Author Topic: Is K&N air filter worth it? (Read 13770 times)

rwilliamm · « **on:** May 05, 2012, 08:37:47 AM »

I cant find where I read it but I saw somewhere someone said the kawasaki air filter performs just as good as a k&n.
I used to work on cars for a living and some car air filters were made out of a real high quality cotton media instead of paper like the majority of air filters.
I dont need a new air filter yet since my 2012 c14 dosent need one yet so I haveent seen what the filter looks like. Guess I could just open her up just to see for myself.
I know k&n is high performance filters, I have one in my truck with some performance mods and put one in my wifes crossover as well.
I know the plus is its a lifetime filter and you probably wont need to clean/oil it til around 50k miles or so.
But with a plain cotton media air filter, you dont have to worry about not enough/too much oil on the media and maybe getting some oil dripping in the intake.

Pokey · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2012, 09:43:38 AM »

Not a fan of them personally.

katata1100 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2012, 10:42:57 AM »

The oem filter on my suzuki is very high quality, with paper and cotton batting.I had problems with driveability with it (though it is an old carb'd bike), took it off and replaced with stock oem. In general, I have found that oem air and oil filters are always top notch.
KN really does let more dirt in, that is a fact. I have yet to see a dyno here showing the addition of a KN resulted in more rear wheel hp.If the KN really does allow more air in, how will it benefit the bike? It isn't like it has an O2 sensor that will add more fuel to compensate.

VirginiaJim · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2012, 12:44:39 PM »

I use K&Ns on all my vehicles because they can be cleaned and used again. Have not had any issues with any of them.

Conrad · « **Reply #4 on:** May 06, 2012, 06:35:23 AM »

Quote from: VirginiaJim on May 05, 2012, 12:44:39 PM

I use K&Ns on all my vehicles because they can be cleaned and used again. Have not had any issues with any of them.

+1 I've been using K&Ns for years and have never had a problem. As for the stocker being as good as a K&N? I'm sure that they both filter just fine but being able to wash the K&N and reuse it, that makes it better in my book.

Gearhead82 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2012, 08:08:20 PM »

I have the BMC Street filter which is very similar to the K&N. I actually swapped back and forth between the BMC and stock a couple times for some back-to-back runs and couldn't tell any difference with my butt dyno. I do like knowing I can wash and reuse it but I wouldn't buy it expecting a performance gain. I don't know about going 50k between cleanings. It seems like a lot of members have reported some pretty gunked up filters after just 15k if I remember right.

Son of Pappy · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2012, 11:56:11 PM »

BMC for the reason of being reusable, clean every 10-15 thou. Looks like mass murder early summer.

VirginiaJim · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2012, 04:14:36 AM »

Quote from: Gearhead82 on May 06, 2012, 08:08:20 PM

I have the BMC Street filter which is very similar to the K&N. I actually swapped back and forth between the BMC and stock a couple times for some back-to-back runs and couldn't tell any difference with my butt dyno. I do like knowing I can wash and reuse it but I wouldn't buy it expecting a performance gain. I don't know about going 50k between cleanings. It seems like a lot of members have reported some pretty gunked up filters after just 15k if I remember right.

I think 25k or one year is the recommendation from K&N. I check mine every 15k or so. Depends on the riding conditions as to when it gets clogged up enough to clean. Just looked at the one in my Prius and it needs doing so I'll do the bike and the Prius this weekend.

Conrad · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2012, 04:45:30 AM »

Quote from: VirginiaJim on May 07, 2012, 04:14:36 AM

I think 25k or one year is the recommendation from K&N. I check mine every 15k or so. Depends on the riding conditions as to when it gets clogged up enough to clean. Just looked at the one in my Prius and it needs doing so I'll do the bike and the Prius this weekend.

I hope that changing the filter in the Prius is easier than changing the headlights? Wasn't it the headlights that had to have the bumper removed to get at them?

VirginiaJim · « **Reply #9 on:** May 07, 2012, 04:52:14 AM »

Yep. That's one way of doing it. Not that bad actually. Changing the filter in the Prius is a 10 second job. Somewhat more time needed on the C14, though.

gflint · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2012, 03:42:14 PM »

There are several filter studies linked on some of the other air filter threads. K&N consistently did poorly as a filter. That increase in breathabilty is because of an increase in pore size. K&N's come into their own in high dirt environments. They do not plug and are easy to clean. As a street filter they let a lot of fine stuff through. The stuff may be too fine to affect performance and wear except in the very long run. After reading some of the studies I am sticking with paper. The performance increase with K&N is insignificant for our application.

PH14 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 07, 2012, 10:05:03 PM »

I had K&N on a ZX1000R that I drag raced. I had the type that hang off the carbs, two filters for four carbs. After 20,000 miles there was noticible wear on the inside of the intake manifold where they branch off.

katata1100 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 07, 2012, 11:03:03 PM »

Quote from: gflint on May 07, 2012, 03:42:14 PM

There are several filter studies linked on some of the other air filter threads. K&N consistently did poorly as a filter.

Ed Hackett of the Desert Research Institute did a study. I think the idea was to see if they would be worth using in mining equipment and the results were that they let too much dirt in.
I'd assume that if you were to do an oil analysis after switching to a KN, you'd find elevated levels of silicon (sand).

VirginiaJim · « **Reply #13 on:** May 08, 2012, 04:11:35 AM »

Quote from: gflint on May 07, 2012, 03:42:14 PM

There are several filter studies linked on some of the other air filter threads. K&N consistently did poorly as a filter. That increase in breathabilty is because of an increase in pore size. K&N's come into their own in high dirt environments. They do not plug and are easy to clean. As a street filter they let a lot of fine stuff through. The stuff may be too fine to affect performance and wear except in the very long run. After reading some of the studies I am sticking with paper. The performance increase with K&N is insignificant for our application.

Got a link to any of them?