Air filter

[the Ferret]

I am approaching 25,000 miles on my 14. Has anyone checked or replaced the oem air filter due to being dirty? At what mileage?

Has anyone taken it out, shot air thru it to clean it and put it back in?

I know some guys are up around 35-50,000 miles now.. PTero, Kenny, lola?

 

[LongRanger_imp]

I pulled mine last night only to discover the prior owner had installed a K&N. It was immaculate (not dirty at all) but rather than reinstall it, I'm replacing it with an OEM filter. The K&N is posted for sale in the For Sale section here if anyone is interested. Back to your question, it certainly doesn't hurt to check it every 12k miles, but unless you ride in dusty conditions, I'm guessing it'll probably be clean and just need to be tapped out to remove the bugs.

 

[Doug_imp]

I just checked mine about a week ago, 8,000 mi. Still looks new, I gave it a shot of air, a small bit of dust came out. I would say if you shine a light inside it and you see light through the filter it's good. That looks like a pricey air filter.

 

[Cormanus]

Ferret, I'm pretty sure Pterodactyl gave his a good clean out at some point and reported improved performance. I'm afraid I can't remember whether he posted about it on the forum or just told me.

 

[Haystack_imp]

I am approaching 25,000 miles on my 14. Has anyone checked or replaced the oem air filter due to being dirty? At what mileage?

Has anyone taken it out, shot air thru it to clean it and put it back in?

I know some guys are up around 35-50,000 miles now.. PTero, Kenny, lola?

I take mine out at every rear tire change, 10,000 mi or so. It doesn't seem to get as dirty as I would expect it to. It's a mile on dirt road out/in to our driveway. I blow air through it and along the outside and a little dust comes out, but not much.

Just completed a trip back from Pennsylvania last week. Total miles at 41,500.

Should we just replace it even though it "looks" clean?

 

[Rolls_imp]

I'm at 28,000 on my '13 and planning to finally install the new OEM I bought at 8,000 mi. Original was so clean at 8K and 16K, I've been kinda slow to get to it. Plan to this month, though. I figure 28-30K is plenty to justify an air filter, even if it's a bit spendy. Probably will change plugs on next valve check, too, just on principle. Might as well, if I have the tank off. Also, I have noticed a bit of a decrease in mpg, and these two maintenance items can't hurt.

 

[the Ferret]

I am approaching 25,000 miles on my 14. Has anyone checked or replaced the oem air filter due to being dirty? At what mileage?

Has anyone taken it out, shot air thru it to clean it and put it back in?

I know some guys are up around 35-50,000 miles now.. PTero, Kenny, lola?

I take mine out at every rear tire change, 10,000 mi or so. It doesn't seem to get as dirty as I would expect it to. It's a mile on dirt road out/in to our driveway. I blow air through it and along the outside and a little dust comes out, but not much.

Just completed a trip back from Pennsylvania last week. Total miles at 41,500.

Should we just replace it even though it "looks" clean?

I'm not one of those guys. I replace if needed and usually a little late lol

 

[immgunn_imp]

The Honda PGM-FI system will compensate for air filter performance somewhat. If the HO2S reports a biased rich mixture (for any reason including a restricted air filter) the bike's computer will adapt by narrowing the injector pulse width. This fuel adaptive strategy does have limitations though and air filters need to be replaced periodically.

 

[kennyw]

I didn't need to replace it at 16K, I forgot to check it before my long trip since I was distracted by tracking down the correct rear sprocket. I will check it at 32K service this week. I plan to pick one up just in case when I get the oil filter.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Ferret, I clean the filter every 12000kms at the major service. Plus, if I ride dirt, then as soon as possible. I have never replaced the filter, preferring instead to clean it. I blow it out with compressed air (I have a compressor), tap it firmly rim first on to a table to dislodge crud and even use a vacuum cleaner with attached brush on the outer surface. You might be surprised how much dust, dirt, even small tar pellets and road grime you dislodge.

I'm doing mine in the next day or two along with some remaining service items. Plugs cleaned and valve clearances have been checked and the heat shield and electronics are back in place. I'm in no hurry as I've decided, after removing the fuel tank on at least four occasions, to follow the Service Manual recommendation and at last replace the fuel line damper connector and retainer. They are cheap, less than $20, so why not? They should arrive by courier in the next few days.

Cheers

 

[dwcurton_imp]

"Should we just replace it even though it "looks" clean? "

I work in the chemicals industry, we deal with a lot of powder transfer with associated bag-houses and filters. Filter technology has improved quite a bit since the 1970's, but there are still limits. What we see in the industrial setting with trying to re-use filters that have been "blown out" to clean them is they are much less efficient compared to new. Your eyeball measurement just isn't good enough to detect filter damage/pluggage on a used filter. There are two types of pluggage - what you see on caked up on the surface of the filter, and what you can't see embedded down in the pores of the element itself.

Rapid fouling from dirty conditions leads to the caked up mess, and this type of pluggage can occur quickly. The caked up mess is what you remove whenever you blow them out / vacuum them off / or just shake them real hard. This is sometimes good enough to stretch a filter's life, but does not bring it back to like-new condition. Plus the act of blowing high velocity (compared to normal design velocity) air across the filter can damage it. However, if the caked up pluggage occurred over a single know incident (say - a long trip down a dirt road), then blowing off will allow you to continue using the filter up to it's normal life span.

The embedded pluggage generally will not clean off by blowing / vacuuming / shaking. It's there regardless, and you can't see it. These are smaller dirt particles that are actually in the filter mesh, down in the actually pores, plugging them. This type of pluggage usually occurs over a longer time frame and is the key to the filter life expectancy. Once it's reached, buy a new filter. Blowing them out won't remove the embedded particles without damaging the filter.

Now the above is industry experience, not motorcycle experience. I'm as cheap as they come and normally very tempted to blow out and re-use, but all my experience in industry tells me that it's cheaper to just replace on the recommended frequency. Think of it like insurance.

FYI - The K&N style filters are a different technology, using the oil to help maintain filter pore integrity and allow proper cleaning. I don't have nearly as much experience using these, but will most likely switch to this style whenever the original stock filter needs replacement. All the above is based on dry filter experience.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

^^^^^. I'll mull over that and probably replace the air filter when Last Blast reaches its next major service (86000kms), or if I do a lot of dirt in the meantime.

Cheers