[treecol]

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Just about to have a major service on my wing. Some people here are replacing stock air filter with K&N one. Have any of you used these, and how do you find them compared to Honda one? Some report better mpg and power.

 

[DaveO430]

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I doubt any mileage or power improvement and would rather have a paper filter because the K&N looks so porous and studies have shown it allows far more dirt into the engine. It costs a lot more initially and would require more frequent maintenance. I easily get 30.000 miles on a paper filter so I'll stick with those.

 

[saws-n-wings]

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I put a K&N in my gl1500. cant say anything really changed but after you spend that much on something you ride along and say oh yea it runs better!

 

[englishted]

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Some chaps here used them and none reported any noticeable differences at all.

 

[AZgl1800]

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All the studies on the K&N show they are worse than paper filters for trapping fine dust. You can't get something for nothing, ie, that "more air flow" just means less filtering.

My '94SE came with a K&N air filter and I threw it in the trash. My engine's life is more important to me than the cost of a new paper filter.

 

[Down]

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K & N filters where designed to let more air through for high performance engines that suck a bit more air in because of a larger bore size in cylinders or just plain racing applications any stock motor will never suck more air than designed to thus a paper filter was designed around most stock motors. The only thing a K & n will do is let more particles inand that's not a good thing had one on my dodge truck and did nothing except dirty my intake a bit more my goldwing 1200 had one on it when i bought it and i switched it to stock paper and nothing changed except piece of mind that i was filtering better

 

[pcfix_3]

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The ups of a K&N filter is that it can be cleaned therefor you only have to buy one, and that it lets your engine breathe better. This won't really give it any more HP or MPG, but it doesn't hurt. The down side to the filters is that it let's your engine breathe better by allowing more air (including smaller dirt particles) into the engine. The filters are oiled so it can catch these smaller particles which is suppose to help catch others. I believe that the instructions on the filters say that you don't need to clean them until you notice a difference in performance. This could be bad for your engine as well because if the engine is not getting enough air, that means it's not burning the fuel properly which could cause other issues. It's really up to you as the rider/maintainer to decide if you only want to buy a filter once and wait a long while before you have to clean it or if you want to dig into your bike and pocket every year or so for a $13 paper filter. I don't think it would cause any excessive engine wear, but it's more than likely not going to help the HP or MPG enough for you to even notice. I recommend that if you do decide to get a K&N, just keep it in mind and at least take a look at it every so often.

 

[GWNorman]

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I had a K&N and didn't like it because there was more engine roar, if that makes sense.

 

[treecol]

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Thanks for the advice. John Hensman (who's Part of Honda Tech) is going to service it, so I'll go along with both filters and ask his advice on the day. I'm now expecting him to advise me to go with genuine Honda.

 

[treecol]

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Just to update you, John the Honda tech who is servicing mine has reccomended the K&N, he says itWILL increase performance and mpg. Interesting as he works for Honda...

 

[Greg and Carol]

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My Kawasaki Nomad had a K&N along with the free flowing exhaust and FI controller, so it was a part of the performance package. My 1500 had a K&N installed by a PO, so I left it there, but I have no idea if it improved performance or economy. This 1800 is pretty new so I have until next year sometime to make a decision, but here in Canada I could save a fair bit of cash by servicing a K&N filter once a year rather than buying the OEM paper one.

Seems that K&N filters don't void the waranty, so (IMHO) if there is any engine damage due to the possibility of extra dirt invasion, it would be way down the road, if at all. Another silly little thought - does engine vibration and road jarring let any dirt get shaken (not stirred) through the paper filters that would otherwise be held firm by the oily mesh of the K&N? Lab testing seems to be under different conditions than the 'real world' of motorcycle riding.