2006 Sportsman 500 Air filter - K&N ?
 

Hi, I have had my air filter since I bought this bike used, (about 1.5 years ago) and need to change it. I have been reading a little about K & N filters, and some say they are not great in dusty conditions, unless you use the screen. Does anyone have experience with them on this bike?

Are there any other advantages/disadvantages to them?

If you follow directions, they are fine. I have verified by Blackstone Labs oil analysis. Dust (silicon) ppm were as low as UNI filters or paper filters in my Dodges. Almost 400,000 miles on one of my Dodge hemi's using a K&N, still uses no oil. Use K&N's filter cleaner and oil. Can't hurt to use the Drycharger screen. May help to keep some water/mud out. BTW, I removed the huge German made Mann/Hummel filter from my Arctic Cat turbo diesel, replaced with a K&N HA 5000. The Mann/Hummel leaked dirt thru!

I think most people don't clean and oil them properly, like when I saw a friend clean one in a bowl of gasoline. Gas will get the old oil out but not all of the dirt. If you want to check that out for yourself, take a dirty foam air filter, like on a lawnmower. Wash it with gas, then wash it with warm water and detergent. The water will be dirty. It says on their website, "K&N Air Filter Cleaner is the only cleaner formulated to clean K&N Filtercharger air filters with cotton media. The use of any other cleaning solution can void the filter's warranty, and quite possibly could damage the cotton material." So if you do get a K&N filter, you should plan on buying their cleaner too. "K&N air filter cleaning kits are composed of a six-step maintenance system designed to clean any K&N oiled cotton air filter." I'd rather just skip all 6 steps and chuck my old paper filter in the trash when it needs to be replaced.

K&N and dirt doesn't mix.. Either use stock filters and throw away when dirty as jumbofrank mentioned or just get an Uni foam filter that will trap more fine dirt particles than K&N could ever do. Good enough filter for street bikes and cars,but not for dirt or dusty conditions that dirt bikes or atvs are in.Talk to any of the serious cross country or motocross riders as to what filter they run. Odds are Uni,Twin Air or compatible type foam filter. I had to rebuild a couple Sportsmans for this very reason.No matter how clean and oiled you keep the K&N they are a lot less restrictive than foam filters and won't trap fine dust particles. If you can feel dirt or any grit at the back of the carb, the filter isn't doing it's job.

Here's a report on an old AC 500 with a K&N. Sold it to a friend, he's still riding it. Some of the miles were on very dusty trails. Has a Drycharger slip on sock, though.

Lets just agree to disagree hydrex.. :) Just from my experience with them in dirt applications over a 23 year span.

OEM filter is the cheapest, easiest and best in my experience. No overpriced filter to buy that requires expensive cleaning and oiling supplies and no worries about dust getting by it. Put a prefilter sock on and wash it on occasion and your OEM filter will last a long time before needing changed.
You didn't say if your machine is EFI but I've also seen more than one TBAP and throttle body gummed up from oiled filters too.

I take the sock off mine and wash it with dish detergent and water. And I look inside the filter to make sure I can see light coming through. I give the rubber end some good hits on my rear rack, then flip it over and tap the other end on the rack too. Some dust will come off, and if I'm at my friend's cabin, he gets out his leaf blower which is a pretty good fit for the end of the filter, and we blow it out from the inside. Then I either wait for the sock to dry, or just shake it hard from each end a few times. I slap it together and I'm good for several more rides.

I don't ride as much as used to and a filter will last me more than a year if I keep the quad right side up. If I tip it on it's side and the filter gets oily I have to replace it. It's about 25 bucks for a new filter. A K&N air filter plus a maintenance kit for it costs twice as much. I'd rather buy 2 OEM filters for that price, and avoid all the hassle of cleaning and re-oiling a K&N that requires you to use their cleaner and nothing else.

I bought a polaris quad that had a k&n filter on it. So I decided to keep the filter and I went to the store and bought the cleaner kit for the filter. A few rides later after I had reinstalled the clean filter, I removed it and there was a fine mist of dust inside the filter intake tube. Even with the protective cover and the proper cleaning and oiling kit it was still letting some dust by. I threw it in the trash and went to a good paper filter.

Some people get a slip-on exhaust and a K&N air filter and think they'll get a huge horsepower boost. What they end up with instead is a loud quad that sucks dust. That's just my observation. YMMV.

good by k&n
 

in the process of rebuilding my 570 rzr. no more k&n for me. only 1400 miles on 2017.

I bought a GSE reuseable air filter a couple of years ago, got tired of washing it. Add the cost of the kits, paper with a pre filter is cheaper.

I run them in all my vehicles and wheelers. Clean them good let air dry oil em up good and my trick to luck I think is don't be chinsy and save yourself some time and hassle buy a prefilter sock. Even if I didn't run K&N filter everyone should at least buy a prefilter sock that slips over cartridge filter. My vehicles you open up air box if you don't have the filter sock all the ribs fill full of debris and clog up same w wheeler. With the sock it usually don't even stick to it and will fall to bottom of air box. So personally think with the combination of the two there's nothing I've seen that's better.
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I had a k&n on my truck for a short time. Right out of the box, it soaked my MAF in oil. Then, I started getting a random misfire when it snowed. Found out it was sucking snow right through it. Now, if it was letting snow through, how much dirt/dust was it letting through. Straight in the garbage, and I'll never fall for their gimmicks again.

I remember the time I took my truck (still under warranty) to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. They check everything. Was the 3rd or 4th oil change for the truck, so it was all good.

Except when they checked the air filter, they forgot to put it back in. Before this, I never thought to see if they put stuff back. Anyway, we're on the freeway doing about 80mph when it clogged the maf sensor enough to shut the motor down. :eek:

Luckily, were in a town where we knew a shop owner. Checked it all out and cleaned the sensor. And put a new filter in. Got back home and bought a k&n filter for it. 9 years later, it still runs and hasn't shut down from the dirt it may let by.

So, first hand experience tells me paper is good, k&n is good. No filter, not so good.

Now I had one in one of my quads. With the sock. Was by no means a performance quad at all, so power wise it really made no difference. It may have let some dirt through, but trees and being upside down did more damage that that did.

This is one of those things that I say use what makes you comfortable.

"No filter, not so good." ". . . trees and being upside down did more damage that that did." :) Did you ever say I've fallen and I can't get up?