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K&N Air Filter damaging to bike vs Stock?

40K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Lynart 
#1 ·
I tried to seach but couldn't find it, but there is a thread here about K&N filter being more damaging to your bike than the stock as with logic, increased air flow, means bigger spacing in the filter and it obviously allows more dirt particles to flow through.

Someone said that with a K&N they're good for the track as tracks have less day to day dirt, but when riding in the street, there is just a lot more shit that the bike picks up, and over time the inside of the engine is all scratched n worn more, than if you had a stock air filter.

Can anybody shed any more light on this please?

-dims
 
#3 ·
Nah not blowing up, but someone was saying you could see a noticeable difference just from looking at it.
They had two bikes, one with a K&N and one with a stockie, from new, and after 10,000 or 20,000 k's the one with the K&N had rougher piston walls from the accumulation of dirt that the K&N would let through....

But yeah, don't know if its an urban myth or not, but it made me paranoid! i ride my bike and picture the walls getting rougher each time :( :( :(
 
#4 ·
there are threads that have been over this. some say it is better to have stock, some say k&n is good. Personally i think that if you oil them properly that it helps prevent them from letting extra through. The k&n oiling process allows a lot of human error in as some have said in pprevious posts. personally i run one, my choice. it does help with performance. I have yet to see physical evidence of extra damage to piston walls and until then ill stick to the k&n. just my 2 cents.
 
#5 ·
dont confuse the k&n (or bmc) race filters with their street filters. Huge difference there...either way tho you would need to do oil changes i guess more frequently by going with a more free flowing (particle allowing) filter...that should be a given.
 
#9 ·
More air = more dust/dirt that comes in with it. If you are in dusty environments is the tradeoff worth it to you? An aftermarket filter will gain you about 1 or 2 extra HP with a proper fuel retuning.

You are the one who has to weigh the options.
 
#10 ·
I had a bmc race on my 99 r1 for 40k miles and after living in MN when it was rebuilt it looked like new. Regular maintenance and i've never seen minor things really hurt a bike as most don't reach the mileage it takes for the brand of oil, oil filter, air filter, etc to really come into play. How many bikes even hit 50k? Or even 100k?
 
#12 ·
Theoretically a RACE version filter will allow more particulate through, and as such do some damage to the bike over time. How much, and is it enough to worry about for you is a question of debate.

The street versions of the aftermarkets really arent usually any better performance wise than the OEM filter. The only real bennefit to the K&N filter, and the BMC street, is that it is a one time purchase, and can be cleaned. OEM can not, and they are not cheap.
 
#14 ·
on cars, one of the things people mentioned about K&N is how the oil could damage the throttle bodies. i never found out if this was true or not. i like the fact that you can wash and reuse the filter. it can save some cash for quite a long time. have you tried to do a search on this? K&N is widely debated on most car/bike forums.
 
#16 ·
not so much damage but coat the tb and air sensors, maf, map or what ever air sensor one would have a decrease performance
 
#15 ·
if the k&n isn't properly oiled then yes, you will have an issue only because the oil helps the dirt stick to the filter as the media is obviously not as dense as a stock filter, but then again over oiling can cause the bike to be less response due to the oil getting on the throttle plate and valves and over time sticking. If one is really concerned about it, clean your air box out before you drop in a new filter and periodiccly check the box to see if there is any build-up of dirt or heavy partilces in there, if there is then you have a problem and if not then your fine. I use pipercross as I don't like k&n style filters, not even on my car(s), the pipercross needs cleaned and oiled as well but with out the oiling it looks like it can still do the job properly
 
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