Best Dirt Bike Air Filter Cleaner? Comparison Test

[@ChaosCauses]

Thank you to EKSTER for making this video possible! Use my link for 5% off: shop.ekster.com/chaos-causes Valentine's Day sale now on- 20% off!

[@destrodemon1965]

I think u are underated, May be u will emerge sooner or later. Love from India

[@maruda41]

We've been using gasoline at the beggining for cleaning our foam airfilters for MX bikes, but as gasoline is very agressive, the foam started to crumble pretty fast, and this regardless of the brand of the filter. I would even say, TwinAir were garbage faster than budget filters like Twenty. So after a couple of air filters later we switched to standard brake cleaner. We bought a big barrell, as you use a lot of this stuff when you're having like 5 bikes in a garage and it does the job very nice for cleaning air filters, and for many other cleaning purposes too, apart from cleaning brakes :)

[@dimmacommunication]

What are the most resistant brands ?

[@franknunez7204]

Aren't you worried about the toluene and benzene in the brake cleaner? Bad stuff...

[@sa_biker5582]

Finally now i see what you needed all those air filters for 😂

[@shaunnelson4915]

I use No Toil air filter oil and cleaner. Works well.

[@JohnnyFuelMotorcycleAdventures]

Me too. I love it and it's strangely satisfying to use.

[@alejandrom.1638]

One of my favorite channels on KZbin and once again with excellent content and presentation, thank you.

[@hainhatphung1371]

By the god, I used Maxima for so long, gasoline would have been cheaper to go for... despite the brittle risk. My call, still, would be using a spray bottle with gasoline (or Motul in spray can, that is) instead of soaking my filter in it. Or soak in warm soapy water and use a jet hose to spray with low pressure, then reoil again. Thank you for doing this extensive test!

[@Valorcycle]

I don't have a dirtbike and don't really need to worry about cleaning my air filter, I just like watching your videos. Fantastic editing by the way!

[@FromJel_01]

Excelent content! Nice to see the first vídeo in the new set

[@jiteshnikam9896]

Your tips and tricks has came along in India 😄love from india❤️❤️

[@oneshoee]

I've been watching his videos since almost two years, and I'm an Indian, he's amazing for sure

[@ajeet.islost]

Me too🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@TravelogsIndia]

Me too..❤️

[@gajasamrajyam]

Me too

[@escapevelocity3063]

🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@arturiskrzycki9726]

I've been wondering alot. 390 Duke vs adventure, 2 or 4 stroke for mx, 2 or 4 stroke for trail/enduro

[@DoroTheExplorer]

PROJECT FARM JOINED THE GROUP

[@FMXBrawlerZ]

Mineral Spirits, Engine Degreaser(orange cap, not sure on brand), Basically just need a little something to get that oil to let go and then wash with soap and water. I liked the video and it was nice to see a side by side comparison. Thank you,

[@fochbyfitnessmotivation8982]

Following chaos causes from time he had Yamaha R6 (white and red).

[@ChaosCauses]

That's a long time! 🙌🏻

[@thepsychicpeach8425]

Hey CC, was perusing through Facebook Market Place looking for a dirt bike. Then I saw this mint 07 YZ250. I was like "hmm, very mint for R50K" scrolled and noticed a smart carb SC2, carbon fiber chain guard and thought "Theres only one person who looks after his bikes this well, THIS IS CC'S BIKE!". I go to your channel looking for a pic of the YZ and recognized the grips. And it's in Joburg. 😭😭wish i could take it off your hands for you

[@javamac10]

@ChaosCauses - Try mineral spirits. Though you do have to post-wash with dish soap to remove the mineral spirits afterwards so that the new air filter oil will take to the filter.

[@malur10]

Great video as always

[@jaunius5972]

Damn, that's exactly what I was looking for as there's very little information about air filter cleaners. On a side note, I'm pretty sure you have to wash them with soap or at least mildly warm water to rinse the degreaser. Also, what about the smell? I have been looking in a lot of alternatives and majority of cleaners are made with mineral spirits, i saw recommendations to just use it instead of getting motorcycle specific products as its cheaper, but im wondering about the smell of both motorcycle cleaners and mineral spirits? (i have used paint thinner which is also made from mineral spirit and it stinks hard, but cleans flawlessly)

[@hainhatphung1371]

