Engine Air Filter Replacement

[trigger12]

All:

Winter is a great time for MC maintenance & repair. The rear tire just barely made it through the season. Now the wheel is off and having a new tire installed for next spring. Instead of taking the bike to the shop to have them do the entire rear tire replacement, I removed the wheel myself to allow me to clean in areas around the rear wheel that I couldn't normally get to, and save an extra 40$ in shop labor. I also took time to take apart electrical connectors, clean and apply a little dielectric grease to the pins.


The other day I removed the fake gas tank to clean those areas, inspect the battery and service the air filter. It looked like the engine air filter was ready for replacement. Long story short, there were no aftermarket ones available. Even the owner of the independent bike shop couldn't find any. Funny thing, not to be able to find an engine air filter for a MC that was made from 1987 - 2003, but I could found air filter replacements for the older Voyager ZN1300.

After a little research here, I decided to find an automobile panel style air filter.

I measured the Kawasaki engine air filter, looked up on the WIX website and found a cross reference with my measurements. The measurements are 6-1/2" x 6-7/8" x 1". The WIX filter number with dimensions closest to the Kawasaki filter is 49460. I then called around to local auto parts stores and found a couple of Microguard MGA46140 at O'Reilly Auto, for around 8$ each (2nd picture shows the Kawasaki filter and the Microguard filter).

The new filter drops in perfectly, screen side down. I put a little dollop of RTV silicone on each corner to ensure that the new filter would never slip out of place (1st picture).

With the fake gas tank removed, I can access some areas inside the faring to install an auxiliary driving light switch, a couple of cigarette lighter outlets for chargers and the appropriate circuit protection.

I hope this post helps those who have the same air filter problem.

[Mr Jensee]

On the tips page of the AVA they tell you which after market filters work.