Best Ways to Clean Your Motorcycle Air Filter

If you have a motorcycle, then you should consider yourself lucky. After all, you have a pretty cool way of getting around, and you can hit the open road and feel the breeze blowing all around you on a beautiful day. That being said, owning a motorcycle is mostly fun, but there is some maintenance involved that you need to stay on top of. This most certainly includes your motorcycle air cleaner. You should get in the habit of using a motorcycle machine air cleaner regularly to make sure your beloved bike runs smoothly for years to come. Here are some of the best ways to clean your motorcycle air filter.

Eliminate Loose Dirt

First thing’s first: whether you have a fabric or foam air filter in your motorcycle, you need to knock off the loose dirt once you remove the filter from your motorcycle. It may not be possible to get all the dirt off, and that’s okay, as long as you can access the tight areas of the filter that must be cleaned.

Use Air Filter Cleaner

It’s always in your best interests to stick to the air filter cleaners recommended by the manufacturer. Once you knead the cleaner gently into the filter, you’ll be making decent progress toward removing stubborn dirt and grime that’s stuck inside. If you want to see the best results from this process of cleaning out your air filters, then you need to avoid heavy, highly corrosive cleaning materials that could clog and ultimately break down your filter. Also avoid wringing or squeezing your air filter, as this could damage it, and you don’t want that. For many amazing motorcycle journeys in the future, careful use of your air filter cleaner is crucial.

Rinse and Dry

What’s next for cleaning your motorcycle air filter? Well, it’s time to rinse and wash, using a few rinses of warm water. Then you can add some soap and gently wash it to eliminate grease, repeating the process several times until the water no longer resembles the color of a dirt road. One last rinse should do the trick and next you can dry the filter thoroughly. Make sure you get rid of any excess water, as you don’t want that moisture anywhere near your motorcycle. That water could affect your engine’s performance and even cause engine failure in extreme cases. You can use an air compressor to speed up the drying time for foam air filters, while fabric ones will dry quicker if you swirl and toss it in the air a few times.

Housing and Oil

Lastly, it’s a good idea to clean the housing or air box a decent clean while the filter is drying. A light spray with mild soap detergent before wiping with a microfiber or washcloth. One of the last steps before you’re all done is to put new filter oil on your freshly cleaned filter. If you use too little of this filter oil, dust may make its way through, leading to premature aging of your engine. On the flipside, if you saturate your newly cleaned filter with too much oil, you may inadvertently be restricting air flow and also negatively impacting your motorcycle’s performance.

Following these simple steps could save you the stress and hassle of motorcycle problems down the road. If you’re ready to buy a new motorcycle air cleaner, visit Cycle Visions today for an extensive range of quality products you can trust.