That depends, though for most part DON'T try to smell them, they put caution on the bottle for a reason. If you mean how the filter will smell like after soaking / spraying with the cleaner, then here's my experience with those products above. Please keep in mind that there will be separation between the cleaner's smell and the filter itself, depending on which cleaner you use. I assume you spray or soak your filter with cleaner, then rinse with water to remove excessive dirt and (hopefully) some filter oil. _Maxima is what I've used for so long, and it smells like nothing. Faint oily smell that it couldn't remove is what I have. _UNI smells like aerosol, tad bitter. I don't know if describing a "bitter" smell fits here, but try holding a pill on your tongue may have same result XD And the oil is still there. _Twin Air also smell like nothing. _Some say Bel Ray smells like mint. Sadly mistaken, that was Muc-off. It also has aerosol smell, but lighter. You can clearly smell both the cleaner and filter oil on your filter after cleaning. *Speaking of Muc-off, not mint but a rather icey smell. VERY pleasing your nostril, though again DON'T put your nose by the nozzle and smell the heck of it! _Gasoline smells like it is. Sticks the most even after rinsing with water. _Mmm never use Motorex or Motul before. Sorry. My tip is just purchase the one that fits your need, no need to be motorcycle specific. Even I drain my tank out when putting my bike through winter rather than using the anti freezing agent, and a syphoning pump costs like $5.

[@jaunius5972]

@@hainhatphung1371 thanks for an in depth reply! Glad to know that there are submergeable cleaners with no specific smell to them

[@fprintf]

I have the Maxima cleaner and the smell is so strong it is enough to drive everyone out of the house even when I use it in the garage. It stinks and I don't recommend it at all. Even after washing the filters with soap and water the filter still will smell really strongly. I have been looking for an alternative, just using plain gasoline for now.

[@hainhatphung1371]

@@fprintf Maybe that's why I can't smell it anymore XD It smells bitter now that you remind me. Clearing everyone in the room isn't probably the chance, though. Whichever cleaners you use should have some lingering smell for like couple of minutes before reoiling, so don't worry too much. That said, I've never used straight gasoline as cleaner.

[@hemifiedsixtyfour2813]

@@hainhatphung1371 He means you use solvent to break down the oil, then you have to wash the dirt out with soap and water .....smh

[@garywinkworth3380]

in 2024 petrol here in australia $2 a litre. great video man thanks.

[@charlloock]

Try luke warm water with some washing powder. Cheap and super effective, plus it smells nice.

[@AnIdiotOnTwoWheels]

Get two filters: change the dirty one for a clean one at the track, clean both once back home

[@ZediMaster]

Interesting vid, chaos. Actually, I have been using ajax dish washing fluids for years, and it works wonders. Anyway, ride safe, god bless u.

[@hazcat640]

I use Dawn and it works a treat, cheap as chips and readily available (works to get grease off your hands as well).

[@MarkAgain780]

Interesting review

[@cprn.]

All good but honestly, you've used Motul to clean Motul. All Motul products are designed to work together and same goes for other brands.

[@davidcormier924]

I really liked the Maxima stuff, very surprised!

[@fprintf]

I hate it. It smells so badly that it is impossible to use it in my attached garage without driving everyone out of the house. It is completely unreasonably stinky especially when compared to gasoline or even plain mineral spirits.

[@davidcormier924]

@@fprintf look at it in another way.. you shouldn't use any aerosol chemicals indoors. So the fact that it doesn't smell good should compel you to do it outside

[@fprintf]

@@davidcormier924 Well I did move it outside and it still stank to high heaven for days. And at some point I needed to bring it inside to let it dry completely before oiling. First I tried the garage but it was too smelly. Then I put it in a plastic bag to try and contain the stink but that didn't work either. At one point I just left it outside under an overturned wheelbarrow.

[@nicholasbaltzer2212]

Don’t forget to always rinse your filter after cleaning in hot soapy water. I have used Motorex and Putoline with rinsing afterwards and both are exactly same! Mind you both are submerg type.

[@cowpker4life333]

Be cool see what best filter oil for traping dirt but not needing change often along with filter last the longest(some cleaners/oils eat the glue)

[@wakenbake4i20]

Awehh buddy . Dankie man jy is rerig n duidelike bra 👌🏼. Always looking out for us keep up the good content . 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦

[@andreasjonsson8075]

Do you got any idea of best airflter oil?

[@ivanlinares3229]

You should try GRO filter cleaner, is the best 🔝

[@karllindberg4830]

What about the best air filter oil? What do you use?

[@trentonrobinson2745]

I'm suprized I've had awsome luck with belray air filer cleaner takes all the dirt and blue filter oil off for me I wonder why it doesn't seem to do the same on your filter I wonder if it's the filter oil 🤔

[@AussieFisher_Cr]

Hi chaos

[@ThisTall]

I don’t understand these results. I used the Motul filter oil you used here, and that Maxxim cleaner worked extremely good. But Varsol couldn’t get it 100% clean.

