After months of subjecting your motorcycle to the dry dusty conditions of Western Australia it is worth giving some love to your air filter. This applies to track riding too.
The debris and particles will clog and block the small ‘gaps’ in the paper filters material. This in effect limits the amount of air passsing to the throttle bodies, this will affect the motorcycles performance, sometimes dramatically.
The air filter is normally located under the fuel tank above the throttle bodies. Consult your manual on removing the the tank. It’s a good practice to syphon the fuel from the tank making it lighter (not forgetting the fuel is highly flammable).
I am using my Kawasaki Ninja1000 for this post and by design I can leave it in place, supported and raised.
Working around the airbox top cover remove all the screws, not forgetting the one in the centre of the cover. Place these in a tray. You may have to remove a cable/ s from the airbox “Remeber” where this connected to !”
Take a photo of the connected cable before removal
“Top Tip” – Rick
I keep one of these nearby incase I drop a screw in the bike (very rare)
Flexible Claw Magnetic Pickup Tool Grabber Tool 3-in-1 with Bright Led Light,Total length 24.5 inches
https://www.amazon.com/Grabber-flexible-Four-claw-magnetic-01-Picker/dp/B07BT3X4FV
It’s not only the air filter that attracts dirt and dust etc… the airbox itself accumulates it. Clean this first.
Carefully vacum out the large pieces of debris (sand, bugs etc…) in and around the base of the airbox base
To remove the smaller dust debris and clean the surface I use a clean rag or towel that is sightly damp
Using an aircompressor ‘blow’ through the gaps of the filter, this may take a little while.
DO NOT SOAK OR WET A PAPER FILTER
“Top Tip” – Rick
The filter is now ready to put back in the airbox. Follow the procedure in reverse for putting the cover and tank back on.
Note you will never get a paper filter back to a clean white condtion, due to staining over time.
If an air filter is “too far gone” replace it. They are not that expensive and perform regular maintenance to prolong the lifespan. Don’t expect these to be cleaned if you get your motorcycle serviced unless you specify it to be done.
There are race / performance air filters such as K&N that allow for an increased air flow and these last for ever if cleaned with the correct equipment. I would advise not to use these unless your motorcycle has been ‘tuned’ to use these. The increase in airflow will affect the performance of your engine “air to fuel” mixture will not be correct.
