Air filters hold a huge importance when it comes to functioning of your motorbikes. One has to understand that the air in which we live in and ride is not the 100% clean one. That means if the air enters your bike’s engine as it is, there will be a lot of polluting effect to the air as well as the fuel and that will result in improper combustion and hence decreasing the performance of the bike as well as damage to the bike’s engine over time.So the solution for this is to use an air filter. Now we had previously covered the various types of air filters available in the market today and their types and uses in particular cases as well their pros and cons. But today what we are going to discuss is the concept of performance filters as to what exactly they are and how they perform.
There are many air filters that are available in the market today which promise performance. One such brand that we all highly know of is K&N. Now what these air filters have is no black magic, but it is all pure science that goes into it. But first we have to understand how this all works.In any internal combustion engine, there is the air and fuel mixture that goes in and gets combusted which creates the energy and power to run your bikes. Now when we have to understand that more the air, better will be the combustion and hence more the power generated. So in case of bike using regular paper air filters, the filtration process is efficient but that is all at the cost of reduced air flow. The paper element filters do not allow air to pass on as quickly and there is a somewhat block to the air flow into the engine. This causes less air to reach the engine and hence less performance.
Now with the performance free flow air filters, the promise about the better performance is due to the fact that they are made of better materials that allow the air to pass on better and does not cause any hindrance to it all the while filtering the air in the most efficient manner. This is possible because they use a cotton cloth based filter which is soaked up in a layer of oil. This has the edge to it that gives the performance filters the advantage.The cotton based filters do not cause any hindrance to the flow of air since they are flexible and are a breathable material. Also the oil layer acts as another layer of protection to which all the dirt particles from the air stick to and the air gets filtered, yet it does not cause any hindrance to the free flow of the air.
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This is how the free flow performance filters work. The better part about them is that they are cleanable and have a longer life if maintained well unlike paper filters which need to be replaced sooner. But then apart from all that, the performance factor is what counts here and that is the added advantage that they provide to the motorcycle and the rider.
Now anyone can get this performance filter fitted to their motorbikes, but one needs to be careful that the filter is a perfect fit for the bike otherwise it could end up in a whole lot of wrong and pretty big disasters. So make sure to research properly on it first as to which filter fits your bike properly just like stock and then go for a performance free flow filter.
By: Pratik Patole