K&N air filter

My new air filter arrived the other day.  I’ve always loved K&N filters and consider them to be a sound investment.  In some case you can get a horse power increase, but I just wanted a reliable reusable air filter.

If you own a Sabre, you probably know that the air filter is under the seat so you start with the rear seat nut which is an 8mm socket.

Then you move to the left and right sides of the seat to remove the 12mm bolts there.

 

Pull the seat off starting from the rear nut and note that there is a lip under the front of the seat that hooks into the frame.

With the seat off you have full access to the air box cover which is secured by four Phillips head screws.  One of those screws is wonderfully tucked away underneath the wire harness.  If you don’t have skinny fingers make sure you have a magnetic screw driver.

Pull off the cover and you can pull out the old filter.

When you get the old filter out make sure you clean out the air box of any gunk, dirt or dust that might be hanging around.  You don’t need to contaminate your brand new filter.

And here is the new pre oiled and ready to go K&N filter.  I love the look of these filters and the fact that they aren’t messy or dripping with oil like some others you can get.

The great thing about this filter kit is that it came with a gasket to apply to the underside of the air box cover.  It’s baffling as to why there wasn’t one in there when the bike left the factory.

Another cleaning tip: make sure you clean the underside of the air box cover to give the gasket a good surface to stick to.

Just peel of the white and stick it to the bottom of the cover.

Slide the new filter into the air box with the open end of the filter facing up and place cover back on.  Replace all four screws to secure the air box cover and you’re done.

The gasket holds everything much more securely then the original setup and doesn’t make it anymore difficult to get the cover back on.

I’ve put on a few kilometers with the new air filter in and I haven’t really noticed any difference in horse power or speed, but I really didn’t think it would have made a difference anyway.  I wanted the K&N for the reason that it’s rechargeable and it literally pays for itself.

That’s it.  A nice and easy upgrade for your bike.  Only takes about a half hour to install.