[@MrKane101111]

South Africa content making me proud.

[@tejaspadhye]

petrol is not recommened for cleaning filters, kerosene is safer 👍

[@hibob841]

Came here to say this, then saw your comment. 100%, bad practice to use gasoline as anything but motor fuel.

[@stevegrezoux2546]

Dawn Power Wash spray. Cheap, environmentally safe, easy on glued seams.

[@WillPower46]

Kerosene, wont cause the filter to degrade and fall apart, it's cheap and also great on chains

[@MrWhiskers0]

I have used motorex to clean my Pitbike air filter, but then now i might start to use motul. I have cleaned once whit petrol, but sadly i have'nt seen any diffrence between all every cleaning.

[@yveslegrand9826]

I am using KN airfilters. The cleaning product is KN... and probably not cheap and not that good for cleaning... Once my supply will be consumed I will probably revert to petrol...or just afford a new set of filters (riding a 4 cylinder engine...)

[@FloydiPapa]

I'm using K&N air filter cleaner. I cannot compare to another one bc I never used another one :-)

[@PeterR0035]

Question to all; who has ever experienced a brittle or broken air filter because of cleaning with petrol/fuel? Thanks!

[@nicholasbaltzer2212]

Never experienced it straight off the batt. But does help in deteriorating the foam over time! Probably get half the filter life.

[@jimbefit3073]

Yes - cleaners are formulated for their specific filter oil, but as i and couple others now have commented- MOTUL is a WICKEDLY SUPERIOR filter oil. Try it, touch it, you'll see! $8k- $12k "dirt bike" and your gonna use inferior products to save a nickel? Long term great performance - im gonna keep it best i can.

[@dylancrow7919]

The motul might as well be gasoline. It’s hydrocarbon c9-c-11 (paraffin) and a little bit of xylene.

[@nilbenetes]

I work for suzuki and we use dish washer soap... very effective

[@suse621]

good video, however: i personally would never choose to use spray based filter cleaners nor oil (but i get it that it is not available where you live). if you want your filter to be saturated with oil/cleaned out the best, then you have to use the "traditional" products, so they are completely soaked in the oil or cleaner. it will give you the most protection. sprays might be good for on road applications, but offroad, especially in fine dust or sand, nothing beats completely submerging the filter in oil and squeezing the excess out imo. and not only that, but you can use 1 litre of oil and 4 litre of cleaners for a lot more filters than sprays with equal amounts of chemicals in them, so in the long term they are also a lot cheaper. also, speaking from experience, cleaning out the motul air filter oil is a complete b... as it is very thick, at least compared to twin air. also, as you mentioned, each brand of cleaner is designed with their own oil in mind, but that wouldve multiplied the cost of this video by like 5 times, so i dont blame you. so far i have tried 3 different brands of cleaners (multi air, motul, twin air), each with their respective oils, and for me twin air is the winner by a long shot. motul cleaned out mostly okay, but as ive mentioned earlier, the oil is very thick, so squeezing it out of the filter is quite a chore to say the least. multi air didnt really clean the filter out well enough in my opinion. twin air cleaned the filter out a lot better, and since they dilute the oil with a bit of alcohol (or something that evaporates) it is really easy to squeeze the excess out while also leaving a good amount of oil on the filter, this also means that the amount of oil on them is pretty consistent across the filter, and from filter to filter. and a tip: after taking the filter out of the cleaner, you can get even more oil and dirt out of the filter by just simply washing/rinsing it out in warm/hot water with the help of some dish soap. you will be suprised by the amount of dirt that you will see in your sink/bucket everyone has their own best method, favourite brand and experiences, these are mine

[@raynorbarnes4713]

Motorex foam filter oil spray works unbelievably well mate, I encourage you to give it a go.

[@Tibingi84]

been using no toil for years. the best, environment -friendly product I've used. unfortunately they stopped brining no-toil to my country, so looking for an alternative. I really don't like the idea of leaving the cleaning fluid out until the next time I need to clean. With no-toil, its just a powder mixed with warm water - you throw it after one use. having a petrol-like material left in my garage does not seem ideal...

[@michaeljackson6311]

If you want so much environment friendly thing sell your bike and your internet

[@Papparratzi]

Using gas also makes your filter more susceptible to backfire ignition.

