ninjette.org - View Single Post - Bike Runs Better with CICMOD Air Filter vs K&N

nocturncal · August 16th, 2019, 11:24 PM

I been troubleshooting a hesitation around 9k with the throttle wide open, and finally solved it! Some questions though...

I just took out a CICMOD Air filter that I bought from Amazon a year ago, and cleaned and reoiled and put in a K&N filter that came with my bike when I bought it from the previous owner (when I bought the bike 10 years ago, I didn't know it had a reusable air filter and bought another air filter off of amazon, and decided to just use the Amazon one).

After the K&N was put in, I started having a hesitation with the bike when WOT at 9k where it would stop accelerating unless I backed off the throttle. I took the K&N filter out, cleaned the CICMOD Air filter, and put that back in. It solved the hesitation issue!

Im trying to understand why is this. The K&N filter seemed loose inside the air box, vs the CICMOD which fit very snug in the air box. I had roughly 6mm of play on both sides of the filter. Could it be the K&N filter was loose, casing air to get past the filter and cause the bike to run lean?

Reading the 250 manual in the section about air cleaner element cleaning, it talks about plastic holders that go between the stock air filter. My bike never had these plastic holders. Is the holder needed on aftermarket filters like the K&N?

August 16th, 2019, 11:24 PM	#1
nocturncal ninjette.org member Name: Cal Location: San Francisco Join Date: Jun 2017 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250R Posts: 180	Bike Runs Better with CICMOD Air Filter vs K&N I been troubleshooting a hesitation around 9k with the throttle wide open, and finally solved it! Some questions though... I just took out a CICMOD Air filter that I bought from Amazon a year ago, and cleaned and reoiled and put in a K&N filter that came with my bike when I bought it from the previous owner (when I bought the bike 10 years ago, I didn't know it had a reusable air filter and bought another air filter off of amazon, and decided to just use the Amazon one). After the K&N was put in, I started having a hesitation with the bike when WOT at 9k where it would stop accelerating unless I backed off the throttle. I took the K&N filter out, cleaned the CICMOD Air filter, and put that back in. It solved the hesitation issue! Im trying to understand why is this. The K&N filter seemed loose inside the air box, vs the CICMOD which fit very snug in the air box. I had roughly 6mm of play on both sides of the filter. Could it be the K&N filter was loose, casing air to get past the filter and cause the bike to run lean? Reading the 250 manual in the section about air cleaner element cleaning, it talks about plastic holders that go between the stock air filter. My bike never had these plastic holders. Is the holder needed on aftermarket filters like the K&N?