Just changed air filter, the critters were busy.... 2014 NC700X

[andyFromWi]

Even though there are feet of snow in my yard in Northern WI, I have been getting the bike ready to ride.
As I'm changing out my air filter, this is what I found......



After a quick vacuum, the underside of the airbox was fine, just all the crud on top of the filter.
Just a reminder, that the varmints can be busy over the winter.....


-andy

 

[670cc]

Wow. If found a dozen whole acorns in my airbox the last time, but that there looks like they had a real feast. It’s interesting that what looks like nearly a whole oak leaf got in there.

 

[andyFromWi]

Wow. If found a dozen whole acorns in my airbox the last time, but that there looks like they had a real feast.

They had a good time!
Funny thing, I took the bike out for a 10 mile (1st ride of the year, 30 degrees), absolutely know issues...

 

[670cc]

They had a good time!
Funny thing, I took the bike out for a 10 mile (1st ride of the year, 30 degrees), absolutely know issues...

Yes, I always believed the NC air filter was way oversized for the engine and it would take significant debris in the filter to hurt performance.

 

[the Ferret]

Good grief. You are lucky they didn't chew up some wiring. It's a real problem over on the ST 1300 forum.

 

[ST13Fred]

Even though there are feet of snow in my yard in Northern WI, I have been getting the bike ready to ride.
As I'm changing out my air filter, this is what I found......

View attachment 51654

After a quick vacuum, the underside of the airbox was fine, just all the crud on top of the filter.
Just a reminder, that the varmints can be busy over the winter.....


-andy

Wiring insulation is soy based that rodents love eating. I keep the 1 pound cake poison in the house basement and farm equipment building.
Any new vehicle is more attractive to rodents as the wiring is still gassing off. I found a nest behind my new at the time tractor dash board but no wiring messed with.

 

[skills4lou]

Some hardware cloth carefully placed in the intake tube slows them down. I've done that in my ATV's and it stopped them.

 

[andyFromWi]

Some hardware cloth carefully placed in the intake tube slows them down. I've done that in my ATV's and it stopped them.

I will definitely plug up the intake next fall!

 

[Deleted member 1183]

I left my CRF300L unattended for a few weeks last spring with the handlebar muffs still on. When I eventually got around to riding it I started getting the very close attention of a Robin. Not unusual as they hang around me a lot in the garden hoping I will disturb some insects or the like, but this guy was also very vocal. I was still only getting the bike unlocked and ready to move from its berth outdoors. I couldn't figure out why the Robin was getting so fussed. When I eventually went to grab the handlebars it became obvious. The bird was well advanced with nest building inside one of the muffs.

 

[Dav2ison]

That's pretty funny. When changing the air filter on my wife's mini and my CRV the air boxes looked just like this. We feed our little friends peanuts.

 

[670cc]

Since, as I mentioned, I have witnessed acorns being stored in my own NC’s airbox, the next time I have it apart I may consider installing a wire mesh over the air box’s intake, if that is possible. Comments in this thread made be think about this more seriously. I would almost have expected that to be part of Honda’s design.