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Air Filter

9K views 34 replies 20 participants last post by  Pretzel 
#1 ·
The KN filter for the 900 boasts more air flow that the stock. Its also about twice as much money. Is the KN filter really worth the extra change?
 
#3 ·
Well It'll pay for itself after one 'change' basically. It comes down to how long you expect to keep the bike. A cleanable air filter will pay for itself. In my neck of the woods, there was not a significant price difference between the K&N and the OEM. Shop around you can find them online for less then 'list' price.
 
#4 ·
The value in the filter is not in any possible increased air flow, it's in the cleanable/reusable attributes. It will pay for itself many times over.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the info.

The ad pointed out increased horsepower and acceleration. Was just wondering if that part was on the up and up. Reuse is an OK benefit too, but more interested in the performance side.

Thanks again!
 
#6 ·
I saw on the Victory forum, maybe cross country/cross roads, that somebody was asking about the K&N filters. If I remember correctly somebody from Amsoil did a study on these filters. The main points I remember was that something has to be sacrificed, if more air is getting in, more dirt is to. He did some oil analysis on his bike and found increased levels of something in the oil. Maybe it was Bob the Amsoil guy or somebody else from Amsoil will chime in and repeat it here on this forum.
 
#7 ·
Around here, OEM is $35. Bought mine direct from K&N for $53, with free shipping. Bought mine just last week, and it arrived in three days.
 
#8 ·
I've changed mine to the K&N simply because it is cleanable and reusable. I have changed my original at 10,000 miles (factory spec) and wow, was it dirty. So the next change at 18,000 I jumped at the K&N so that at the next change, (around 26-28000) it pays for itself, as I already had the cleaning kit from another air filter use. Kind of a no-brainer....you pay a little more in the beginning, but come out much better on the back end, especially since I expect to be a 100,000 miler with this bike......
 
#9 ·
If you choose the stock filter I'd suggest that you remove the metal screen on the face of the filter. It only restricts the air flow and robs the engine of power. I was amazed at the boost in torque from such a simple modification.

If the filter gets dirty quickly in your area it is definitely worth going with a cleanable type. I went even further and installed the Baron Big Air Kit. The added benefit is a different, more throaty sound without changing pipes!
 
#10 · (Edited)
#11 ·
Basically any air filter using some form of oil in the design is good.I have used K&N in building Hi Perf VW engines and racing them.The name says it all.The important consideration is trapping air particles much as possible than air flow.I am now using the K&N filter, a big diff in my VN 900.Would Recommend it.
 
#13 ·
Tidbit

Just found out from the corporate tech center that Amsoil does not have an air filter for the VN900. Being an Ams guy, not the news I wanted to hear. Guess I'm going with K&N.
 
#14 ·
To my knowledge, K&N is the only company currently producing an aftermarket air filter for the 900.

I'd really like to see Uni Filter throw one into the mix. I contacted a rep for them in '09 and was told that they were going to have one in the spring of '10... still waiting. : (
 
#15 · (Edited)
air filter

I hate to be a nag, but I cannot stress this enough . The air filter is the MOST IMPORTANT filter on ANY engine!
It takes only ONE oz of dust per 100 cubic inches of engine displacement, getting through the filter, to completely wear the engine beyoind acceptible limits!!
Consider this example: a new 1700 Vaquero, if that bike injests ONE once of road dust over its engine life , if ONE oz of dust gets though the filter ITS SCREWED !!! END OF THE ENGINES LIFE !!!!! ONE OUNCE!!! thats all it takes on a 100 CI engine!!!
I need someone to explain to me how ANY airfilter that boasts increased air flow , can also trap more dirt !!!
I have run K&N filters in the past but NOT any more! Im not going to print any litigious statements. but I cannot be convinced that LONGEVITY of the engine accompanies a racing filter design.

Run whatever you choose?? But to clarify MY point , I have seem{with my own eyes} an 855 ci diesel ruined on a test dyno in 15min by injesting 8oz of dust into its intake . the Dust , had been 'tapped" out of a number of airfilters and collected , weighed & injected into a NEW sacrificial 855 diesel engine, air intake !!!
Your choice folks?? But Im going to go with a filter that focuses upon MAX filtration , rather then max air flow. I cannot see how you can acheive both in the same filter!!
BTW, I have a Qualified Journeyman Diesel ticket , with 40+yrs exp , to add some small creedance to this statement!
For those of you who have used high perf filters , give your throttle bodies, carb throats, the WHITE glove test !!!!!
 
#18 ·
I hate to be a nag, but I cannot stress this enough . The air filter is the MOST IMPORTANT filter on ANY engine!
It takes only ONE oz of dust per 100 cubic inches of engine displacement, getting through the filter, to completely wear the engine beyoind acceptible limits!!
Consider this example: a new 1700 Vaquero, if that bike injests ONE once of road dust over its engine life , if ONE oz of dust gets though the filter ITS SCREWED !!! END OF THE ENGINES LIFE !!!!! ONE OUNCE!!! thats all it takes on a 100 CI engine!!!
I need someone to explain to me how ANY airfilter that boasts increased air flow , can also trap more dirt !!!
I have run K&N filters in the past but NOT any more! Im not going to print any litigious statements. but I cannot be convinced that LONGEVITY of the engine accompanies a racing filter design.

Run whatever you choose?? But to clarify MY point , I have seem{with my own eyes} an 855 ci diesel ruined on a test dyno in 15min by injesting 8oz of dust into its intake . the Dust , had been 'tapped" out of a number of airfilters and collected , weighed & injected into a NEW sacrificial 855 diesel engine, air intake !!!
Your choice folks?? But Im going to go with a filter that focuses upon MAX filtration , rather then max air flow. I cannot see how you can acheive both in the same filter!!
BTW, I have a Qualified Journeyman Diesel ticket , with 40+yrs exp , to add some small creedance to this statement!
For those of you who have used high perf filters , give your throttle bodies, carb throats, the WHITE glove test !!!!!
You have very good point and i never look at it that way as i am still just learning, but i'm just wondering how much more air flow are you really getting out of the k&n vs. the OEM filter with a sealed air cover?
 
#17 ·
I just put on a k&n replacement filter with cobra pipe and it preforms better, but i couldn't really tell a big gain of power! I only had it out for about 30 miles do to cold weather. I like it just for the fact that it's the last one i'll have to buy for a long time and the money i save can go for other mods.
 
#21 ·
I don't know why but that page "nicoclub" none of the pics showed up for me. Kinda made it worthless. Kinda sucks I was very interested in reading it. I tried it in like 3 different web browsers.
 
#23 ·
So someone has recently been posting on here about filters and K&N. They posted this link http://www.knfilters.com/dynocharts/KA-9006.pdf which shows the values of the ISO 5011 test.
Now since I haven't been able to see the pics on the NICO club webpage. I am curious to see how it compares to what they had to say about the K&N filters in their test. I know what NICO was using was an auto filter vs. a motorcycle filter. But that shouldn't affect the filtration quality.

I understand the problem with getting excess dust into an engine like it was brought up earlier with the diesel test and the whole oz. of dust. But that is during a single event, not the life of the engine. While the engine is running in normal condition and not having dust forced into it shouldn't it be fine? I mean normally the combustion and the oil should clean that dust out?
 
#24 · (Edited)
wrong



Jace, WRONG, dust equals FRICTION. friction wears everything. Your engine internals are the first to receive that dust. The combustion chamber has little lubrication , the lubrication is BELOW the combustion chamber . The piston has as a rule 3 rings on it. the top ring is the primary seal against "blow-by". Its the combustioin ring & its job is to seal in the intense pressures created by the burning & rapidly expanding gases created when your air/fuel mix is ignited. The better the seal created by this top ring , the more power that is delivered to the "crown " of the piston , thus eventually creating more HP at your rear wheel.
the second ring is a secondary compression ring designed to seal whatever gases made it past the top ring!!!
The third ring or "OIL control Ring" is designed to wipe the lubricating oil off the cylinder walls so that it will not be burned in the combustion chamber. This is the ring that allows you to NOT add oil between change intervals, and it receives the most lubrication. the other two receive a smaller amount .
But the big kicker is that the air/fuel in the chamber needs to be clean ! if not it contains abrasive dust that will wear out the engine prematurely.
The diesel test , was not a matter of a "one event test", it proved that it takes LITTLE dust to destroy an engine. The length of time that it takes for an engine to injest that much dust is determined by the quality & effiency of its AIR FILTER. The poorer the air filter the shorter the length of time it takes to injest that predetermined amount of dust and the shorter the engines life!!!! PLAIN & SIMPLE!!! POOR filter = short engine life!!!!
I am not going to debate the quality of K&N filters. But I have a really hard time believing that a filter which is touted as increasing air flow, can actually trap MORE dirt that the OEM? You can actually look THROUGH a K&N filter , see the spaces in the pleating. In engine "clearance fit" terms those spaces are FREAKIN HUGE !!! I realise that the oil coating is supposed to trap the particles through "Adhesion", but I have yet to be convinced it can trap as small or smaller particles, than a pleated paper filter. I have no doubts that these filters actually CAN flow more air, but???? Do they flow more dirt as well?
Its your choice ,use whichever you wish. but be ASSURED , the more dirt your filter allows into your engine , the shorter your engines life will be!!! If you chose to ride in the rain all the time, your filter would have a MUCH easier task. as thats when the ambient air is cleanest!!
Sorry for the "lecture"!! Im not trying to be a dink , but believe me airborne dust is everywhere{ask your wife/ look at your furnace filter] and it is one of your engines WORST enemies! The lube system of your engine CANNOT combat it & win!!! Use the BEST filter you can buy ,it WILL increase longevity!!! I leave it up to you to decide which is "BEST" , but for me, I will sacrifice a small airflow improvement in favor of finer filtration.
Just MY opinion, after 40+yrs of engine autopsy!!! Dirty air = friction=wear= SHORT lifespan !

