I know Honda makes an air filter cleaning kit, but was wondering what most of you use to do the job. I have some K&N cleaner and re-oiler. How would this work. Surely most household products would be fine......"Grease Lighten", "Simple Green", etc.
What then too use for re-oil?

 

What I do is spray it with PJ1 or Maxima Cleaner. Let it sit a few minutes, then rinse it from the inside out with warm water. Squeze out the water (but don't wring it out), then let it air dry completely (might take a while in some climates!).

Then I oil it up with one of the super tacky oils, like Maxima FFT. Saturate it, then squeze (again don't wring it out) out the excess.

Mistakes I have made: I have found that diping it in a solvent (kerosene, gas, or whatever), takes the oil out real nice, but leaves the dirt behind trapped in the foam. Some wash with dishwashing detergent, but I have found that they don't cut the oil as well as the sprays that are purpose made for filter cleaning.

Don't use K&N cleaner or oil on foam (the oil is way to light). Don't use NoToil on foam either. It conatins isopropyl alcohol, which will dissolve the glue.

 

Hi Tramp,

In the past I used green Dawn dishsoap to soak the filter clean, then I use foam air filter oil and soak the air filter full of oil then install the filter into a freezer zip loc bag, then hang the bag up with a close pin with the filter at the top of the bag. This lets all the excess oil drip off the filter into the bag then I reuse the oil the next time around.

I bought a extra OEM foam air filter so I can have one clean and ready to install when it needs changing. That way if I'm in hurry to ride, it don't take long to service the air fliter.

 

I really like the Honda Pro bio filter stuff. The kit comes with cleaning soap, sealing grease, and filter oil. I'm not sure if it is the same as the no-toil stuff, but I haven't had any problems with glue or anything in several years of use.

Anyway, with that stuff, once you get the original dino based oil out with diesel followed by soap and water, future clean ups are quick and easy.

Once the foam is dry, I also like to apply the oil by putting the filter into a big ziplock bag to smoosh it around. Let the filter sit in the air for a few minutes before reinstalling.

The bio-oil apparently won't wash out with petro solvents, and will make a mess if you try, but the special powdered soap cleans it out quickly and easily without the smell...

The filter oil is really sticky stuff.