Question: How to clean the air-filter (and maintenance)?

[happy]

Hi guys/gals

I am quite curious to see if anyone here has already cleaned the Airfilter and oiled it for the NCX (ok NCS should be the same).
Pics and step-by-step tutorial will be very very helpful to me.

Any takers?
~Joe

 

[Beemerphile]

Hi guys/gals

I am quite curious to see if anyone here has already cleaned the Airfilter and oiled it for the NCX (ok NCS should be the same).
Pics and step-by-step tutorial will be very very helpful to me.

Any takers?
~Joe

It looks to be a replaceable paper element so oiling would not be in the cards. It could be removed and blown off if it had eaten a lot of dust, but the replacement interval is 12,000 miles (~20,000 km). To get to it, you have to remove the left and right air ducts, the center cover, and the maintenance lid.

 

[dduelin]

Some late model Hondas use a oiled foam element in a metal mesh enclosure and some thrifty owners clean and re-use the element. I am not one of them and buy a new one. Before my 700 arrived I was checking common maintenance items and learned the 700's filter is only about $30 US.

 

[Beemerphile]

Some late model Hondas use a oiled foam element in a metal mesh enclosure and some thrifty owners clean and re-use the element. I am not one of them and buy a new one. Before my 700 arrived I was checking common maintenance items and learned the 700's filter is only about $30 US.

Dave

Do you know whether the 700x filter is paper or foam? The service manual does not mention oiling it, just replacement.

 

[dduelin]

I do not know the construction. The ST1300's is one of the oiled foam ones - Honda says to replace it and makes no mention of cleaning it. I was just saying the more frugal can clean and reuse them. I think that is false economy although I don't replace it at 12,000 miles - I stretch the interval to 20,000 miles. It's not dry and dusty in the southeast.

 

[duk2n]

OMG! 12,000 miles to replace the air filter of a bike! The maintenance schedulle of this bike is very similar to a car. I agree if it costs just 30$ it doesn't make sense to clean it, I just will replace it.

 

[Cyclerosis]

If you wait for the K&N aftermarket filter, they are cleaned and oiled instead of replaced.

 

[Beemerphile]

If you wait for the K&N aftermarket filter, they are cleaned and oiled instead of replaced.

They are not for me. I have seen too many tests that show their filtration efficiency to be below that of most stock filters. One even showed higher silt content in used oil analysis after installing a K&N.

 

[happy]

They are not for me. I have seen too many tests that show their filtration efficiency to be below that of most stock filters. One even showed higher silt content in used oil analysis after installing a K&N.

Maybe that is the reason they have more "throughput" and increases a tiny wee bit of horsepower without altering anything else?
Is it bad to have silt in the oil?

 

[Beemerphile]

Maybe that is the reason they have more "throughput" and increases a tiny wee bit of horsepower without altering anything else?
Is it bad to have silt in the oil?

The silt comes from dirt ingested through the air filter and scrubbed off of the cylinder walls by the oil scraper rings. It is detected as silicone in used oil analysis. I have read on "Bob is the Oil Guy" that K&N states that their filters are 99% as effective as OEM. Well, 1% from a filtration perspective is pretty big over the life of a motor. I have used them in the past (for many years actually) and have never seen any damage as a result of them, but I don't use them now. I believe that an OEM filter, carefully fitted, is your best protection. I know from sealing HEPA filters on pharmaceutical manufacturing rooms that the key is fitting around the edges. A small gap in the edge seal is as damaging to performance as a hole in the filter media. I use a light grease film on the edges of the filter gasket to make sure that there are not any air paths. One of the things that led me away from the K&N filter on my BMW R100RS was that it didn't fit as well as the OEM filter did.

 

[jakeisbill]

Go Get'em Lee.

 

[OriginalRocket]

Was linked this vid By the Facebook nc700 page.

[video=youtube;bXEyliHP0wo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXEyliHP0wo&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

 

[Kafn8td]

Eh, I desert raced for many years and always used K&N filter. I never had any issues and my engine builder recommended them. The check was to pull it and run your finger on the inside of the intake to see if it had ingested anything.

 

[Daboo]

IMHO, a racing environment is different than what we encounter on the street. Admittedly, this is from someone who never raced... But I would imagine your interests were in getting maximum performance without worrying about engine life as long as it made it through the race. Otherwise, why would you have an engine builder? Few of us can afford to keep an engine builder employed. BTW, I find it ironic that I was looking at another forum where the owners are rebuilding their engines as early as 15,000 miles. The thought is that dirt was getting around the filter. Like Lee, I'm very leery of using K&N filters for the same reasons he mentioned. And with the sensors for the fuel injection, any increased airflow would be compensated for.

