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It's a pretty straightforward procedure, but as usual, it requires a minimum of care. An air filter full of oil and dust, forgotten in the kitchen sink, could trigger the uncontrollable anger of your spouse (risk of blows and injuries).
Be aware that the air filter is an essential element in the proper operation of your engine. Neglecting it will shorten the life of your motorcycle.
Once again, it's the "mechanics" at Ixtem Moto ("les mains gauches" to our friends) who are on the job (well... the one with his hands in the grease is Michel, I'm just holding the camera).
Equipment required:
- A motorcycle: in our case, our colleague's 2006 Kawette ER6, which needed a good overhaul.
- A toolbox with standard tools (flat wrenches, Allen keys, etc.). Often, the tools in the motorcycle's toolkit will suffice.
- If you're just doing a check-up: a vacuum cleaner or air compressor, a toothbrush and a product to clean your filter if it's made of foam.
- Consumables: a new air filter.
1. Access.
The air filter is often located under the saddle or the fuel tank. It's best to know where it is before you start dismantling. In our case, it was necessary to remove the fuel tank (consult the owner's manual or technical journal).
2. Checking condition/cleaning
As you can see, our air filter was particularly dirty, so we had to change it.
Generally speaking, a well-maintained filter should be changed every 24,000km, but this also depends on how the bike is used (city, road, off-road...).
But then... how do you clean an air filter?
- If it's made of paper, you can vacuum it to remove small impurities. If you don't know what a vacuum cleaner is, ask your mom - she'll be able to tell you! If you have an air compressor, use a blowgun connected to it. At the same time, you can gently scrub the filter with a toothbrush (we don't recommend brushing your teeth with the brush used to clean the filter... but then, everyone's free to do what they like! ).
- If it's a foam filter (cross, enduro), you need to clean it with a specific product. Then lubricate it before reassembling. NB: Only the use of appropriate maintenance products will enable you to keep your filter in perfect working order.
3. Draining the drain (recommended)
To complete the cleaning process, we recommend that you regularly empty the air box drain. This is the small tube under the airbox (often closed by a plug), which collects some of the oil that "rises" in the airbox. In the case of the Kawette overhaul, we had to remove the airbox to gain access to the spark plugs. This made it easy to empty the drain. On most two-wheelers, the drain plug is located under the motorcycle.
4. Reassembly
When reassembling, remember to replace the filter and close the airbox properly. The whole assembly must be airtight to prevent impurities from entering your engine "unexpectedly".
As you can see, this wasn't a very difficult operation. But as usual, be careful: use someone close to you to carry out these operations! Not only do you run the risk of dirtying your mimes, but you've got a lot more to do!
See you soon for a new tutorial!