Um.......Uni Air Filter

1731 Views 29 Replies 13 Participants Last post by CMB, 1 d ago

CMB

Discussion Starter · 11 d ago

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Still running thru the maintenance after the last trip. I should mention the first day it was crazy dusty. The second and third day brought morning showers which made for the perfect riding conditions.

I ran into a very similar situation years ago with the sport bikes. I guess deep down I wanted to like these filters.

Even though it was properly oiled and installed with a bit of grease around the neck/mating surface, there is evidence of dust making it past the filter media. Yup, kinda upsetting.

I will be sticking with OEM filters moving forward. They are reasonably priced enough, there is no reason not to.

Your Milage May Vary........I Guess

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scottmc

· #2 · 11 d ago (Edited)

Is it that smudge at around 7 o'clock that concerns you? Or the smeared brown grease on the gasket? If the latter, I'm wondering if it was simply mis-mounted.

This happened to me. When I bought the bike, the dealer showed me, "Here's your air filter", and crammed it back in. When I checked it after getting home, sure enough, it was accidentally skewed and not properly seated.

Angore

· #3 · 11 d ago

I had a Uni on my Renegade until I found very fine dust in my throttle body .
Uni went in garbage and stock filter went back on .

Rocketdog

· #4 · 11 d ago

Got me curious how my K&N is doing. I think I'll check it tomorrow.

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CanAmRancher1

· #5 · 11 d ago

Rocketdog said:
Got me curious how my K&N is doing. I think I'll check it tomorrow.

Yah I wouldn't touch a K&N. Especially if you run dusty conditions.

I've had decent luck with uni or twin air in my dirtbikes though so wouldn't have been that worried about it in an atv.

Still usually I just stick to oem air filter.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

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alcoff95

· #6 · 11 d ago

2

AFE Proguard 7 with prefilter. Only filter that keeps my G1 intake clean.

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CMB

Discussion Starter · #7 · 10 d ago

Angore said:
I had a Uni on my Renegade until I found very fine dust in my throttle body .
Uni went in garbage and stock filter went back on .

These at my exact thought.

During the original install I put a thin film of grease on that inner area as a test section. Typically if dust makes its way through the filter media it will get trapped in that grease. Not all of it will get trapped, obviously, but enough to give you an area to read.

The smudge is where I wiped it with my finger through the test area to find very fine dust particles that made their way through the filter. The grease I applied during the original install was clear to slightly milky in color when new, Superlube.

The filter was definitely installed correctly. Not to mention, an improperly installed filter would not show dust in this area. The only air that passes over this section must pass the filter media.

My conclusion is the same as Angore. The Uni is not for me.

@Rocketdog - contrary to popular opinion, I conducted the grease test with a properly oiled K&N and had great results. The grease on the inside was clean and this was on a bike with an open air filter - no air box. I'm not recommending K&N just sharing my results. The big problem with K&N is its difficult to get them oiled correctly after washing.

The more I think about it - there really is no reason to run anything but OEM unless you are racing and tuning. I'm sure OEM flows plenty of CFM for what 99%of us do with these machines.

Lesson Learned

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10mm_

· #8 · 9 d ago

Gone are the days of low hanging fruit with things like air intakes and filters, OEM is the way to go.

Angore

· #9 · 9 d ago

There's one school of thought that says a properly prepped oiled air filter will actually stop finer particles as time goes on as the micron rating will actually decrease as the holes fill with dust . It makes some sense but , what happens when there is no more oily surface to catch the little intruders ?
OEM pleated inner and lightly oiled / air dried foam sleeve on both my bikes . For good !

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Ducvet

· #10 · 9 d ago

Be sure to use a proper tacky oil if playing in the dirt. street bikes use a fine not tacky oil for air flow but in the dirt protection is more important imho. Paper filters are your best filtration but not going to work if they get wet or you have mice. Most foam or gauze type (K&N) flow more air but also flow more dirt, the tacky oil should grab and hold the dirt and become part of the filtration as it becomes more restrictive. The wire on a K&N keeps mice out of the motor at least but I have never seen tacky oil used on them myself.

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CMB

Discussion Starter · #11 · 8 d ago

Ducvet said:
Be sure to use a proper tacky oil if playing in the dirt. street bikes use a fine not tacky oil for air flow but in the dirt protection is more important imho. Paper filters are your best filtration but not going to work if they get wet or you have mice. Most foam or gauze type (K&N) flow more air but also flow more dirt, the tacky oil should grab and hold the dirt and become part of the filtration as it becomes more restrictive. The wire on a K&N keeps mice out of the motor at least but I have never seen tacky oil used on them myself.

For sure - I've had great luck with the PJ1 foam filter treatment. Very Tacky.

CanAmRancher1

· #12 · 8 d ago

The yanaha foam air filter oil is good stuff. I recommend it if uou use a foam filter.

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Tozguy

· #13 · 8 d ago

Angore said:
OEM pleated inner and lightly oiled / air dried foam sleeve on both my bikes . For good !

Me too.
The oiled sleeve works great on mine. I have been using the K&N red oil on the sleeve. Dust does not seem to get past the sleeve and it is relatively easy to wash off when the time comes to service it.
What do you folks use for oil on the OEM sleeve?

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Angore

· #14 · 8 d ago

Tozguy said:
What do you folks use for oil on the OEM sleeve?

Fab 1

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Tozguy

· #15 · 8 d ago

Rocketdog said:
Got me curious how my K&N is doing. I think I'll check it tomorrow.

How did it look?

Rocketdog

· #16 · 7 d ago

Tozguy said:
How did it look?

The inspection got delayed. Will try to get a look tonight.

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Ducvet

· #17 · 7 d ago

Yes pull the filter and look what has gotten through the filter. If clean you likely are fine if however there is a fine silt layer you might want to try or add something else.

A10ThunderboltII

· #18 · 7 d ago

Using BelRay Blue very tacky filter substance on my 8 y.o. UNI foam. I won't call it "oil" as it's closer to Vaseline. The UNI gets "washed in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag with hot water and a healthy dose of DAqqWN DISHWASHER liquid... twice( SEE Smoosh, below).then after letting it dry overnite, I put about 1/2c of the Belray into the rinsed bag,,, zip it up and smoosh the blue goo into the filter, working it in my two paws for about 5 minutes. The interior of the UNI has been nothing but pristine all these years. My old KN failed on my Goldwing but that may have been my "other" oiling failure.

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BBH

· #19 · 6 d ago

Foam filters don’t keep fine dust out, dual foam doesn’t either.

Foam + a quality paper filter OEM or WIX does a great job. Worried add in a pre-filter but really not necessary with foam and quality paper.

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A10ThunderboltII

· #20 · 6 d ago (Edited by Moderator)

BBH said:
Foam filters don’t keep fine dust out, dual foam doesn’t either.

Foam + a quality paper filter OEM or WIX does a great job. Worried add in a pre-filter but really not necessary with foam and quality paper.

Perhaps...
" they dont keep the fine dust out" on YOUR machine but the UNI and Belray"blue" has been doing a great job on mine for over 8 years now.
The filter is pristine inside, every time I take it out for Cleaning, once or twice per SEASON.

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