My current bike has a filter material very similar to the filter material shown in the video.



What I do with mine, is to soak it for a few hours in a heavy concentration of Simple Green and liquid dishwashing soap. While it may seem strange to use dishwashing soap, it has detergents in it to cut grease and it works well. I use an acid brush to get between the folds or pleats in the filter material. Every half hour or hour, I'll run the acid brush through the pleats again and move the filter up and down through the Simple Green solution to dislodge any dirt. After a few hours, or even letting it soak overnight, I'll take it out and rinse it, then set it aside to dry.

Rather than take the time for the wet filter to dry, I keep a spare filter available and rotate them.

The $30 price is very reasonable, but this would be an alternative.

Chris

 

[happy]

OK looks like a big job.....for the garage...

 

[HONDABIKEPRO]

IMHO, a racing environment is different than what we encounter on the street. Admittedly, this is from someone who never raced... But I would imagine your interests were in getting maximum performance without worrying about engine life as long as it made it through the race. Otherwise, why would you have an engine builder? Few of us can afford to keep an engine builder employed. BTW, I find it ironic that I was looking at another forum where the owners are rebuilding their engines as early as 15,000 miles. The thought is that dirt was getting around the filter. Like Lee, I'm very leery of using K&N filters for the same reasons he mentioned. And with the sensors for the fuel injection, any increased airflow would be compensated for.

My current bike has a filter material very similar to the filter material shown in the video.

View attachment 2439

What I do with mine, is to soak it for a few hours in a heavy concentration of Simple Green and liquid dishwashing soap. While it may seem strange to use dishwashing soap, it has detergents in it to cut grease and it works well. I use an acid brush to get between the folds or pleats in the filter material. Every half hour or hour, I'll run the acid brush through the pleats again and move the filter up and down through the Simple Green solution to dislodge any dirt. After a few hours, or even letting it soak overnight, I'll take it out and rinse it, then set it aside to dry.

Rather than take the time for the wet filter to dry, I keep a spare filter available and rotate them.

The $30 price is very reasonable, but this would be an alternative.

Chris

I would be very careful trying to clean a filter that was not made for cleaning, not knowing what effect the cleaners, would have on the glues in the filter and what effect it could have on the paper, and how will the oil that you put on it be absorbed into the paper?? and will the paper still filter the same microns?? I have Seen paper filters come apart and be sucked into the intake tract and under intake valves, not good , simple green is a very harsh cleaner, it will take the finish off nuts, and bolts, removes almost all greases, and oil. and attacks aluminum.. and that's all, if it does not dry on the surface then it is even worse. be careful and filters that we would ever clean, we would always use only a air cleaner filter cleaner, like k&n. or foam filter cleaners. dale

 

[Heavy-H]

Facebook has a Honda NC700X page... On there was posted a vid on changeing the air filter......

Crap................ I was too slow, already posted..............

 

[Daboo]

I would be very careful trying to clean a filter that was not made for cleaning, not knowing what effect the cleaners, would have on the glues in the filter and what effect it could have on the paper, and how will the oil that you put on it be absorbed into the paper?? and will the paper still filter the same microns?? I have Seen paper filters come apart and be sucked into the intake tract and under intake valves, not good , simple green is a very harsh cleaner, it will take the finish off nuts, and bolts, removes almost all greases, and oil. and attacks aluminum.. and that's all, if it does not dry on the surface then it is even worse. be careful and filters that we would ever clean, we would always use only a air cleaner filter cleaner, like k&n. or foam filter cleaners. dale

Excellent points, dale. On my bike...not an NC700X...the paper filters have done just fine. (I've been doing this for 70,000 miles. ) Since it is a paper filter and not a foam filter, I don't believe either my bike or the NC700X uses oil on the filter. Regarding filtering the same microns...it has to be better than a K&N filter in that respect. The only way you get more airflow as K&N advertises, is to have a more porous filter.

Chris

 

[duk2n]

Facebook has a Honda NC700X page... On there was posted a vid on changeing the air filter......

Crap................ I was too slow, already posted..............

Link to the page, please

 

[Chris]

The NC700 filter paper is impregnated with oil (not that you'd know by looking at it). Washing it will, at best, remove the oil and reduce the filter efficiency. At worst, as Dale pointed out, the filter is liable to split and could be sucked into the inlet - saving a few bucks on an air filter against risking trashing the engine isn't a great trade off in my view.

Chris