Does this filter need oil?
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 344
Likes: 4
From: California
Does this filter need oil?
01’ RK, not the stock air filter. This looks like a K&N design but has the HD logo on it. No K&N logo. I’ve owned the bike for 7 years and have always treated it like a K&N, wash and oil. But I’ve been thinking and am not sure...I think it is from the HD Street and Metal design.. Wash and oil or not? Also I have no idea how old this unit is and think I’m going to replace it anyways...
Last edited by NAILIT RK; Feb 2, 2019 at 03:35 PM. Reason: Spelling
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
It is either black, which seems unlikely to me, or darned filthy! In that case clean it in your favourite degreaser and check what you have. If it looks a bit pink then it is definitely oiled, as that is the colour of K&N filter oil. If it is white/grey it may still be a K&N, but has never been oiled!!!! 
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 246
Likes: 217
From: Phoenix, Az
I have basically the same filter in my '00 RK, I think it came as part of the Stage 1 kit the previous owner installed. Anyway, yes it's a K&N that should be oiled. In my experience over time that red dye fades so that it doesn't appear to be oiled, my guess is the reason yours looks like a grayish color. Mine looks exactly the same right now. Also, your filter is maybe a little bit dirty but not much, you can see all of the black screen. Per the K&N website, you don't need to clean it until there are spots where you can't see the screen. Remember, a partially dirty filter is actually more efficient that a perfectly clean one. Hard to resist the temptation to clean it when it's not all pretty, but that's the fact. FWIW my filter looks VERY similar to yours, has 18k since the last cleaning, I'm feeling the urge to clean it because it lost that pink color, but from everything I've read the science says it's fine until you have serious layer of crud on it.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
