longhaul747
Moped
Even though I am good about a lot of things I finely cleaned the air filter in my KLR. I am sure it was cleaned by the shop during service but I was recently told that the oil based filters need to be cleaned fairly often compared to the paper counterparts. On my SV's I have 8K miles on each of the original paper filters and they are for the most part still clean. Its been about 3K miles since the last time I suspected that my filter in the KLR was clean. Lately it has lacked power and for no reason it was a bit choppy so I decided to have a go at servicing the filter. Believe it or not this is the first time I have tackled the old school oil based air filter.
When I opened the access door the filter actually did not look to bad. A lot of gunk and sand from when they sanded the roads and what not plus a few small leaves and pine needles. However when I removed the filter the back side where the air comes in was black. I found the filter to be very sticky to the touch. I bought the Kawasaki air filter cleaner kit and used that in the bathroom sink (when the wife was not home :-X ). The biodegradable formula is easy on the hands and literally washed the gunk away. After a few soaks and squeezes the filter was nice and clean. Even though I carefully squeezed out as much access water as I can it was still very wet. I was kind of hoping for it to be dry in a few hours but no go. I let it sit overnight and found it to be still a tad wet so I took a fan and placed the filter in front of the fan. Within a few hours it was good and dry.
Next was the trick of oiling the filter. I have read time and time again and all over the place that you don't want to over oil the filter and that it really does not take much. I was told by a long time motorcycle friend that the best procedure is to take a gallon sized plastic bag. Put some oil in the bottom (not much) and then place the filter in the bag and shake it up nicely. I did this and found that the filter soaked up all the oil almost instantly. I put a tad more oil in there and shaked it again only to have the filter soak that oil up as well. I then took the filter out and it certainly felt greasy but not as greasy as it was when I took it out. I then took a few paper towels and sort of pressed a bit more oil out of the filter but not much really came out. Really no idea if I under oiled but I am pretty confident I did not over oil. The instructions for the oil say to let it sit for 15 minutes. In the 15 minute time span it got a bit more tacky but not as tacky as what came out. I have no idea what the shop used for the filter.
Next was the filter rim sealer. It resembled peanut butter to be honest and I placed a nice band of the goo around the base and installed it in the KLR. I decided to let it sit for a day just to make sure the alcohol in the filter was completely dry and the rim sealer to settle and dry if needed. It was also off and on snow yesterday so not really a good day to ride unless you are insane. After a bit of morning snow today it turned out nice and took the KLR out for a spin. One of the first things I noticed was it seemed like the engine was pumping air much better. I swear you could almost hear it flowing into the engine now. It did not seem to start any differently or the idle was no different though. One of the first things I noticed when I got on it was smoother power delivery and a lot less raspy sounding. Seems to accelerate a lot better as well. Best of all no more stutters witch it has suffered from for some time. The coolest thing is I seem to have regained a lot of torque that must have slowly disappeared. I can now climb hills and maintain the gear I was in. Before cleaning I would always have to downshift climbing these same hills. Now it just torques its way up no problem. I am sure I regained some lost economy although it was never that horrid at 55 mpg. I am pretty sure one time during a hot summer streak I got mid 60's so maybe I will get that back?
Wow I had no idea a dirty filter could be so horrid. I mean I know a dirty filter is bad and can cause these problems but I never gave it a 2nd thought that the older style filters need to be cleaned far more often. I kind of thought it was one of those things you only need to deal with every 10K miles like the paper filters in a lot of bikes now days. Never again will I go this long. I am thinking every 1500 miles it should be serviced or more. The Concours is likely the same way.
Only concern is I am wondering if I put enough oil in the filter? I am pretty sure I am fine and anymore would make it over oiled. I know it sounds kind of pathetic but I am used to the paper filters that don't need to be serviced often. I think the oil based air filters get dirty just from sitting is why they need more frequent cleaning. The paper filters only get dirty for the most part when the engine is pumping.
Just wanted to share this story and I have a strong desire to clean the filters in my Ninja 500 and Concours just for the heck of it. They probably need it!!
When I opened the access door the filter actually did not look to bad. A lot of gunk and sand from when they sanded the roads and what not plus a few small leaves and pine needles. However when I removed the filter the back side where the air comes in was black. I found the filter to be very sticky to the touch. I bought the Kawasaki air filter cleaner kit and used that in the bathroom sink (when the wife was not home :-X ). The biodegradable formula is easy on the hands and literally washed the gunk away. After a few soaks and squeezes the filter was nice and clean. Even though I carefully squeezed out as much access water as I can it was still very wet. I was kind of hoping for it to be dry in a few hours but no go. I let it sit overnight and found it to be still a tad wet so I took a fan and placed the filter in front of the fan. Within a few hours it was good and dry.
Next was the trick of oiling the filter. I have read time and time again and all over the place that you don't want to over oil the filter and that it really does not take much. I was told by a long time motorcycle friend that the best procedure is to take a gallon sized plastic bag. Put some oil in the bottom (not much) and then place the filter in the bag and shake it up nicely. I did this and found that the filter soaked up all the oil almost instantly. I put a tad more oil in there and shaked it again only to have the filter soak that oil up as well. I then took the filter out and it certainly felt greasy but not as greasy as it was when I took it out. I then took a few paper towels and sort of pressed a bit more oil out of the filter but not much really came out. Really no idea if I under oiled but I am pretty confident I did not over oil. The instructions for the oil say to let it sit for 15 minutes. In the 15 minute time span it got a bit more tacky but not as tacky as what came out. I have no idea what the shop used for the filter.
Next was the filter rim sealer. It resembled peanut butter to be honest and I placed a nice band of the goo around the base and installed it in the KLR. I decided to let it sit for a day just to make sure the alcohol in the filter was completely dry and the rim sealer to settle and dry if needed. It was also off and on snow yesterday so not really a good day to ride unless you are insane. After a bit of morning snow today it turned out nice and took the KLR out for a spin. One of the first things I noticed was it seemed like the engine was pumping air much better. I swear you could almost hear it flowing into the engine now. It did not seem to start any differently or the idle was no different though. One of the first things I noticed when I got on it was smoother power delivery and a lot less raspy sounding. Seems to accelerate a lot better as well. Best of all no more stutters witch it has suffered from for some time. The coolest thing is I seem to have regained a lot of torque that must have slowly disappeared. I can now climb hills and maintain the gear I was in. Before cleaning I would always have to downshift climbing these same hills. Now it just torques its way up no problem. I am sure I regained some lost economy although it was never that horrid at 55 mpg. I am pretty sure one time during a hot summer streak I got mid 60's so maybe I will get that back?
Wow I had no idea a dirty filter could be so horrid. I mean I know a dirty filter is bad and can cause these problems but I never gave it a 2nd thought that the older style filters need to be cleaned far more often. I kind of thought it was one of those things you only need to deal with every 10K miles like the paper filters in a lot of bikes now days. Never again will I go this long. I am thinking every 1500 miles it should be serviced or more. The Concours is likely the same way.
Only concern is I am wondering if I put enough oil in the filter? I am pretty sure I am fine and anymore would make it over oiled. I know it sounds kind of pathetic but I am used to the paper filters that don't need to be serviced often. I think the oil based air filters get dirty just from sitting is why they need more frequent cleaning. The paper filters only get dirty for the most part when the engine is pumping.
Just wanted to share this story and I have a strong desire to clean the filters in my Ninja 500 and Concours just for the heck of it. They probably need it!!
