K&N Oil Filters BEWARE!!!

[GoldOxide_imp]

I confess, I just dont understand the rationale for using anything but OEM oil and air filters. While oil is universally rated and held to specific standards that allow us to use different brands, Dyno or Full Syn, according to our own personal preferences, I am not aware of equally universal standards that apply to oil and air filters.

I have always used OEM oil and air filters exclusively. The Honda engineers that designed the engine called for a specific Honda part so that is what I am going to use, particularly if the engine is under warranty. I suppose a case could be made for using aftermarket air and oil filters after the factory warranty on the engine has expired, but why, and for what perceived advantage? To save a few bucks per filter for the maintenance of an expensive engine? For me the answer is no thanks. Is any brand oil or air filter going to do the job better than OEM, I doubt it.

Much ado has been made of the "nut" feature on the end of the infamous K&N filter. I suppose there might be a benefit to this feature in an application where the filter was so hard to get at with other tools that it made sense to use, but I cant think of any such situations at the moment. Thankfully the oil filters on our CBs are a piece of cake to get to with a cup wrench, filter pliers, or if all else fails the old mechanics trick of driving a rod or Phillips screw driver through the filter to use as leverage to twist/break loose/ and un screw for removal. Maybe the K&N "nut" feature is supposed to save the expense of buying a cup wrench or filter pliers, pre supposing that most people will already have the right size socket, box or open end wrench? If that is the case I would fall back on the old adage "use the right tool for the job", and buy the right tool. Unless the cost of the right tool is prohibitive, it makes more sense to me to use the right tool than substituting a modified part. Given that cup wrenches and filter pliers are very inexpensive, and are a worthwhile addition to any tool box, I dont see any inherent K&N advantage there either.

This is another "to each his own" topic, and this is just my two cents for what it is worth.

To add: Sadly the "hex appendage" that doesn't even reliably function without some possible failure, adds more unnecessary metal to the landfill.