I have a question. Took the air filter off my 2009 Road King and it had oil in it. Why?

 

2009 Road King with 51,000 miles and I have oil showing in my air filter. Why?

 

Apparently, you haven't been caught in some of the rain/storms I've been caught in. After a rain, yes, I find the the oil is gone & filter is now grey like I just cleaned it and the whole right side of my bike being covered in oil.

 

Blow-by from the oil breather tube.

Keep the oil level a bit lower and it should stop.

I try to have it so that when fully hot, the oil level on my dipstick is NO higher than 1/2 way up at the absolute maximum.

 

I have to agree with you on this one. I've been riding with an exposed filter for years, and through a fair share of heavy downpours. Even with the rain sock on, heavy rain tends to wash the oil right off.

You guys maintain your filter however you see fit, but I will continue re-oiling mine when it no longer appears red. Something about the wording on the back of the can make me feel like it needs to be there.

 

I hate to hurt your feelings but I know Im right! Read below about the red color everyone is hung up about! I just did a quick google search and found this stuff.



Caution: Never use any oil other than RED K&N AIR FILTER OIL.
Never use a K&N air filter without oil. (The filter will not stop the dirt without the oil.)
K&N air filter oil is a compound of mineral and animal oil blended with special polymers to form a very efficient tack barrier. Red dye is added to show just where you have applied the oil. Eventually the red color will fade but the oil will remain and will filter the air.

http://www.theultralightplace.com/ai...er_service.htm


K&N says NOTHING about color of fliter related to when to clean it! Since most of our K&N are exposed unlike ones in a air box of a car we mite need to clean ours a little more often but not by much.


4. How often do I need to clean my K&N air filter?

If you have not experienced a decrease in mileage or engine performance, chances are your filter is fine and does not yet need cleaning. To be more specific, the filter does not require cleaning if you can still see the wire screen on the entire air filter regardless of how dirty it may appear. When the screen is no longer visible some place on the filter, it is time to clean it. When used in normal paved road, street or highway conditions, our replacement air filters that fit in the factory air box should require cleaning every 50,000 miles and our large conical filters on an intake system should require cleaning every 100,000 miles. When used in dusty or off-road environments, our filters will require cleaning more often. We recommend that you visually inspect your filter once every 25,000 miles to determine if the screen is still visible.

http://www.knfilters.com/faq.htm#4

Dan from NRHS Performace says the same thing

The oil is red just to show you where you have applied if after cleaning. It does not need to stay red to work. You normally only need to clean and re-oil a K&N every 10,000 mile or so unless you are in really dusty conditions.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/s...ighlight=K%26N

 

Thanks for posting that info cotnballs. I'll feel better in between cleanings about riding with the white filter. I think I'm still going to clean it along with my oil changes though.

 

Glad to know Im not a moron Im in the business of cleaning oily greasy residue. You need hot water and detergent to get residue off. Cold water will only get rid of excessive build up but wont do anything to whats actually on the surface. If the side of your bike gets covered in oil going through a rain storm.......you have way to much oil on the filter.

 

No feelings hurt here. I too looked on the K&N website for some more specific info but must have missed the "Eventually the red color will fade but the oil will remain and will filter the air." Thank you sir. I always figured I needed to clean/re-oil the filter after a rain storm because one side would look like I had literally just cleaned it and the other would still be completely caked with bugs & grime. I'll feel better now knowing the filter will be OK after getting caught in a storm again. I'll probably still clean it though based around when I do my oil changes & 5K maintenances just for piece of mind.

 

Remember, the cleaner the filter is the less efficient it is filtering the air. When you say peace of mind I assume you mean cleaner air getting to the engine. If so, let it go, the dirtier the filter the better it is at filtering the air. Best would be to clean it just before it starts affecting performance.









Of course............I would never go that long