BTW, looking at those ISO 5011 test results , look at the particle size used 22%<10mircon, that means 78>10micron, 10 micron is a big particle when its get between your compression ring & the cyl wall!!!Talc powder is 10 micron!!!, particulate smoke from a diesel engine is approx 3-5 micron. In the test only 22% of the "dust" was this size , the bigger particulate is a lot easier to filter out & 78% os the test "dust" was bigger than 10 micron.
PS: a typical diesel's fuel system is protected down to 1 micron size by the fuel filter.
 
#25 ·
Wow, some very interesting reading here. I had missed this thread earlier, but I tried that NICO link and it seems to be working now. I asked my mechanic last week about the pros and cons of K&N vs stock filter and he was all for the K&N so I decided to go with it. Actually just ordered mine yesterday, and now I read all this! :eek:

I guess I'll have to pin my hopes on K&N's claim that their oiled cotton filter method works as advertised over the packed paper fibers of the OEM. I've been mulling this over since last October trying to decide which filter to change to. My K&N is on it's way here now so I hope it works as they say it does. They say it traps particles with about a 98% efficiency. I wonder how that compares to the OEM filter, do they trap even higher?
 
#26 ·
My K&N is on it's way here now so I hope it works as they say it does. They say it traps particles with about a 98% efficiency. I wonder how that compares to the OEM filter, do they trap even higher?
I am a quality paper filter guy and believe it filters better than a 'performance' filter. The question isn't efficiency but what particle size are we're talking about. I believe a quality paper filter traps smaller particles.

A 'performance' air filter is designed to flow more air and free up the intake tract for higher performance. It does that at the expense of trapping fewer particulates, IMO. The reusable aspect is nice but at what expense?

In most 'performance' applications the engine oil is not in service very long and engine rebuilds are the norm anyway. My advice is: If you run a 'performance' air filter, use dino oil and change it often to flush out excessive particulates.

rick
 
#33 ·
Well my K & N filter arrived by UPS yesterday. After reading this whole thread the day after I'd already placed my order (from Riders Discount here on the Forum...) I was uncertain whether I'd made the wise choice for myself. I figured I could still go out and get myself the OEM paper filter if I didn't like the K&N, and maybe sell it still unopened but I thought I'd wait and take a look at it first.

I was impressed with the overall construction of the thing. Viewing the daylight through it compared to the dirty paper filter (hardly a fair comparison), it wasn't exactly the porous see-through furnace filter I was coming to expect... no, it actually looked pretty good. And it comes with a million mile warranty so it should be the last filter I'll ever need to buy and should last me through several more VN900 bikes!:cool:

So anyway for better or worse I decided to go ahead and use the thing. There are too many of these out there in service and I just haven't really heard or read any tales of woe about these, they're in widespread use and I've gotten many good recommendations about it. We'll see how it runs... I didn't get it for any kind of performance boost really, but just to have a good quality filter that let's the engine breathe properly.

Plus it comes with a cool little sticker/decal thingy in the box.
 
#34 ·
Plus it comes with a cool little sticker/decal thingy in the box.
That's it, ya gotta use it, plus I bet the sticker adds a few more hp!
 
#35 ·
Just ask the import rice tuners, stickers add at least 20hp each!!!
 
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