Hey all,


I am debating between the K&N Power lid, and the EHS Racing outerwares Lid..

I have a bone stock LT-Z400, i am planning on getting the Suzuki/Youshimura Stainless steel full system pipe. That's about it..

But i know the stock lid is restrictive as all can be, but i wont run it with out an airbox lid..


So i am curious which of these 2 are better? They are both about the same price, the K&N is slightly more (about $10), but the K&N is an actual filter, if i am not mistaken the outerwares is just a screen mesh type setup!?


Currently most of my riding is on grass, and soon i will do some dirt riding, when the crops are down..

But i just bought my Z400, and who knows what the future will bring... I like to have a setup that i don't have to think about what type of riding i will be doing, i can just go do it...

Anyone one with experience with both units please share your thoughts and +/-'s about each..

Thanks for the help!

Chad

 

The nice thing about the EHS is that you just walk over to the hose, flush it out backward, and it dries in about 2 minutes. Throw it back on the bike and away you go.

The Outerwears will pass some small stuff, but it isn't going to clog as fast as the K&N will. What kind of air filter you running, foam or K&N??? I run the EHS and a UNI foam filter on all my bikes now.

 

Currently it is the stock foam filter, but i am looking into which aftermarket filter to get..

I was thinking about the K&N filter... but that's the because of the K&N history with car Air filters..

I am open to suggestion's if you have any!?

The only thing i want to do to my Z400 is add the Suzuki/Youshimura Stainless Steel full system pipe, good aftermarket airfilter, and the new Lid..

Other then that, Unless something happens to the engine and i have to get it worked on (Hopefully not for a long time) I probably wont do any other upgrades... If/when it does break, i might upgrade parts instead of replacing them with stock parts (IE: if it need a new piston and/or cylinder, then i would probably upgrade to the 440 big bore kit).. But unless it's time to replace the part anyway, i probably wont upgrade it.

Thanks,

Chad

 

I thought about this some more, and see if you can follow my logic? If you are running a K&N air filter (with Outerwears of course!), it makes sense to run a K&N lid. The reason? If you run the Outerwears lid, what good will the Outerwears on your air filter do? The Outerwears lid will already have seived out the larger particles, so the fine dirt that gets through will just go right on through the Outerwears on your air filter (defeating the purpose of having an Outerwears on there in the first place). If you run a K&N lid, it should filter everything (but it will clog up REAL FAST), leaving the Outerwears on the air filter to catch anything big that might have come in through the snorkle. Trouble with the K&N, to clean it you will have to soap it, rinse it, and let it dry at least a couple of hours, then oil it. NOT SOMETHING YOU ARE GOING TO BE DOING OUT ON THE TRAIL!

Ok, if you run with a foam filter and an Outerwears lid, the lid will filter the big stiff, and the foam will then catch the little stuff that got by the Outerwears. When the Outerwears lid gets really dirty, you can just tap it to get most of the dirt off (the dirt doesn't stick like it sticks to the oiled K&N), or give it a quick rinse. Dries quickly, and you are back on the trail. Out here in the desert, I choose the EHS because out on a long and dusty ride, I can deal with the EHS more effectively.

Alright, there is another alternative I forgot about. When I said I run an EHS and UNI foam filter on "all" my bikes, I meant all my sport bikes. On my utilities, I run the TPI valve (http://www.thunderproducts.com/tpi_valve.htm). These can be closed for water crossings, and I use them to adjust the air intake as I ascend and descend in altitude. (My mountain rides often start at around 4,000' in the valley, and end up at over 10, 000', so it is nice to be able to compensate for the altitude change, without a rejet. Probably not a problem in Illinois, huh?)

Or another alternative, you could use those round UNI "filtered air vents" to vent your lid (http://www.unifilter.com/accessory-catalog.htm). They have a piece of foam in them to catch the really course stuff. When I have used these, I don't oil the foam, because it makes them clog very rapidly.

Keep in mind that none of these alternatives are waterproof, so you will have to deal with that when you are riding in the wet! In any case, your Z engine really needs to breathe, and getting it more air by whatever method, will make a big difference in its performance! (In the future, post this kind of question in "Other ATV Topics", and you will get the attention of a lot more readers.)

 

Awesome. Thanks for the Detailed responce.


If i was running an outerwares Lid, i wouldn't run an outerware on my K&N filter! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Like you said, that would be pointless..


So it seams like the way go go is the Outerwares Lid, and either a K&N or a HP Foam filter..

I guess running an outerwares on the K&N with No lid would serve the same purpos, but that would allow dirt to collect in the open Air box.. with the outerwares lid, it would keep the dirt out all together...

The outerwares is just a fine mesh screen right?


What is a good HP foam filter? (K&N filters are kind of a PITA to clean, so it sounds like the outerwares and foam filter might be the way to go for easy maintaince, and should keep all the dirt out of my engine)