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K&n Oil Filter


wera803

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All the alternative filters posted will work. I've only ever done cars or bikes hand tight and have never had a leak.

I use the cheapo Fram filters, Purolator or Bosch - all do the same job.

Until you do an oil analysis

And then what happens? I use Honda OEM or K&N because that's what my local shop has. No problems so far at 175K km.
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Motorcycle oil filters are a joke. You have to take a trip out to a motorcycle shop to pay 3 times the price, for half the filter. I can drive 50 feet down the street, pay 6 dollars for a Purolator pure one PL14610, That has much more surface area/capacity and last but not least the pure one is much more efficient at catching the 5-15 micron particles than the kn oil filter.

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I live in a small town so I have to drive to the "big city" about an hour away to pick up an oil filter. I just go the the shop because it's convenient and it's an opportunity to check out bikes and stuff. But maybe I will check out the Lordco or NAPA next time.

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I just always go to the nearest discount auto for a pl14610. It had the highest ratings on all the studies I read through. I have not read anything on the PL versus the PSL, so I can't add anything there.

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Maybe, although I've had two Honda cars with 250,000 and 400,000 kilometres and several bikes between 50-90,000 kilometres without a hiccup.

I'm not sure that the oil filter is the 'weak link' that I need to worry about. I'd hazard a guess that my VFR with 92,000 kilometres has nearly identical wear and tear to one that has used a pricier oil filter - still have used high-end oil and changed it within specs.

All the alternative filters posted will work. I've only ever done cars or bikes hand tight and have never had a leak.

I use the cheapo Fram filters, Purolator or Bosch - all do the same job.

Until you do an oil analysis

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Yes. $6.00. The Fram works and the K&N leaks. Easy choice for me. Which will cause more motor damage, no oil or a filter that is cheaper? Easy decision for me. I agree with you.

Right and with all that said, performance aside, the pure one is like $6 and the kn is like $15? No?

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I too had leakage at the distal nut on the one and only K&N I have run, on my 600RR, circa 2009 or 10. I promptly threw away the other two I had sitting on the utility shelf in my garage.

Clearly they haven't sorted out this potentially life-threatening flaw.

People may not recall Olive's travails with a K&N filter at the outset of her 6 week trip in 2011. It could have killed her. Fortunately it ended well. Post #72 by her friend Daisy and #79 reveal what happened with it. I'm not sure it was ever completely clear what caused the nut to leak though she implied it was due to the way she installed it.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/66725-olive-stranded-no-longer/page-8

More reading from the beginning of the incident when she still did not know what had gone wrong (post #33)

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/66725-olive-stranded-no-longer/page-4

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Mobil 1, Purolator Pure One, Bosch, and the old Walmart Supertech that aren't available anymore, all used without incident and hand tight with a quarter turn with a strap wrench only because my hand strength ain't what it used to be...

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I used the K&N oil filters for more than a decade on both cars and bikes and never had an issue... in my Acura it used to amaze me how clean and golden the oil looked even after 5 - 6 even 8 thousand miles.

Just ordered the M1-110 EP oil filters ($8.50) along with jugs of 5w20 (car) & 5w30 (bike) M1 Extended Life oil ($28.68 for 5 qts) off Amazon with free ship for Prime. No more K&N oil filters for me after hearing all y'alls problems.

Do tracks require the oil filter be safety wired?

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Rush - depending on which track you go to, you may or may not have to safety wire the filter. Just use a large worm clamp to go around the filter and safety wire the clamp. It actually works well and you don't even have to put new safety wire on every time you take the filter off. Just loosen the clamp, slide it off, let it hang there while you change the filter, then put it back on when you screw the new filter on.

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Its pretty universally excepted that fram is garbage.

I find this a bit strange as most,classic 12 cylinder Ferrari engines I've seen proudly shows off two Fram filters (I think some of their racing engines had them too) mounted topside on the engines next to the front or rear ends of their engine blocks..... but then maybe that's why they needed two of them??..... :rolleyes:

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Rush - depending on which track you go to, you may or may not have to safety wire the filter. Just use a large worm clamp to go around the filter and safety wire the clamp. It actually works well and you don't even have to put new safety wire on every time you take the filter off. Just loosen the clamp, slide it off, let it hang there while you change the filter, then put it back on when you screw the new filter on.