[@macumuzahn]

Boet, your prices are in US Dollars, perhaps you could give the price in Rands and havd the Dollar and Pound price in the corner screen.

[@dimmacommunication]

Can you test air filters ?

[@Dennisdrb]

Wow! $1,30 for a liter petrol. The advised in the Netherlands is around €2,23 for the good stuff… *cries in Dutch*

[@petetxul6477]

Come to Thailand. The price is at its historical max at €0.92 today..

[@hibob841]

Don't use gasoline as a solvent. Kerosene works equally well and is much safer, in terms of both fire/explosion risk and toxicity. Gasoline has a lot of really nasty additives that your engine needs but your air filter, chain and lungs don't. Not to mention the ethanol (in many markets) which turns to varnish after only a few weeks. If it will gum up a carburetor, it's probably not the right thing to clean an air filter. A gallon (3.78L) of kerosene is about $11 US where I live-more than gasoline, sure, but still a bargain compared to any of the commercial options.

[@bikermandalorian46]

Not surprised why petrol is all time favourite 🙌🏼 for Indian mechanics and motorcycles riders ❤️

[@naskicha468]

What about dish soap and degreaser? Dish soap is very good with oils and greasy stuff. May be a little bit more work but it's my girlfriend job. It's cheap and convenient, because everyone have them (not the girlfriend part :) )

[@raseboRO]

I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates making her life easier.

[@fmf_mikkoilija5856]

I want that cheap gasoline here in finland its 1.986e per l atm

[@noah_ritch_4772]

Av gas or kerosene is the best

[@frankstone8930]

Best cleaner is a new filter. Jeez buying a 5k bike and beeing greedy with $15 filters.

[@poped_4628]

Love from india, kerala 🥰

[@OtisFlint]

How did you skip No Toil, mate? Takes 1/10 the effort, just throw it in the washing machine with their cleaner, then oil, squeeze, wait 15 min and install. So easy, no mess.

[@michaeljackson6311]

No toil doesn't work with other oil

[@sinergy0812]

You forgot the silkolene ones

[@rksaladsalad7575]

When r u gonna get a superbike again?

[@Partnerthedog]

I washed mine in dish soap and water then dried it, put in a plastic bag and poured some clean motor oil in the bag and squished it in there.. hmm it worked

[@anmolbagul9282]

My 2021 Xpulse 200 (India) dual sport have a sticker saying not to clean it's paper based the air filter and change it every 12000 kms.

[@chinmayshanbhag1567]

It’s a four stroke bike not a two stroke. Two stroke bikes use this kind of filter

[@anmolbagul9282]

@@chinmayshanbhag1567 I'm talking about cleaning the air filter. The older 4 stroke needed to clen the air filter every 3k - 5k kms with air that is.

[@hemifiedsixtyfour2813]

SMH

[@mixtips637]

Less go

[@joelhiemstra1047]

1.30 per litre for gas dude.. I just filled up for €2.08/liter

[@agonz.11]

Just use mineral spirits

[@martin72345]

no Paraffin?

[@dineshreddy7882]

Like from India🇮🇳

[@unknownps]

Turps

[@MattTraficante]

You can’t use different cleaners for different filter oils that’s just not how this works lol you basically just tested what brand washes motul the best.

[@ktm250sxf119]

Not a very good comparison. Most air filter oils have a cleaner specific to their oil. So it's not a surprise the brand of cleaner that won is the same brand as the oil. No toil has always been my go to cheap and easy but nothing will clean it other then no toil cleaner other then maybe gas

[@Slick263]

Kerosene

[@Sidharthanj]

Lol I never cleaned my air filter Just throw the old on to trash can that's it Coz my bike uses a paper based air filter no way to clean

[@Galvoflysoz]

Buy and aftermarket one heaps better than paper.

[@DannyKoo2]

Gasoline >

[@jasonkotwica88]

i use dishwasher tbh

[@StrawDragon]

I love the videos but I think this video test is flawed... You are only coating the filter with sand, while a filter will suck the sand through them and bury deeper into the fibers then just blowing sand at them.

[@barnescycle]

Once I'm out of oil I'm going No Toil

[@slug.racing]

One word .. kero

[@AnIdiotOnTwoWheels]

That's some cheap casoline right there

[@oneshoee]

Isn't this a video that @fortnine has to make

[@vakama539348]

Controversial offer: switch to an electric dirt bike - and you wont need to worry about this kind of stuff ever again.

[@brisen245]

No. Get out of here, nerd

[@AussieFisher_Cr]

Omg I'm first

[@dianjacobs4053]

Wow