We've been asked about the use of air filters. High performance race bikes often forgo the use these devises to get a better flow of unrestricted air into the engine. Yes, it does work as long as the rest of the system is also modified to make use of the greater amount of air intake. What that means is the valve timing and lift and the exhaust system must also be tuned to get more air in and out. The question is not if an air cleaner restricts the amount of air the engine ingests but what else goes along with that air. Keep in mind that race engines are often torn down and rebuilt after almost every race. So the damage to cylinder walls, rings and piston crowns are considered part of the cost of racing. Your street bike will suffer more damage than you might know if you remove the air cleaner or even modify if to allow more air into the intake. Because the intake on most motorcycles is closer to the pavement than on an automobile it is subject to more of the dirt, dust, sand and grime that hover just above the road surface. Some of these materials are considerably harder than the surface of your valves, valve seats and cylinder walls. The result is similar to taking sand paper or grinding compound and applying it to the internal parts of your engine. A quality air filter is really cheap insurance. Harley-Davidson street bikes are designed to maximize the balance between incoming air and outgoing exhaust. Change that balance and you might risk all sorts of problems. For example, install a less restrictive exhaust and you may discover that the engine runs lean and gets too hot. Remove the air filter and it may run rich and foul the pugs as well as leave carbon on the valve seats and ring lands. The factory goes through a great deal of trouble to make sure you engine lasts as long as possible. To do this they filter the oil and the fuel to remove any sediment or foreign matter that may get pumped into your tank or sneaks into the combustion chamber. And yes, they attempt to filter as much particulate out of the air as possible before it goes into the engine. Those particles vary with geography. In heavy industrial areas - it may be smog and soot; in the desert - it's sand; on the coasts - salt; and in the mountains - pollen. It's a dirty world but we can help you keep the inside of your engine clean. Just ask us and we'll tell you more.
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Topic: HD Air filter info From the Chicago H-D Newsletter (Read 707 times)