Topic: Best brand air filter for cb550

[my name is nobody]

My genuine Honda air filter is causing driveability issues and bike runs like crap unless filter element is removed from stock airbox. Pretty certain that element is defective. Anyone make a paper filter like stock beside Honda? Anything really better as substitute for O.E.? my 550k is totally stock. thx

[flybox1]

OEM jets and proper jet sizes too??
are your carb bowls holding the proper amount of fuel? Clear tube test lately?

If everything is stock it should work without issue.  something else is going on.  what does a new set of plugs tell you after an idle?

[flatlander]

before you look at anything else: how old is that stock filter? they do clog up with dirt after a while.

[flybox1]

Good call.  I assumed it was NOS

[Bankerdanny]

My genuine Honda air filter is causing driveability issues and bike runs like crap unless filter element is removed from stock airbox. Pretty certain that element is defective. Anyone make a paper filter like stock beside Honda? Anything really better as substitute for O.E.? my 550k is totally stock. thx

4into1 and David Silver both sell pattern versions and they are readily available on EBay. The one I have in mine is from 4into1 and it is physically identical to the OEM filter I replaced, just with a much whiter filter element.

[flatlander]

... it is physically identical to the OEM filter I replaced, just with a much whiter filter element.

you would hope so, with a new filter 
i just replaced mine that had 10k km on it, had visible dirt accumulated and had become noticeably restrictive. these paper filters are definitely not made to last forever but they are easy to replace and cheap.

[Deltarider]

i just replaced mine that had 10k km on it, had visible dirt accumulated and had become noticeably restrictive. these paper filters are definitely not made to last forever but they are easy to replace and cheap.

In the circumstances we ride here, they should live much longer than just 10k. The appearance (dirty or not) doesn't say much. CB550 owners should check that the blowby gas breather system is not humidifying the cellulose filter, which will render the element very restrictive indeed. It's a typical CB550 problem. Can be helped by simply disconnecting the tube responsible for this and have that breather tube rerouted as Honda suggests and is shown in p. 170 of the Honda Shop Manual CB500-550.

[TwoTired]

i just replaced mine that had 10k km on it, had visible dirt accumulated and had become noticeably restrictive. these paper filters are definitely not made to last forever but they are easy to replace and cheap.

In the circumstances we ride here, they should live much longer than just 10k. The appearance (dirty or not) doesn't say much. CB550 owners should check that the blowby gas breather system is not humidifying the cellulose filter, which will render the element very restrictive indeed. It's a typical CB550 problem. Can be helped by simply disconnecting the tube responsible for this and have that breather tube rerouted as Honda suggests and is shown in p. 170 of the Honda Shop Manual CB500-550.

I recommend you ignore the demented one's highly imaginitive alternate reality comments in this matter.

The filters are on a replacement schedule of 12 months or 6000 miles per Honda owner's manual.  They are compressed air back blown clean at 6 months or 3000 miles operation.  More frequent if operated in dusty areas.

Visible dirt is an indication you are in a dusty area.

The blowby filter element should also be cleaned at those intervals.   If you are lazy and don't clean it properly, it will indeed humidify the paper and increase restriction.   (Particularly if you have Deltas tiny inlet restrictor on the filter box for the 649 carbs (see second pic below) which increases the vacuum in the filter box way more than the US models happily deprived of that encumbrance.

The recirculator feature is NOT a problem and never has been in my 40 plus years of operation, IF I keep the recirculator element clean and dry.  It really helps to understand the system operation and it's needs.  Though some are clearly incapable of doing so.

The alluded Honda shop manual reference was an aberration of the 76 model in an attempt to placate the EPA's exhaust sniffer test of hydrocarbons, instead dumping the carcinogenic hydrocarbons directly into the air, rather than burning them (incompletely).   The practice was one year only when the EPA realized Honda's chicanery.  In fact, I've never seen another 550 model with such factory routing.  Even the 76 F model had standard crankcase gas recirculation to help all mammals breathe better air quality.

