Multi Review: Elf Moto air filter oil

[DG Rider]

It's time to clean my air filter, so I decided to try elf brand Moto air filter oil.

elf isn't exactly a household name in America but it's very popular in Europe, producing a number products. The 1 liter bottle you see here is available on Amazon for about 12 bucks.

Reviews on Amazon were generally positive, but a number of people complained that this oil was much thinner than typical air filter oil.
A number of people also insisted that this was cotton/gauze type filter oil...AKA k&n type filters (perhaps the filter pic on the bottle contributes this), however the paperwork and instructions for this oil specifically mentioned that this is for foam air filters.

One possible reviewer on Amazon may have provided the answer here; He claimed that the oil contains a solvent to help it penetrate the foam, and once the solvent dissolves in use, a very sticky residue is left behind. Elf also mentions the solvent on it's website, but doesn't elaborate.

In use, the oil is much thinner than typical air filter oil, penetrates the filter easily, and excess squeezes out easily. As you can see it has a nice blue color, so it's easy to see the coverage of the filter. The bottle Also has a nice pop-up spout, as you can see. This was somewhat offset by the fact that the seal broke during removal, forcing me to poke a hole in it.

After oiling the filter, I let it sit in an oil drain pan for a few hours and a small amount did drain off (as would be normal with ANY oil), but the bulk remained on the filter. The real test will be during heat of operation.

As of right now, my observation is that this oil doesn't have the tackiness of something like Honda pro filter oil. It's on the filter, and seems to be staying there, but the real evaluation will come after a ride to see if this mystery "solvent" does leave a nice sticky residue.

If nothing changes, I would say this oil will work but there are better choices...but we'll see...

To be continued...

 

[Admin]

 

[BigOL3]

lol ...... I was not aware of anyone put oil on a PAPER filter???

 

[DG Rider]

lol ...... I was not aware of anyone put oil on a PAPER filter???

Thank you for the correction. I'll change the OP to cotton/gauze filter...

 

[JTW]

I want to know how it does... I have a K&N on the dirtbike

 

[alloutdoors]

I have used Klotz products for years and very satisfied with the results
Filters & Cleaners

 

[DG Rider]

I want to know how it does... I have a K&N on the dirtbike

Will do, but usually the 2 types require different oil.

 

[DG Rider]

OK...a little slow in updating this. This was after about 20 miles of trail.

Surprisingly, the oil has pretty much stayed put. The splotches are from me rubbing the filter.

At this point, the oil was still much like it came out of the bottle; There, and staying put, but not with the tackiness of most oils.

To be fair, will nosing around on the interwebs a few days back about the subject of "tackiness" and air filter oils, i came across an article from a dirt bike mag that said that mfg's aren't in consensus about just how tacky AFO should be. So it could be that elf chooses NOT to make it so goopy.

Still...it was more like K&N filter oil than any foam filter oil I've ever used. So, i was thinking it worked...but there were better choices. So i was all ready to state that here...

And then i went out today and checked it one last time. Low and behold, it still looks the same, yet touching it revealed that sticky, stringy, spiderweb-when-you-pull-away consistency that it hadn't displayed to this point. Or as they would say over where elf is popular, it has "come good".

Verdict: Seems like to is going to work well, but takes time to arrive at that tacky consistency. I would say use it with a spare filter, and clean and oil it well before its needed. If you tend to oil and go on the same day, you might want something else.