20-50w syn and Fram. Never had issues with Fram in 30+yrs of using them on the bikes, even the street bikes. Racebikes got the oil & filter changed after 1-2 events. But we have seen more filter failures form K&N, EMGO and other big name race brands. Had a guy even blow up a Scotts filter kit.
Little known fact Fram auto filters are Hecho in Mehico and China but their motorcycle filters are made in Canada and high quality,
My Triumph Street Triple 675 has been the only biked I've owned that is picky about oil...I normally run Rotella T6 in everything I own...but the Trumpet trans does not like it and is notchy and stiff. Castrol 4T synth is what it seems to like. So that's what I run in it.
18 R1 AMS Oil and hi Flo (RC)filter which has the nut. Oil gets changed after every race weekend regardless if I run pump or MR12 ( MR12 significantly dirties the oil more visually at least)
Video shows K&n and hiflo both made in thailand as almost identical filters. Maybe k&n switched companies! Today I purchased a yamaha oem filter, and now there showing made in thailand aswell... Im asuming from hiflo, ide like to cut a yamaha filter open and see
It's not that aftermarket filters are junk. A filter is a filter is a filter provided it filters down to the same micon level - for the most part. The difference in OEM and others is generally going to be quality control. OEMs are going to demand more stringent QC and the customer pays more for that. That being said, if there's a huge slough of people saying they've had problems with K&N or any particular brand - then that's a good indication there's some QC issues with that supplier. And more than likely, those issues affect the other brands that use that manufacturer as well. I've used OEM for years, Hi flo RC also never had any problems with them. I also don't bother to use that little nut welded to the top though, I just use a clamp to secure the filter. HF tools are either great or they fail right out of the box, because to sell them at the price they do, it's not worth it to put stricter QC in place to prevent infant mortality.
Other than when I've owned KTM's and had to use their weird filters, I've used exclusively HiFlo for the past 12-13 years (RC model with the drilled nut) without issue and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Extremely small sample size for failures but that's likely 35-40 filters used and no problems on my end.
There’s a great many track day orgs and race orgs who won’t let you on track with a K&N due to the propensity of their failure to the point K&N issued a recall on some of them in the past. I’d rather not have my rider oil the track due to a filter failure so it’s OEM for us
Wonder how many of those nutted filters were put on with a half inch breaker bar and socket? Only bike I have left is my old RD350 so I don't have a dog in this hunt.
The bigger problem with K&N oil filters is the media separating, coming unglued and allowing particulate to circulate in your engine. Those filters are shit.
WellByGod, If Wix dont make a filter for it, I dont need to own it. Wix. or nothing. If the Challenger hada been running Wix filters, ther'yd be 7 more astro-nuts at NASA. If the Hindenburg hada been running Wix, All them people wouldnt have burn't ta death. If the Death Star hada been using Wix filters, it woulda filtered out those lasers blasters and they coulda cleansed the galaxy of all that there rebel scum.