Anyone using HIFLO air filters in the NT ?

ett

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Forgive me if this has been covered already in another thread. I've searched but did not find any threads.

Anyway; my NT is on it's 4th air filter.
The first two air filters were OEM.
And upon removing them at around 15k miles each. They looked like your typical dirty air filter.

The 3rd air filter I used was a HIFLO; bought online.
Other then is costing less than 50% the price of an OEM air filter from a local dealer; it appeared to be exactly the same as OEM.
Well I recently replaced that HIFLO filter at the same interval (about 15k miles) as the previous two OEM filters.
And other than a few large items; bugs, stones, small pieces of twigs, etc...; the filter appeared to have absolutely no dirt trapped in it.

So I am wondering if HIFLO is not only a brand name; but perhaps it's also a design description.
OR maybe I have an opening in the airbox causing much of the incoming air to bypass the air filter.

Anyone else have experience using HIFLO air filters ?

Thanks;
--ET
 

Phil Tarman

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ET, If you're riding in the same conditions as you were with the OEM filters, it sounds like the HIFLO is letting the dirt flow right into the engine. I hope not!
 

DirtFlier

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One would assume "Hi-Flo" means it is supposed to pass more air than the OEM filter and in so doing, it might allow larger particles to pass. That is the situation with the lifetime filters that can be cleaned and retreated.
 
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ett

ett

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One would assume "Hi-Flo" means it is supposed to pass more air than the OEM filter and in so doing, it might allow larger particles to pass. That is the situation with the lifetime filters that can be cleaned and retreated.
That was my initial thought too.
But after doing internet searches for them and viewing their website.
I came to the conclusion that they make two types of air filters; the less-filtering, reusable type (ie. K&N style) and OEM style.
Their filter for the NT was the OEM style. And it really does look exactly like OEM. So I tried it.

I was very shocked when removing it after 15k miles. That it looked so clean; almost new.

I was hoping that someone else has used them in their NT and could confirm that it really is a crappy filter that lets a lot of dirt go by.

Cause I'm now second guessing myself and wondering if I mistakenly did not record buying and replacing the filter.
Hence resulting in changing the filter twice.

OR worse yet. The airbox is not fully seated on the intake manifolds resulting fresh, unfiltered air being sucked directly into the engine.
(But I really think I would have noticed that while changing filters. And if that was the case; I would think the NT would run odd and sound odd.)

--ET
 

junglejim

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This is a guess, but I think some filter papers are impregnated with chemicals that attract and trap particles. Some of the cheaper filters probably just use filter paper. That might account for the difference you are seeing.
 
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I have used a HiFlo filter on a V-Strom and it did not seem to be a problem.

The way to easily tell if the filter is allowing dirty air past is to wipe the inside of the airbox (the side closest to the intake) with a white cloth. If there is lots of dirt then the filter is not doing its job very well.

There will alway be some dirt as the filter typically only traps dirt to about 4 microns (from memory)

Seagrass
 
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This is a guess, but I think some filter papers are impregnated with chemicals that attract and trap particles.
Correct. I just had to replace my filter because of mouse activity. I have Skene Design LED pods on my NT. Amber in front and red in back. The absolute Best Way I have ever spent $300 for safety. They make the wife and I Highly Visible to others, front and rear. I know from testing that they work. At long distance you can see those 2 flickering Amber pods on my forks WAY before you can see my headlight. Anyway, one of the red rear pods quit working. I asked my son-in-law to help me find the problem. He is a school trained motorcycle mechanic and has done all my wrenching including front forks, lowering kit, shortening and rewelding side and center stand, Helibar installation w/ new cables, valve adjustment, and MC Cruise Control. The computer for CC is located in the small compartment behind the seat. There are also lots of wires crammed in there. As soon as I removed the seat the problem was in view, at least partially. A mouse nest the size of a softball filled the space. I could see one mouse eye looking at me. We started ripping out nest but she got away. 10 minutes with an air nozzle finally ran her and 4 babies out. More cleaning until no more debris could be blown out. No damage to the computer harness (whew) but the small insulated wire going to the rear LED was chewed completely thru, copper and all. Some careful splicing and all was good.....almost.
Son-in-law noted that there were a lot of acorns to clean out. Pieces everywhere. This is right where the air intake hole is. Honda did not see fit to put mesh or anything over the hole to keep out varmints. We decided to check the air filter. Oh my! It was full of pieces of acorns from thumbnail size to fine powder. The glue? inside the filter worked and all the powder seemed to be stuck inside, with nothing showing on the intake side. New filter and screen wire over the intake. The wife and I have toured 2000 miles since this happened, so I guess no damage done. I have been removing my seat every couple of weeks and looking around. :smile:

Willis
 

HondaScrew

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Haven't had experience with HiFlo filters, but I put K & N air and oil filters on all my bikes and cars. I recently replaced my NT air filter with a K & N...Huge difference in performance!!! Haven't put enough miles to look at MPG, but the power increase is incredible! Highly recommend the K & N in the NT!
 