When Honda started charging $50 per filter, I switched to a Uni NU-4055 Foam filter.  It was a drop in solution, and saved me $50 per year thereafter without adding to landfill the discards.  Just have to clean and re-oil once or twice a year.   The only 550 that the Uni filter didn't work out was on the 78 CB550K.  The Uni flows freer at idle than the Paper and mixture became too lean.  Still use the paper in that one.  And, by the way, it still has a working recirculator in it.  Imagine that!

Cheers,

[my name is nobody]

Through a lot of experimentation to cure a nagging rich running issue, I have discovered several causes,
one of which is an air filter that is restricted. Visually not too bad, but engine runs extremely bad whenever
filter is installed, and cleans up nicely after filter is removed. Another lesson learned, if bike is stock, Adjust mixture screw to factory spec, NOT for smoothest idle. (do a carb sync to get smooth idle). A half turn out (from 1 to 1 1/2) made a dramatic difference in acceleration from idle, without the flat spots and hesitations from before. Also, the emulsifiers were enlarged to .038 for better fuel atomization, and the black carboned
plugs were replaced with new ones. Fingers crossed. I am more confident now than ever before that this
combination will cure this chronic problem that has been plaguing this bike since I bought it.
Leaning towards buying a filter that is serviceable...thanks for the information guys..

[flatlander]

glad you're having some progress there.
for now, i would just get a new paper filter so that you have a proper baseline based on stock components that work.

serviceable filter:
there is the uni filter (foam) that TT mentions. it's a drop-in replacement. i tested it both on dyno and street, and at high rpm it was more restrictive than the stock paper filter. that's with a modified engine that has higher breeding needs. with a stock engine you may not run into this.
there is also a single K&N filter that attaches to the plenum (not individual pods) that promises to have more flow (haven't tested it yet) but it's discontinued and therefore harder to get.

TT and delta:
my filter was not fouled by blow-by residue, i was very much paying attention to that and kept the filter in the recirculator clean.
i consciously kept this air filter until slightly beyond its service limit as i've heard the rumours that they stay good much longer than recommended by honda and wanted to see if that's true. well it isn't, they clearly do become more restrictive with use.
then again: if you keep following the service instructions from the manual there won't be a problem.

[PeWe]

I understand why people went for KN filter in any form. Clean and re-oil it sometimes every 10.000 km or when needed if riding on dusty roads.

[Deltarider]

I recommend you ignore the demented one's highly imaginitive alternate reality comments in this matter.

I recommend to learn from your experience and also listen to others instead of blindly following orders from maintenance scedules. You might learn something new.

They are compressed air back blown clean

Airfilter specialists discourage this practice. There's a danger of damaging the fibres. Tapping is all you may do to get rid of loose dust.

The blowby filter element should also be cleaned at those intervals.   If you are lazy and don't clean it properly, it will indeed humidify the paper and increase restriction.

Well, well, well, it's the first time you admit this.

(Particularly if you have Deltas tiny inlet restrictor on the filter box for the 649 carbs (see second pic below) which increases the vacuum in the filter box way more than the US models happily deprived of that encumbrance.

It's not the first time I have to put it to you that my model the CB500 never had a recirculating system. It's also not the first time that I point out you keep on coming back to the airduct which seems an obsession for you. I don't wanna go in this again, it's useless and I suspect a mental condition is the real problem.

The recirculator feature is NOT a problem and never has been in my 40 plus years of operation, IF I keep the recirculator element clean and dry.  It really helps to understand the system operation and it's needs.  Though some are clearly incapable of doing so.

Dealers here thought otherwise but what did they know? They should autistically have stayed with the scedule instead of learning from what they saw in practice.

The alluded Honda shop manual reference was an aberration of the 76 model in an attempt to placate the EPA's exhaust sniffer test of hydrocarbons, instead dumping the carcinogenic hydrocarbons directly into the air, rather than burning them (incompletely).   The practice was one year only when the EPA realized Honda's chicanery.

Good Lord, how do you know all this? Have you talked to the EPA? To Honda?
Flatlander, I can't judge why your airfilter element had to be renewed after only 10k. It would be interesting for you to see how far a genuine filter goes with the breather tube detached from the air intake. A warning in general: some people wash their bike without care and water gets into the airfilter.
My own experience genuine filters go a long way (around 18k easily). Everyone can test this for himself. As soon as the airfilter becomes restrictive, you will notice it: performance will be less and so will be the fuel economy. You can smell it to. It's no big thing.
And as far as the mammals (oh dear, oh dear) I ride my bicycle whenever I can and I save my motorcycle for longer rides out of town.