Great idea!

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Rush - depending on which track you go to, you may or may not have to safety wire the filter. Just use a large worm clamp to go around the filter and safety wire the clamp. It actually works well and you don't even have to put new safety wire on every time you take the filter off. Just loosen the clamp, slide it off, let it hang there while you change the filter, then put it back on when you screw the new filter on.

Great idea!

Nahh that's no way to safety wire an oil filter! You have to drill a hole through it and run the wire through so it looks really clean!! Worm clamp??!.... sheesh!!
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A very long time ago I only used Fram oil filters, until I had one in which the media had collapsed. Another w/ a bad bypass valve. I've used Purolator and UFI on everything since. (6 Italian bikes = UFI). I've always been skeptical of K&N being more marketeer's than engineer's. Studies done by competent engineers, who are also serious motorcyclists found K&N air filter claims were essentially bogus regarding filtering capability and more dependent on oiling technique than oil type. Do you use the K&N oil? (all testing was done on one dyno. All bikes were K series bmw's). In one challenge K&N denied test results because the oil used could not be proven to be K&N's. Oiling air filters? A bit archaic, no? Do they (K&N), still do that? I must admit to using K&N or similar pleated metal screen filters for 'show' on bikes that are used less. They keep the larger bugs and stones out. R3~

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  • 3 weeks later...
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More K&N stories . . .

I was on a group ride today - one of the regulars owns 6 bikes, one a 5th gen he uses for long trips. We're sitting at lunch waiting for our orders to arrive and he starts recounting a trip he took through Idaho this summer with several others. He went on about being outside Grangeville, Idaho where one of his buddies pulls up along side him and motions for him to pull over. Getting off the bike he sees that his rear tire is soaked with oil. Closer inspection reveals that the lower fairing is also oil soaked.

As he's talking he paused, and I asked if I could ask a question. "Sure . . . " I said "It was the oil filter leaking, wasn't it?" After a moment of silence he replies "yes. " Then I went on "And it was a K&N, wasn't it?" Somewhat in dis-belief he again said "yesss . . . " I finished " It was leaking at the nut - right?" After an even longer silence he asked "How . . . did you know all that??" I said "easy - I've read several accounts on-line of the exact same thing happening - at least two of them on VFR's".

He said "the tire was completely soaked with oil . . . . it could have killed me!" I asked him if he plans on using any more K&N oil filters. The look on his face said more than anything he could have verbally. I would have to completely agree. YMMV.

I should add that the happy ending to this story was that he went to a nearby NAPA store where he secured a replacement. It was a Sunday, so most everything was closed. Asking if he could work in the parking lot, the clerk / owner whoever, said "we have a service bay - I'll open it up and you can work in there." Once inside both tunes and coffee were offered while they worked. There still are nice people in the world!

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Makes me wish I would have read this before changing my oil while replacing the stator. The bike had a K&N on it when I bought it and I replaced it with the same one. I will keep an eye on it for sure and have a spare in the side case in my tool bag.

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Makes me wish I would have read this before changing my oil while replacing the stator. The bike had a K&N on it when I bought it and I replaced it with the same one. I will keep an eye on it for sure and have a spare in the side case in my tool bag.

boy... i really recommend you just change it out with a different brand before its too late... IMHO

when they start leaking it gets all over the rear tire quick... baring an accident it's also a huge pain to clean up.

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Makes me wish I would have read this before changing my oil while replacing the stator. The bike had a K&N on it when I bought it and I replaced it with the same one. I will keep an eye on it for sure and have a spare in the side case in my tool bag.

boy... i really recommend you just change it out with a different brand before its too late... IMHO

when they start leaking it gets all over the rear tire quick... baring an accident it's also a huge pain to clean up.

Agreed on both counts. Most filters are under $10 - cheap insurance.

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