Air filter maintenance is one of the most crucial parts of motorcycle maintenance and sadly many people haven’t learned the proper way to do this. I have seen many riders that take the time to change their air filters, but still harm their engines due to improper cleaning and “forgetting” to reapply air filter oil. I’m writing this so that you can never make this same mistake and your engine will always be safe from the elements.
When is it Time to Clean My Air Filter?
Changing an air filter is not a regular time interval service like an oil change or valve adjustment, air filters need to be checked before every ride and cleaned as necessary. There are times I can ride 4/5 times without ever needing to change air filters, and there are also times that I must change it after one ride ( ex. riding in a dusty sandy area that quickly coats your air filter in dirt and sand). Air filters must be changed once they have collected a significant amount of dirt that begins to restrict your air flow and also risks pulling dirt through the air filter and finding its way into your engine. Below I have provided photos of a fresh air filter along side a safe to ride on filter and lastly one that should be changed.
How to Clean a Dirty Air Filter
The first step will be removing the filter from the motor cycle. Most motorcycle filters will have a cage that the filter fits over, in order to hold shape and be torqued down onto the air box to create a seal, carefully remove the filter from this cage in order to not damage the foam.
Once you have the air filter off the cage inspect the entire filter closely making sure there are no hole or tears in the filter that can allow unfiltered air to pass. Once the air filter passes inspection you will take a tub and soak the filter in a solvent that is specific to your type of air filter oil. (ex. biodegradable oils need a biodegradable air filter cleaner to complement them, traditional oils will need a heavier solvent to break them down such as Twin Air Original liquid Dirt Remover). If your switching from a traditional oil to a biodegradable you will need to purchase a new air filter that has never been cleaned with solvents, as the remaining residual will make the biodegradable air filter oil unable to stick to the solvent compromised filter. So I recommend sticking with what you have been using until it is time to purchase new filters anyway (Brands don’t matter so much as long as they are biodegradable or non biodegradable). Once you have the filter in the solvent put on a pare of rubber gloves and massage the filter in the solvent until the dirt and oil are removed from the filter.
Once you have the oil broken down and a majority of the dirt off of the filter you will want to use warm water and a degreaser dish soap (ex. dawn dish soap) to do a final cleaning and remove the solvent so that the new oil can cling back onto the foam. Make sure you rinse the filter with water until the soap is completely gone.
Lastly you will need to let the filter dry over night. If you’re in a hurry you can speed this process up by using a hair dry but be extremely careful to not get the filter too hot and damage the foam or glue holding the seems together.
How to Oil my Air Filter
Once you have a clean and dry air filter its time to reapply oil. This is extremely important to do thoroughly as it will certainly ruin your engine if done improperly.
The first step is to glove up with some rubber gloves and have a clean plastic bag ready to place that is large enough to place the filter in. Once i gloved up I drizzle the air filter oil all over both sides of the filter, as if I’m making a gourmet desert. A little trick I’ve been taught for this step is to put my air filter oil inside a new container (my favorite thing to use is an empty ketchup bottle which can be bought, without the mess of a used one, at amazon).
Once the filter has been drizzled with oil I then place the filter inside a clear plastic bag (to prevent yourself from being covered in a sticky mess) and begin massaging the filter until the filter oil is evenly coated with a generous oil coating. Luckily most filter oil is brightly colored making it easy to tell how much oil has been applied. This is the part where it is easy to skimp and not have a properly oiled filter.
How do I Apply a Spray On Air filter Oil?
Spray on oil filter oil is the most popular choice on the market and is an excellent and convenient option when used properly. I personally keep a can of twin air spray on oil in my travel kit for extreme conditions to give my filter a little extra protection at the track or trail head when needed. The danger of an aerosol oil is that when applied it gives the illusion that the filter is thoroughly oiled, but in reality the filter is dry at the core. Don’t be mistaken this isn’t just a mistake beginners make. I’ve seen this first hand and it cost a good friend a new motor, and a last place finish in his professional race series. For this reason I recommend not using spray on oil until you’ve learned with traditional pour on oil.
Applying aerosol oil is very similar to pour on oil. Begin with a good pair of rubber gloves and a plastic bag to place the filter inside. Take the oil filter and thoroughly coat it by spraying the oil closely to the surface, this helps the oil to penetrate the outer surface. Once you have sprayed the filter generously, place the filter inside the bag and massage it to evenly spread the oil throughout the filter. Once you have the oil well distributed remove the filter from the bag and see how dark the oil is and make sure there are no bare spots on the inside or outside. If the filter has bare spots or the oil film appears to thin repeat the process until the filter has a nice dark oil coating all the way through