[Little_Phil]

I think a lot of this discussion shows that there was quite a difference between historical (1970s) use of these bikes in the US and Europe. All my imports from the USA have been fitted with high and even higher handlebars and fitted with feet forward pegs. In Europe they were nearly always all in use as flat on the tank, rev the nuts out of the engine style. Partly why they were all trashed.

My 500 (which didn’t have the recirc. system)engine in the 70’s was already seeming a bit smoky with some blowby by 25k miles, even with regular maintenance. The continuous high revving certainly caused clogging of filters that had the recirculated gas and they were regularly disconnected. Like a lot of regulations then were mostly a sop to media clamour and made no difference except in clogged city areas.
As Delta says true environmentalism means giving up many thing we at  present are not prepared for. (Cutting out plastic straws and cotton buds is just more media c£$*)
By the way keep to stock air filter, your problems are most likely elsewhere. Genuine stock air filter is only £15 for my 500, but only repro for 550 at £18 and the only difference I think is the hole for the recirc.

[Deltarider]

IIRC that whole crankcase circulation thing had nothing to do with protecting mammals but everything with getting rid of oily tracks on highways, which btw was and is a danger for us twoweelers in particular, even more when rained on after a long period of drought! At first trucks and caterpillars had to have it, then cars and finally bikes. Comparing the CB500 filter element to the CB550 one, it always strikes me that the CB500 has much more filtering area.

[dave500]

ive never liked the 550 blow by into the filter set up,its just naturally wrong and a stop gap effort at best,modify it to the earlier system if you can.

[my name is nobody]

glad you're having some progress there.
for now, i would just get a new paper filter so that you have a proper baseline based on stock components that work.

serviceable filter:
there is the uni filter (foam) that TT mentions. it's a drop-in replacement. i tested it both on dyno and street, and at high rpm it was more restrictive than the stock paper filter. that's with a modified engine that has higher breeding needs. with a stock engine you may not run into this.
there is also a single K&N filter that attaches to the plenum (not individual pods) that promises to have more flow (haven't tested it yet) but it's discontinued and therefore harder to get.



Will do, and again thanks. And, I hope that the mistake I made with the air screw adjustments will help others
in the event they have driveability issues due to an overly rich mixture throughout the entire throttle range.
In my case, I was always (mistakenly) using the mixture screws to get the best, smoothest idle possible, and
that is not correct. The mixture screws act as an adjustable air bleed that affects the main AND idle carb circuits
if I'm understanding it correctly..
I don't understand why, in a lot of cases the mixture screws are referred to as "IMS" or "Idle mixture screws"
when their function influences more than just the idle circuit. During this entire fiasco, I had the screws adjusted
at 1 turn out from seated, thus, attaining smoothest idle, but it choked off enough air to the other circuits to
the point that the thing ran like s#@t, and carbon fouled every spark plug I ever put in it. Running around town yesterday, I checked the new plugs last night and they are all turning a nice tan color. I chased this problem for
a LONG time, and assumed (there's that word again) the whole time that my adjustments were done correctly.

[Deltarider]

The airscrew on older CB550s and the IMS on the later CB550K3/4 are two different things. I've learned many years ago on my CB500 the position of the airscrew matters a lot and not just for the idle as some diagrams seem to suggest. Since I for an experiment raised the needles one notch (Europeans: you might as well leave the needle where it is: in 3^rd) I had to adjust the airscrews from 1 turn to 1³/₄ - 1⁷/₈ open and although the bike runs as it should, I'm still fine tuning. Remember: the CB500 for Europe had the needles in 3^rd and the airscrew recommended at one turn out ⁺/_- ¹/₈. One source suggests that the CB500 for US had the needles at 4^th and the airscrews open at two turns. There are more roads leading to Rome.
Just for the record what K number is yours?

[my name is nobody]

1974 cb550 K0