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I don't have any experience with HiFlow but I believe that K&N makes a good filter that is very good at catching dirt and dust.
This is a while back (1970's) but I ruined a dirt bike engine when we were racing buddies in an area that had very fine dust. It didn't seem to bother me then but the bike did not like it. The stock paper filter let too much of the fine dust in and tore up the insides of the bike. Pretty sure the fine dust was going through the paper because I put heavy grease on the filter sealing area and such to try to stop the dust.
I ended up with a K&N filter and had no more troubles. The K&N if you have never seen one looks to be made of gauze and it appears dust would go right through it but once you oil it up it does a very good job.
I assume K&N filters today are very similar to that old one I used. One disadvantage of the K&N is you have to clean and reoil instead of just replacing like the OEM.

Brad
 

Warren

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Haven't had experience with HiFlo filters, but I put K & N air and oil filters on all my bikes and cars. I recently replaced my NT air filter with a K & N...Huge difference in performance!!! Haven't put enough miles to look at MPG, but the power increase is incredible! Highly recommend the K & N in the NT!
I doubt you got an "incredible" power increase by changing the NT air filter to a K & N filter. Are you a rep for K&N by chance ?
 
OP
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ett

ett

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This is a guess, but I think some filter papers are impregnated with chemicals that attract and trap particles. Some of the cheaper filters probably just use filter paper. That might account for the difference you are seeing.
BINGO !

I looked at the Honda NT Service Manual. And right there at the section for changing the air filter is this:
Note: The viscous paper element type air cleaner can not be cleaned because the element contains a dust adhesive.
I believe I saw that the first time I changed air filter from OEM to HIFLO.
And just assumed the HIFLO had the same dust adhesive. Silly me. :frown:

So during the week I stopped by a Honda dealer to order an OEM air filter.
And fortunately they had one; and only one; in stock.
So I just replaced it today.

While replacing the air filter. I took a better look at comparing the HIFLO filter to the Honda OEM filter.
The OEM filter is heavier, it's wire mesh screen is more dense, and the foam on it's bottom is also more dense.
Other than those three observations; they look the same.

I also investigated the best I could; without completely removing the airbox and body work; for any loose intake manifold clamps.
I found nothing loose.

So now it's simply a matter of time/miles to see if the OEM traps more dirt than the HIFLO.
I expect it will.

--ET
 

Dwight Gaylor

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the oem filters really are the best bet, and yes they are impregnated with chemicals.... the oemS are more expensive for a reason. just use the factory filters and you'll get the best performance. my 2010 NT has almost 70k and im getting ready for an Alaskan trip, from central texas to Fairbanks, and anchorage.
 

Phil Tarman

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my 2010 NT has almost 70k and im getting ready for an Alaskan trip, from central texas to Fairbanks, and anchorage.
Dwight, when I left Ft Morgan in eastern Colorado on July 10, 2013, I had 57,974 miles on it. By the time I got back to the US at Blaine, WA, on August 4, I had put another 8,000 on it. I started the Four Corners Tour from Blaine and rode to Baton Rouge, where Tim Wilke (tawilke46 on the Forum) gave me an Amsoil oil and filter change while I sat around and drank iced tea.

Enjoy the trip! It's a great ride. Jim and I went from Tok to Valdez, and then to Anchorage, where we spent the night with another Forum member, freezingalaskan. Jim had picked up a piece of flint in his rear tire and it was leaking slowly when we got to the motel in Tok. He called and ordered a tire to be shipped to the Honda dealer in Fairbanks, so when we left Anchorage, Jim rode to Fairbanks, while I went down to Seward and rode basically a day behind him to Fairbanks. We spent four nights with friends of Jim's in Fairbanks and even got to fly out to Tanana and Huslia, two villages that you can't drive to. We flew in a Cessna Grand Caravan, a single-engine turboprop that can carry a load of people and cargo.

It was a great, great trip. We went up on the Alaskan Highway and came back down on the Cassier to Stewart, BC, and Hyder, and then to Prince George, where Jim went east back to Wisconsin, and I headed south to Blaine.
 
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