oil it every other oil change which is even more frequent (every 6k miles) to keep the engine breathing well. Then again, my car is running a turbo so that thing is sucking like a beast!

So many variables. . . the dirt and dust from one location to another says we can't compare change intervals. But as said, what's the point in buying a reusable filter if its' not going to be cleaned? Pollen and small debris that goes up your nose sticks in that filter too. Even though its not black and covered with chucks, that doesn't mean its flowing freely either.

I changed mine at 8000 miles and it didn't look all that bad but it sure made a difference in the power. I pulled the battery and ran even smoother after that. Don't neglect the air filter. . .

Personally, (since you have 10K on it), I would just go ahead and replace it with the factory stock and not worry about it.

I bought my '07 used (1,400 miles) with a K&N already installed, had to buy the cleaner and oil for the filter. I've cleaned and re-installed it twice, but don't know that its worth the trouble.

I checked the filter yesterday and its still pretty clean. I brushed off the small amount of debris that was on it and would say I am fine for a while. When I do decide to change I will prob just go with an Oem replacement.

i have just bought a k&n filter cos it was only 10 english pounds dearer than a stock filter,havent fitted yet service not due,as i keeping the bike i thought it a wise buy

KN flows better in all my cars but it sure is nice to be able to toss a dirty filter away. Takes time to wash dry and re-oil filters, that be said I put one in my bike too.

anybody knows where to buy oem filters? (at good price)