Hi all ! Congrats on your new bike and welcome to the great sport of motorcycling ! I just got a 2007 KLX a few days ago . My other bike is a Ktm 450 EXC. The KLX is just as much fun to ride and not as stressful . Things happen at a little different pace is all . For my after work ride today I took the KLX , no regrets here . P.S. If you put a K&N airfilter in that bike I will personally fly over there and hit you on the head with a shovel....biggest POS ever made.........brad

 

I almost bought a K&N but then decided to just get an OEM type and went with the No-Toil Pre-Oiled Air Filter.

I did, however, get a K&N oil filter. Hope I don't have to duck if I put one in my bike.

By the way, welcome to the forum, OP.

 

I've bought plenty of K&N filters in my life and never had any problems with them. To each their own.

 

I've used K&N's since they first came out. I've used them on almost every car, truck, and motorcycle I've owned. I don't get rid of my vehicles every 2-4 years like most folks. My last truck had about 310,000 miles on it with a K&N. As for motor cycles, I have usually reverted to foam on my race bikes just due to the choking dust you usually get in traffic for most enduros. Since I had to clean them after every enduro anyway, foam was a little easier to clean. In situations where I could go for longer periods like a street vehicle or pavement motorcycle, K&N's were the rule. All 4 of my KLR600/650's from '85 on had K&N's, and they lived long, happy lives. Much of the off road bashing that K&N's get is really undeserved. I remember racing one of my XR250R's in a 100 mile enduro one time for fun. Four of us friends were on the same minute, and it turned out to be one of the worst, dust choking enduros I'd been on. Even riding in back because my friends were A-riders while I was a B-rider at the time, two of them had to pull their foam filters at the last gas stop and wring them out in gasoline to do a quick semi-cleaning to get the bike to run. Mine ran fine to the end, and at home when pulling the K&N out, there wasn't any dust in the air boot.

People mention off road trucks using K&N's or similarly designed gauze style filters, but from what I've seen most of them use a foam prefilter that they usually changes during gas stops...but not always.

 

OMG i told you 10 more the stock that is at 86db

 

I guess I missed that??? lol

K&N's are a weird thing. The oil filters I have no real opinion on except they are pricey and I prefer Wix or OEM for most applications. As far as the air filters go I've seen them cause issues but you have to remember we are "gear head" type people so most of us are weekend warriors or full time techs. With that being said, I'm sure if we choose to run a K&N style filter we also maintain them properly. I should be clear, most issues I see are under or over oiled filters. They contaminate the mass air meters and I see a lot of dirt and build up on intake systems where generally I don't see that on cars with pleated paper. I guess its not the filters fault but the person in charge of maintaining it. Ultimately I choose not to run them, but thats just MHO.

This bike is a great beginner bike, I'm love'n it. My first few mods should be here early next week. Soon as I get a few hundred miles on it I plan and doing the carb stuff and at least the slip on exhaust. I plan on riding up about 30 minutes from my house to tool around on some dirt roads this weekend. I'm holding off on the hand guards until I figure out my handle bar situation.

Are there any other decent wind screens besides the TCI? 199 isn't insanely expensive but a little steep for my taste.

 

Those are good points on the K&N. Many people don't know how to clean them properly and then over oil them for service. There are some good aftermarket foam air filters for the KLX, so there's no sense in trying to complicate things for many owners. I think if I had an SF that I didn't really operate much on dirt roads and such, I stick a K&N in it, but that's another story.

 

Hi all ! Everyone has their own experience with K&N filters. I will say without any question for the very best filtration give me a Twin Air or UNIfilter and Belray foam filter oil . Oh , and don't forget to put a little grease on the sealing area . P.S. I would never hit anyone with a shovel....lol

 

I've ran K and N filters in cars trucks bikes etc. and have never noticed anything but increased performance in every aplication. I had an xl 600 that had 50k on it, at least half of that off road in mud, dust and even under water a couple times. No issues at all.

 

Hi all ! So , the K&N filter kept the water out ? Does anyone seriously think that little thin piece of fabric is going to filter as well as a foam filter with Belray on it ?