K&N air filter

[Youngsmoke]

hey all,
  Just bought a new, to me, 1998 valk tourer.  I want to do a full tune up for 2 reasons. 1) even though it seems like the previous owner too good care of my new baby, I did not get records from him, so I am not sure about specific dates that services were preformed.  2) I have about 50K (actually 49.3k) and so I am just about due for most of the services.  One of the things that I am planning on doing is replacing the air filter.  I am wondering about the possible advantages of upgrading to a K&N air filter.  Having priced them out, the OEM is like $24 but I found the K&N for $53, so price is not a factor to me, I am just concerned about any problems with the K&N.  My mechanic friend has told me to stick with OEm because he says that the k&n will let too much junk through.  is this the case?  Have any of you switched to the K&N and regretted it?  at this point I don't plan on upgrading the pipes, is this a problem with a high flow filter?
thanks for the advice
Ari

[R J]

I have run a K&N filter for many many miles and no problems.     IMHO the K&N has the OEM filter beat all to 7734 on filtering dirt out....  Plus it is recleanable and can be reoiled as needed.......

I did not use the pre filter that comes in the kit.

I did raise the nose of the tank up about a 12/" to let more air in.....

[Youngsmoke]

you lifted the nose of your tank up a foot?  is that correct?  I would love to see pics of that, because I can't comprehend how you could have lifted it that much?!?

[Brad]

you lifted the nose of your tank up a foot?  is that correct?  I would love to see pics of that, because I can't comprehend how you could have lifted it that much?!?

he ment a half inch

[Youngsmoke]

that makes a lot more sense, thnks.  don't know how i didn't see that

[John U.]

An air filter study of oem and a variety of other paper and oiled filters including K&N on the Diesel Place web site showed that the K&N did let much more dirt pass. If you hold one up to a light or the sun you will see a great many points of light. If the light has a straight path so does dirt.
The study also showed that the K&N caused less pressure reduction downstream of the filter, meaning it is less resistant to air flow. These results assume the K&N is properly oiled.
So you have to decide what's important to you.

[MP]

In other words, you can flow dirt and air, or keep the dirt out.
In some apps, the OEM filter is so restrictive, that a K&N really helps out.  In comparing the two filters in a valk, there seems to be little difference, so I stick with OEM.  Also, the K&N needs to be pulled and cleaned, and it is to be changed out after a while anyway.  It is more expensive to have the K&N, unless you run like 30,000 miles a year.
MP

[redflash]

I put K&N in every gas-burning thing I own. They flow more air, keep crap out and cost less in the long run to own/maintain. Honder gets a lot of dough for a disposable paper filter, where the K&N will last easily 100,000 miles. I have 215,000 on one in my Explorer. Bought ONE, not hundreds of dollars worth of throw-away filters. If you know of anyone who has "worn out" a K&N, let me know about it! I do use the prefilter on my Valk, fyi.