K&N Air Filter - throttle smoothness

BrENDURO · May 6, 2010

I installed a K&N BW-8006 air filter in my F650GS. After riding several hundred miles, I can say the throttle response and smoothness is noticeably improved. It's most noticeable at slow engine speeds, where the throttle is fairly "touchy" especially just off idle. Just thought I'd pass it along - I've read a handful of complaints about the touchiness of the throttles on here.
Hopefully, my MPG will improve a bit as an added bonus.

pedantic_pete · May 6, 2010

Will be very pleased to hear how you get on with that long term.

N4HHE · May 7, 2010

Yes, especially how its well documented that a K&N does not filter as well as the OE paper filter. Perhaps the K&N filters "good enough"?

Pay particular attention to your intake valves. If they get tight faster than normal then go back to the paper filters.

SunnY · May 7, 2010

+1 for the K N, use one on my bike too.

You may be interested to read this report here. The author installs a K N filter on his BMW 1150. This too is unscientific, but Webbikeworld does seem to have good and well written articles.

Be sure to scroll down to "UPDATE: Case Study - July 2009"
There you will find the author (he has 40yrs experience as a mechanic) had a deeper look inside an engine with 187,000 miles that used a K&N filter. "K&N filter was installed by his son about 100,000 miles prior to my repairs & he's not sure when the last time it was "cleaned". " Read on for details....

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/k-n-air-filter/

Quote taken from article :

Stats:

1999 M-Benz E-320 with 187,000 miles and no oil consumption complaints.
V-6, M-112 ,3.2 liter motor with aluminum heads & block & automatic transmission.
Closed loop, HFM fuel management system using a Mass Airflow Sensor ( MAS)

K&N filter was installed by his son about 100,000 miles prior to my repairs & he's not sure when the last time it was "cleaned".
With the heads and intake off I thought I would take a look at the dirt and oil residue levels throughout the intake system, starting at the air filter. I also looked at the cylinder walls for any signs of scoring.

Note: Our MAS are VERY sensitive to ANY contamination whether liquid or solids! We are frequently replacing MAS for fuel adaptation values that have turned on the "Check Engine" light.

The adaptation values on this car were perfect!

My Findings: I found NO traces of oil or dirt of any kind anywhere in the intake system or on the MAS. Everything was clean and dry.

I found NO scratching or scoring on the cylinder walls.

Conclusion: This was not a scientific test, just what I observed while the engine was apart. It does though, throw some doubt, in my mind, of the claims made by some that using a K&N air filter can cause damage to a MAS or the motor itself.

.

reinerka · May 7, 2010

I never understand the big deal about K&N filters. Expensive to purchase and 99.99% of the owners never rank up enough miles to pay for the initial purchase in "assumed" savings.

The simple fact that getting to the filter is the most difficult task on most bikes I might just as well throw the old one away and just be done with it instead of heaving to clean and lube the filter again. This makes the process longer than it needs to be.

The current air filter lets enough air into the engine for full throttle red lining in 6th gear. More flow won't help you gaining power or fuel economy in any way. The ECM controls the fuel amount provided based on a lot of factors.

But it is up to anyone to make modifications to his vehicle. Me personally thinks that K&N is a pretty good advertisement company that has no better product than anyone else. Will the engine survive 200K miles? Probably with and without K&N - do I want to be the one test casing it? No, thanks,

Reiner

BrENDURO · May 7, 2010

reinerka said:
I never understand the big deal about K&N filters. Expensive to purchase and 99.99% of the owners never rank up enough miles to pay for the initial purchase in "assumed" savings.

The current air filter lets enough air into the engine for full throttle red lining in 6th gear. More flow won't help you gaining power or fuel economy in any way. The ECM controls the fuel amount provided based on a lot of factors.

Reiner

I wouldn't buy one new. I bought mine used. A new filter at the dealer is $20-25 on average. I paid $25 for the K&N. With my state sales tax, a BMW filter is just under $26. Therefore I consider myself in the 00.01% of owners saving money - seeing as my BMW paper filter element was dirty and needed replacement anyhow. In the future, I can also spend $10 on a cleaning kit (that will likely last the life of the bike - the propellant in the oil can would likely seep out before all the oil could be used) instead of a $23 BMW filter.

And you're mistaken on the power gains. While I don't care either way about power, K&N's second biggest marketing tool (second only to the fact it never needs to be replaced) is the fact the filter is less restrictive, and thus gives you more power. Exactly how much power it gives you is up in the air (likely VERY little) - but again, it doesn't matter to me.

BrENDURO · May 7, 2010

BrENDURO said:
I've read a handful of complaints about the touchiness of the throttles on here.
Hopefully, my MPG will improve a bit as an added bonus.

As stated in my initial post, my main concern was throttle "twitchiness" and hopefully, a slight bump in MPG. Despite not mentioning anything about power gains or engine cleanliness or long term durability, the thread has veered way off course in that direction. I don't recall stating my butt dyno was calibrated in any way at all as I never made any statements about the bike being any faster etc.

I've provided a link http://www.motorcycledaily.com/21september04_kandnfilter.htm with a rather obvious dyno graph showing replacing ONLY the filter element will result in a power increase, as K&N advertises, despite repeated attempts at stating this is neither of concern to me, nor of concern to the this particular thread.
Yes, the K&N air filter does allow finer particles of dirt etc into the engine. If it flows freer, how couldn't it? Again, this is of no concern to me, or the thread.
And an additional link http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/K%20&%20N.htm proving 1BMWfan you're right about the K&N allowing more dirt past the filter media, despite no one arguing against that fact.

And lastly, K&N filters will not void a factory warranty - this too, is something they market. I'm an automobile technician, and in the past, we wouldn't honor a warranty on a MAF meter with a K&N filter installed. There was a big legal battle, and a lot of debate, but somehow K&N "won" and we had to start honoring warranty repairs on the MAF sensors.

N4HHE · May 7, 2010

BrENDURO said:
I've provided a link http://www.motorcycledaily.com/21september04_kandnfilter.htm with a rather obvious dyno graph showing replacing ONLY the filter element will result in a power increase, as K&N advertises, despite repeated attempts at stating this is neither of concern to me, nor of concern to the this particular thread.

Dyno test is conducted full throttle. No one denies the claim that the K&N is less restrictive. Everyone admits less restriction provides more air which permits more HP. In normal riding one controls the throttle so as to produce only the amount of required HP. Unless you are riding at full throttle you will close the throttle to compensate for any lack of restriction from the air filter.

Yes, the K&N air filter does allow finer particles of dirt etc into the engine. If it flows freer, how couldn't it?

The solution is simple, yet hard to implement aftermarket: Just use a bigger air filter. There will be more surface area of the same high quality filter material, and resulting lesser restriction.

And lastly, K&N filters will not void a factory warranty - this too, is something they market. I'm an automobile technician, and in the past, we wouldn't honor a warranty on a MAF meter with a K&N filter installed. There was a big legal battle, and a lot of debate, but somehow K&N "won" and we had to start honoring warranty repairs on the MAF sensors.

Cite reference for the above?

Josh9399 · May 8, 2010

I have the K&N. It's worth every penny and does give a noticeable difference in acceleration (full throttle-like said). I've had it in for the last 11k and clean it when I do the oil changes, it will be in there for the remainder...

I recommend it !

K&N Air Filter - throttle smoothness

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities