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K&N

A nut on the filter, and a greased O-ring

Two details that matter more than the filtration claim

A nut on the end of the spin-on filter. A filter that has been through a season of heat cycles can be genuinely stuck. The traditional answers are a filter wrench you have to own, or a screwdriver driven through the can — which works and makes a mess. A welded nut makes it a spanner job, and it is why people buy this brand twice.

A pre-greased O-ring on the cartridge filter. When a cartridge housing closes onto a dry O-ring the ring can twist or pinch in its groove; it seats badly, and oil comes out under pressure the moment the engine runs. It is the step every manual mentions and half the people doing the job forget.

What the listings do not publish

The thread size.

That is the trap on this shelf. Two filters in this catalogue publish M20×1.0 and M20×1.5 at outside diameters two millimetres apart and heights matching to the millimetre — near-identical to the eye and not interchangeable.

Fitment here is by the maker’s model list rather than by measurement, which is the safer route and the one to use.

The whole of the K&N range covered here, a page apiece

  • K&N KN-141 red cartridge oil filter

    K&N KN-141

    A 38 × 46 mm cartridge oil filter for eight named marques, supplied with an O-ring already greased for fitting, compatible with the latest synthetic oils.

    Dimensions
    38 × 46 mm cartridge (from the title)
    Type
    Cartridge — it fits inside a housing, unlike a spin-on filter
    O-ring
    Supplied pre-greased for fitting (maker’s bullet)
    Stated fitment
    Beta, Yamaha, Fantic, HM Moto, MBK, TM, Rieju, Gas Gas (from the title)
    Oil compatibility
    Compatible with the latest synthetic engine oils (maker’s bullet)
    Model list
    In the product description rather than the bullets (maker’s bullet)
    Amazon reference
    B000E28N5I (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    0024844099938
    • A pre-greased O-ring, which is the part people fit dry and then leak from
    • Eight marques named in the title
    • A cartridge needs the housing opened, which is a different job from a spin-on

    Best for: Off-road and small-capacity machines with a cartridge filter housing.

    ≈ $12 / £9 / €8
    Check price on Amazon
  • K&N KN-204-1 spin-on motorcycle oil filter

    K&N KN-204-1

    A 66 × 71 mm spin-on oil filter for selected Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph and Yamaha machines, with pleated synthetic-blend media and a nut welded on for removal.

    Dimensions
    66 × 71 mm cartridge (from the title)
    Stated fitment
    Selected Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph and Yamaha machines — the compatible models are in the listing description (maker’s bullet)
    Media
    Pleated synthetic-blend filtration media (maker’s bullet)
    Oil compatibility
    Stated to work with all synthetic, conventional and blended engine oils (maker’s bullet)
    Removal
    Nut for quick removal with a spanner (maker’s bullet)
    Thread size
    Not published in this listing.
    Amazon reference
    B008S6GEB2 (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    0024844368140
    • The removal nut is the difference between a five-minute job and a punctured filter
    • Dimensions published in the title
    • No thread size published, and two filters in this family publish different threads at almost identical dimensions

    Best for: A Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph or Yamaha on the maker’s list, changed at home without a filter wrench.

    ≈ €9
    Check price on Amazon

Nothing written into the text below is a current price. Where an amount appears in a sentence, it is the reading taken on the day that sentence was written; what a shop is asking at this moment loads beside the product itself, and that is the figure to go by.