So, at this time I am waiting for parts, so I decided to try something out. I have not tested this, but this should work. I thought that this was a great idea and should be shared. This is how to save yourself some money and refurb your old air filters for $12 dollars and a few hours. I'm sorry I didn't document the process better. But you should be able to get the point. Here are the ingredients: razor or sharp knife, new air filter, glue, your old filter and a few hours.
1) Go out to your local auto parts store and grab a F**m CA9838 air filter or similar. It is important that there is enough paper element in length and height. After looking through all the filters, this was the only one that I found that would work. There maybe others, but the shop did not have it. This should yield enough for both air filters.
2) Cut out the the paper filter element using a straight edge and razor. Try to preserve the most usable paper element as possible at this point. Use the razor to cut all four sides (within the factory adhesive) of the filter and it should remove itself from the outer edges and metal screen (see pic "air filter").
3) Prep the original air filter by removing the paper element and any residual glue you can, keeping the mesh screen intact. It 's not important to completely remove the residual glue.
4) Measure and trim the needed length of the paper element (around 6.5 inches). It can should be tucked under the air filter "end caps." Now, the width of this filter is just about 2 times wider (depth), so you will need to do some folding. (I couldn't find anything thinner, but if you do, then the whole procedure will only take about a half hour.) See pics "top" and "side" for the general idea. Every other "pleat" on the original paper element will be folded in the opposite direction. This will be the tedious part. Cut the filter in half (along the pleat) to yield two.
5) Fan out the paper element in each filter housing and apply a generous amount of glue at top, bottom and backbone (I actually tucked the ends between the mesh screen and backbone). You'll want to make sure that the top and bottoms are sealed using the glue. I used wood glue.
Time: 2hrs for both.
Refurb Your Own Air FilterRefurb Your Own Air Filter
Great tip! I just refurbished mine and here are a few additional tips:
To get the right length of filter material, count the folds on the old filter, then use the same number of folds for the new material after it is folded. I had 42 folds. Remove the two end caps, metal channel and metal screen for reuse. They are only glued together, so they can be taken of to aid in removing all the old glue. Note the position of the channel for reassembly. Use the metal screen tube to hold the filter material as you are assembling the new filter. I used two rubber bands around each end to hold the channel and filter material in place on the screen. I could adjust the folds evenly around the screen and test fit the assembly into the end caps to make sure everything is aligned. I used silicone sealer and put a bead down each side of the channel to secure the filter material to the channel. When everything looked right, I started with the end cap with the hose connection. I filled the area where the filter material edge will be, and I put silicone on the filter edge to make sure I had a good seal. I put this end on, then did the same for the other cap. Once assembled I could remove the rubber bands and make final adjustments to the filter material. A needle nose pliers is about the right size to get grab the ends of the folds. Let it set for a day to cure. This cost me about $12 for the filter and silicone, and part of an afternoon. Dave
Air FilterI know it is not the look most look for but I built a sock out of a foam flat filter on my S 90 and think it would be a good fix for the Cl as well buy a sheet of it and some contact cement and inststall ove the old screen oil and you are good.
Hm. I have a filter that looks kind of like
http://mytrailbuddy.com/doc/CT70_air_filter_p.jpg but without the pink. How will this different shape effect the performance of the bike?
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