I was just wondering what everyones thought is on oiling the k&n filter. I had a tech tell me that a lot of the time after cleaning it he wouldn't re-oil it. My thought is what is the purpose of oiling it in the first place? Is it to catch the fine particles in the air, if you don't ride in dusty areas is really necessary? Or would you oil it every time? I have yet to see any real dirt come out of my filter when I clean it. It seems I am just rinsing out the oil from last time.
K&N filter oil
- Thread starter Trek
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turnerbend
Active Member
Good question. It's a long term filter that will last a long time. If they can sell oil that cost as much as the filter over a period of time, no money lost for K&N.
ironmark
Junior Member
The reason that you use oil on the K&N air filter is because the oil helps the filters fiber media trap more dust. The K&N air filter should not be cleaned to often and the air filter works better when it is a little dirty, I clean my K&N around every 15,000 miles, I would not run my bike with a dry K&N filter.
Blue Wide Glide
Junior Member
When you do oil the filter, and you should, use the oil very sparingly, and take your time. The oil will absorb into the element over a period of time, and if you do not give it a chance, you will use too much. I think the pump bottle is better to use than the aerosol because you have better control over how much oil you spray, and where it goes.
Webbtron
Banned
I bought a K&N at Black Hills Harley in Rapid City, SD. After I made sure it was the right one I took it over to K&N's trailer and ask/had them oil it for me. The guy just spritzed it like 6 times had his lackey dob the excess off the edges and handed it back. First he said out of the box they don't need oil, then looked at mine and said it needed more. I guess it took him under 30 seconds and the thing was damp but not dripping off.
Hoople
Account Removed
It is necessary. There is no such thing as a non-dusty environment unless your in a boat on open water. I see you ride an Ultra. Try riding behind a car or truck without a windshield. You will quickly see how much sand & dust there is flying around you on what seems to be a picture perfect day.
The key is to lightly oil it. The whiskers on the filter material won't be able to vibrate in order to catch dirt if you over oil it.
The key is to lightly oil it. The whiskers on the filter material won't be able to vibrate in order to catch dirt if you over oil it.
I remember the first time I checked my stock filter over here after about 3,000 miles and found the dirtiest filter I had ever seen on a bike.
I changed to a K&N and now clean on average of every 2,500 miles in this environment. I use just a little over 1/4 oz oil.
A couple of times I had no choice but to use sewing machine oil which seemed to work ok.
Attached photo is after 1,800 miles and really not bad compared to other some other trips where it was worse than that over half way around the filter.
I changed to a K&N and now clean on average of every 2,500 miles in this environment. I use just a little over 1/4 oz oil.
A couple of times I had no choice but to use sewing machine oil which seemed to work ok.
Attached photo is after 1,800 miles and really not bad compared to other some other trips where it was worse than that over half way around the filter.
Attachments
Wow! That is really dirty. Mine has never been that dirty. In fact it has never had visible dirt on it like that. At the most the red color of the k&n oil is gone and looks a little brown but that is it. I will clean mine at longer intervals and see how that goes. Thanks for all the input everyone.