On the GSXR it is said there is very little performance gain to be had from a performance air filter, so much so that dynojets maps are the same for stock or after market filter! is this the same for the newer blades? Not sure if its worth getting one or not. what are people's experience??
By the time you replace one enough times to account for purchasing then cleaning and re-oiling the next time around you'd have to do the advertised million miles to benefit. Just go with original parts I would.
If you will dyno your bike with a system, sprint filter works really well. Be careful, I mean they works well for an air filter, no 10hp more. But power and torque ok.
How did you work those maths out? A k&n filter can be had for few quid over double the cost of a pattern filter and about same price as honda's oem filter.
You know what I mean. Don't be pedantic. It was tongue in cheek. My reckoning is, by the time the cleaning kit is purchased (oil and cleaner at what £18) and the fact there's no discernible difference, as manufacturers filters are as good these days, then most people would have changed ownership of the bike by the time they have broken even. Most of my bikes have been changed within 2-3 years, I'm hoping the Blade will be a keeper but my point still stands.
The days of changing the air filter to an aftermarket unit and getting 10-15bhp are long gone! The oem and pattern filters are now made well enuff with good enuff flow to allow as much air as the engine can and wants to sook thru it, the benefits of aftermarket filter is in there durability and reusability. Race versions of aftermarket air filters are only really beneficial when the engine internals have been seriously reworked.
....and therein is my answer. If you are keeping the bike long term then there may be a tangible benefit but on the whole bikes are traded in or up in a regular fashion these days, just look at the number of owners on eBay adverts for a 4 or even 8 year old bike. Dealers aren't even flinching these days when a 3 year old bike comes in with 2 or 3 owners, and that will be even more so with the advent of PCP deals.
I have always used performance air filters purely because it was cheaper than replacing the standard version. I wash mine every 6 months or when I feel the bike looses it's sharpness, once cleaned and oiled it feels like new again!! I do cover a lot of miles though so for me a worthwhile investment, also it was cheaper than the stock Honda unit!!
Humm... i have some questions about the efectiveness of the results expressed by dyno test related with air filter. It should be remember that during the test the byke remains static. In open road the more increasing the speed the more amount of air goes in and thus the more petrol goes in too. In conclusion there are more air/petrol in high rev's. I observed some similar in practice. When i change the stock by a K&N i felt more power available above 12.000 rpm, different noise seems like the machine do not want to stop... The problem is the air filter should be very well cleaned to maintain the performance...