air filter oil

[matt glascock]

After interminable fiddling with jetting followed by complete carb rebuild, leak down test, pipe BBQ, I kept fouling the plug (BR9HIX) on a model 99 Toad. I then (I know - stupid but in despair) ran it with the air box removed which brought on great rejoicing. The air filter oil was a Yamaha product which I think is vegetable based. It took a half bottle of Dawn dish soap to get the insanely gooey crud out of the filter after it laughed at the Bel-ray filter cleaner. Here now the question. What is your go-to air filter oil? Stock air box. Stock carburation/induction. This Toad is in my daily rider rotation so mostly street use but occasional lite trails, gravel road, and pit bike duties. As always, thanks to all.

[rough rider]

I use what Paul sells on this site. For filters and filter oil I use UNI brand. For degreasing and cleaning I have always used Simple Green. Makes is smell good too.Good quality stuff. Richard #40W

[Bullfrog]

Two, make that, three things:
1. BR9? Is that an NGK plug with an NGK heat range designation of 9? If so, your plug is about 2 digits too cold for normal operations with a Road Toad. And that would have a large effect on plug fouling.
2. There is nothing wrong with using chain saw bar oil for oiling air filters. Use it myself. Readily available and not expensive.
3. What ever oil is used, one should try to remove a bunch of it by scrunching up the filter and giving it a good squeeze while wrapped in a paper towel. You can't possibly remove too much oil by the "squeeze out - soak up with paper towel" method. (OK, there is ONE way - more on that a bit later) You CAN (quite easily) have too much oil in the filter, which makes it hard for air travel thru the filter foam -- which sounds like it may have been the case here. Back to the "removing too much oil" thing -- IF you use an aerosol/spray on filter oil product, it will likely have some solvent mixed in to make the sticky oil "sprayable". In that case, IF you spray on the oil, knead it around per instructions and then IMMEDIATELY do the paper towel squeeze out operation, the still solvent-thinned oil CAN be blotted out of the filter such that not enough oil is left. So wait to do any squeeze out if using a spray-on filter oil. Let the solvent evaporate out BEFORE doing a "squeeze out-paper towel soak up", then you are back to the safe situation where you simply can not remove more oil than is "safe".
Ed

[dirty_rat]

What ignition do you have on that Road Toad? The plug you listed is usually only used in CDI ignitions, and even then as Ed mentioned, it is too cold of a plug unless you are all out racing. An 8 range plug would be probably run better (such as a B8HS).

[matt glascock]

Oops... Sorry fellas, I meant BR8HIX. Its an NGK plug with an irridium electrode. I use them in the Combat and Super Rat which run PVL ignitions and are used for XC and MX racing exclusively. My understanding is that the heat range, as designated by the numeral 8, is the same as the specified B8HS for the model 99 Road Toad. Sorry about the typo. My Toad runs a bone stock ignition. Maybe I should go back to the standard NGK plug and try one step hotter. I do a lot of wood cutting so, happily, you can't swing a dead cat around here without knocking over a jug of bar oil so I will try that too. I have the aerosol oil for use on my modern 450 SX bike but the stuff is really tacky when the solvent evaporates and I'm thinking I'll get into the same issues. I will try the Simple Green too. Thanks fellas!

[squid on a 300]

I have used noting but NOTOIL on all of my bikes for the last 15 years...it doesn't get any easier to clean and re-lube...they even have rim grease..i switched to the water based green a few years ago..the red is an alcohol base can reduce the life of the filte a bit because it eventually deteriorates any glue used in the construction of the filters

bob

[Bullfrog]

Tacky is good. The thing that is bad is having too much oil in the filter (regardless of tackiness).
(and I stand corrected . . . 8 is proper heat range for the Toad)
Ed

[matt glascock]

I've heard of the no toil line of products but have not seen them in the bike shops in my neck of the woods. I've been told (sketchy source) it's more designed for street which is probably ok for my Toad application. I appreciate your pointing out the alcohol-based formulation as I keep all alcohol-containing fluids away from my Hodies. Thanks for the suggestion, Bob. And Ed, my only experience with the aerosol stuff is on my modern race bike with a massive air appetite drawn through a massive filter (by comparison). I guess I (erroneously) equated the tackiness with restriction which I figured was overcome by the pull of that 450 cc motor. May need to give that a rethink.

[Bill2001]

I use a UNI filter element with UNI spray filter oil. I wash the filter in warm water with dishwashing detergent and let it air dry. Spray the filter with oil, gently knead to distribute the oil and then blot the filter element with paper towel or oil absorbent pads to remove the excess oil. One thing I noticed at first is that oil tended to migrate to the lower side of the filter and even ooze onto the filter housing when the installed filter sat for a while. I assumed that this meant that the filter oil was applied in excess so I cut back on the amount. The upper part of the filter element still feels "oily" so I figure that I'm using enough.

An adequate air filter is the key to good engine life.

[Bullfrog]

It was the UNI spray filter oil which switched the light on for me that blotting while the sprayed oil (with solvent) was fresh just isn't a good idea. I probably need to re-read their instructions - but I don't remember blotting to be a part of the process (yet I was doing it). UNI may count on the "excess" thinned oil running to the bottom while leaving an appropriate quantity of oil on the upper 80% of the element (but with the bottom 20% "over-oiled"). Not sure about that.

I do know that I want ALL of my filter element to be 1) properly oiled AND 2) able to flow air well. If that means that I must do something more than simply spray the oil on and knead it in . . . I am very willing to do that.
Ed

[Bill2001]

I failed to mention that I let the sprayed filter element dry for a few minutes resting on it's side to let the volatiles in the solvent evaporate before blotting. I'm now inclined to worry less about the oil settling on the lower part, but only if it oozes out.

I keep a cleaned and dry filter element handy in a plastic bag so I can go ride quicker if I need to put on a clean filter.

I imagine that the safest filter would be two-stage. An oiled foam element over that catches most of the crud over a dry paper element that catches whatever gets through.

[matt glascock]

There's something to trying the UNI filter oil. The element is a UNI so they probably have the formulation of the oil dialed in. The search continues... Thanks fellas! I'd be interested in whether most folks run the stock air box/filter set-up for MX racing or go with a lighter pod-type air filter which is easier to change out with a clean one between motos. Of course this doesn't apply for XC where water crossings are in the mix. I had a nice YZ125 tire mark on my CW air box to suggest this might be a good move.

[MTRob]

I use the same stuff I use in all my cars, trucks. K + N filter kit their cleaner and oil , works great on vehicles and bikes.
MTRob