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K&N air filter worth the money?
- Tyler
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Its not like a K&N will instantly blow up your engine. but they certainly are not worth the money they charge. Best to stay with a simple paper element.
If I knew what I was doing all the time life wouldn't be any fun.
'80 KZ650 E 700cc, dyna ignition and coils, frame up restoration, daily driver
'81 KZ1300 A3 full restoration, custom big bore pistons, 1400cc 6 cylinder super bike
"77 KZ650 B1 - Barn Find, work in progeress
"74 Yamaha DT 400 Enduro
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- 650ed
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ezrider714 wrote: "most restrictive and poorest filtering" are at opposite ends of the spectrum .........
Sort of, but not really. The test I see shows the K&N initially being the least restrictive (see 1st image below), so in this case it is true that initial restriction and ability to filter are at opposite ends of the spectrum. However, the K&N filter becomes most restrictive as it is used (see 2nd image below). Even tough that seems counter-intuitive, there are reasons it could happen. For example (I'm not saying this is the case) - if it has less filter media that media could become clogged quicker regardless of the size of the particles. It would be very helpful and reduce confusion if the study mentioned why the K&N becomes most restrictive, but it doesn't.
However, the study does state:
"The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction.
In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms.
Compared to the AC, the K&N “plugged up” nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt. See the data tables for a complete summary of these comparisons."
It also states "oiled reusable (filter) types, had an exponential loading response before reaching maximum restriction. These filters had a lower initial restriction, but they became exponentially more restrictive under a constant flow of dirt."
So maybe the oil itself combines with particles to form a mud that restricts flow? Ed
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1977 KZ650-C1 Original Owner - Stock (with additional invisible FIAMM horn)
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- Jrider
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1982 Kawasaki KZ 750 R , Stock
2007 Harley Davidson Police Electraglide
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- ezrider714
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People whose living depend on going the fastest use K&N religiously, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. .
Ever get caught in a torrential down pour that soaked a paper filter to the point it won't pass air at all?? Even after drying out. At that point they show their true colors :ohmy: That's when I switched to K&N and never had that issue again
I guess everyone can blow their money how the see fit on their bikes, I'm just reporting my experience using K&N's on several bikes over the past 35 years..
Fancy bar graphs mean nothing without the supporting data., such as engine rpm's, total flow in cfm's the size in microns that can pass thru the filter...etc
I use them on all my vehicles 2 and 4 wheel kind, have yet to be shown a meaningful test that encompasses real world conditions, they can be cleaned much more often than you can change a paper filter unless you have unlimited funds to purchase paper ones constantly :ohmy:
YMMV
EZ
78 KZ650SR Mine since 79
4-1 Mac Jet Hot coated since mid 80's
Dyna Coils
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- SWest
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Steve
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- Nessism
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ezrider714 wrote: The restriction by the very nature will be better filtering, if less air total can pass thru the filter, less dirty air can pass thru also, which makes it better filtering, As i stated earlier I have used 1 for over 35 yrs and 63,000 miles, have never had to rebuild the engine and compression test numbers are within spec
People whose living depend on going the fastest use K&N religiously, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. .
Ever get caught in a torrential down pour that soaked a paper filter to the point it won't pass air at all?? Even after drying out. At that point they show their true colors :ohmy: That's when I switched to K&N and never had that issue again
I guess everyone can blow their money how the see fit on their bikes, I'm just reporting my experience using K&N's on several bikes over the past 35 years..
Fancy bar graphs mean nothing without the supporting data., such as engine rpm's, total flow in cfm's the size in microns that can pass thru the filter...etc
I use them on all my vehicles 2 and 4 wheel kind, have yet to be shown a meaningful test that encompasses real world conditions, they can be cleaned much more often than you can change a paper filter unless you have unlimited funds to purchase paper ones constantly :ohmy:
YMMV
EZ
In other words, F the scientific data. The science shows that K&N's let more dirt through to your engine than a good paper filter. But because someone has used K&N's for some time and their engine hasn't blow up that discredits the facts right?
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- Tyler
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If I knew what I was doing all the time life wouldn't be any fun.
'80 KZ650 E 700cc, dyna ignition and coils, frame up restoration, daily driver
'81 KZ1300 A3 full restoration, custom big bore pistons, 1400cc 6 cylinder super bike
"77 KZ650 B1 - Barn Find, work in progeress
"74 Yamaha DT 400 Enduro
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- floivanus
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But, I will say, theoretically speaking, you can have a filter flow more air, but filter the same. It would just have to be larger in size than a stock filter.
I put K&N, MSD and other simillar products in the same category, so much hype, fake studies and fanboyism to break thru to the truth. They pay the hotrod mags and give them freebies, so you know they get stellar reviews in return
my bikes; 80kz1000(project), 77 gl1000, 74 h2 (project)
Past; 78 kz1000, 83 kz550
Andrew
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- Tyler
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To be fair K&N isn't going to destroy an engine, I had heard that the ford racing performance intakes come with a k&n that had blue dye in the oil... not sure if that's true. At any rate they just are not worth the money they charge IMO.
If I knew what I was doing all the time life wouldn't be any fun.
'80 KZ650 E 700cc, dyna ignition and coils, frame up restoration, daily driver
'81 KZ1300 A3 full restoration, custom big bore pistons, 1400cc 6 cylinder super bike
"77 KZ650 B1 - Barn Find, work in progeress
"74 Yamaha DT 400 Enduro
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- TexasKZ
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1982 KZ1000 LTD parts donor
1981 KZ1000 LTD awaiting resurrection
2000 ZRX1100 not ridden enough
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- SWest
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You funny.
Steve
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