Kawasaki Ninja 650R 08 Air Filter Change

2010-07-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

I've Finally made up my mind to go ahead and change the air filter on my '08 Ninja 650R, after doing a bit of research on some forums and youtube, thats right - youtube and yes thru all this I've compiled a group of pictures and instructions to aid anyone who wants to tackle this task. I do have a kawasaki service manual (not the booklet) but man the manual makes you flip around different pages just to do some simple task jeez! if I knew this was the case I should've bookmarked all those individual pages, plus not all the instructions in the manual are complete there are a couple of steps or things not mentioned or missing. Another note, I'm not a pro mechanic so if I have errors feel free to correct me. I'm just a do it yourselfer learning and in the process trying to save a couple o bucks.

Disclaimer: I will not be responsible for the mistakes that anybody makes whether they get hurt, die or damage their bikes this is a blog to assist in maintenance and repairs not an official kawasaki instructional. If anyone doesn't like the DIY way or risk, they can always go to a motorcycle shop.

Tools/Materials Needed:

Torque Wrench - handy if u really want to stick to the manuals torque requirements I used mine for the spark plugs ( which I will cover in another blog)
Wrench and Ratchet set - Metric/English
Air Filter Cleaner spray - (preferably the uni brand)
Foam Filter Spray or SAE-30 - for the foam part of ur air filter
lint free towels or cloth - for wiping the mess up
Screw drivers - Philips and Flathead
Pliers - for those annoying connectors and some hoses
block of wood/Yellow pages book - for Fuel tank support and bike stand support for leveling

Here we go: just a note it will be helpful to have an extra hand/friend nearby and have a lot of time before you start removing things. try not to rush if you need to mark or document stuff then do so if it will be helpful to you later on.

Step 1 - level the bike with a block of wood or thick book(in my case i used the yellow pages XD!)

Step 2 - remove the seat

Step 3 - open up the tank to let pressure out to minimize spilling (give it a few minutes), or u can suck the gas out with a commercial fluid pump, for me my fuel was low already so I didn't bother

Step 4 - remove these, forgot which size, its either 7 or 10mm anyways you can use an adjustable wrench, get your philips screwdriver ready as well.

Step 5 - after unscrewing the bolts and screws remove the left/right small side plastics, they should easily snap off as they are attached only via plastic connector

Step 6 - lift up the end part of the tank and support it with a block of wood or books. In this pic. I used a couple of old DVD cases (not recommended lols!)

Step 7 - remove this plastic covering to have better access to the fuel pump connector ( left side of the bike near the bottom of the tank) you don't have to, but I found it easier since its a pain in the @$$ to take out this connector

Step 8 - disconnect the fuel lead connector - I found it a bit tricky, use a skinny philips or flathead screwdriver to press on the tiny slots

Step 9 - locate the fuel hose connector on the right side and disconnect the fuel joint connector make sure to wrap a cloth underneath in case of fuel drops, insert your flathead in the slit and carefully lever it down, careful though as the joint is a small plastic piece.

Step 10 - Pull the hose out, The joint lock prevents any left over fuel from your tank from draining. At this point the tank is almost free(the smiling face in the pic is nothing ignore it)

Step 10 - on the front bottom part of the tank (left side) disconnect these hoses taking note of the color markings for each hose (these hoses weren't mentioned in the manuals or videos so here it is, they're probably just extra hoses u will reconnect them later use your pliers) - you need to take these out in order to disconnect the tank fully from the bike.

Step 11 - lay the tank down on the ground supporting both ends ( ignore the extras in this pic as i borrowed it from my spark plug replacement pics)

Step 12 - unscrew the air cleaner housing cover

Step 13 - you can swing the cover with the air intake tube if you want or completely disconnect it. and remove the center screw that holds the filter in place.

(disregard the tank and the screw in the pic this again is borrowed from the spark plug procedure)

Step 14 - pull out the air filter

Step 15 - at the front of the filter frame carefully peel out the plastic frame or skeleton that holds the foam element in place (shown in the photo on top of the foam filter) as a note the yellowish brown part of the foam is the front facing part

Step 16 - at this point I ran out of battery power on my digi-cam(my lazy -@ss didn't charge it) but anyways the removal process is complete lets move on to the filter cleaning part

First you wanna spray it with the Filter cleaner, spray both sides or just plain soak it in water with detergent any method will work
After spraying leave for a few minutes then rinse with a garden hose or open faucet same goes for the soak version
Let it air dry or under the sun then Spray the front of the foam element with Foam Filter Spray or saturate a lint free towel or cloth with SAE-30 oil then tap the element with it.
I let mine dry a bit before installing to minimize oil dripping down the filter.
Place the Foam back to the filter frame then secure it with the plastic frame/skeleton that was holding it before

Re-insert the filter back

install the center screw that supports the filter (from step 13)
reconnect the air filter intake or tube (from step 13)
screw the air box cover back (see step 12)
reconnect the fuel lead connector ( see step 8)
replace the plastic covering that covers the fuel lead connector ( see step 7)
now before you return the Fuel tank close the lid/cap
rememember the 3 hoses(see step 10) Red, Blue, and the skinny one, reconnect these hoses

Reconnect the fuel joint hose, you may have to slide it back and forth several times till the joint lock engages, dont force the lock to close if it s not pushing thru as u might break it, wait till the lock slides in free, it didn't work for me at first but when I pushed the hose all the way towards the center the lock clicked in. check the lock and make sure its secure.

now that all the hoses and cables are connected, align the Fuel tank's dampers to the frame. The pic. below shows you where the dampers/front notch should be when positioning the tank. You may have to adjust some of the wiring or cables in order to fit it snugly

once the tank is aligned, install the bolts that support it (see step 4) - bolts first before the screws

after installing the bolts snap the small plastic sidings in (see step 5) then install the screws

then put the seat cover back in place. Thats basically it, start her up and test drive her and feel the difference vs. the dirty filter. I will be posting as a continuation to this the spark plug replacement guide or blog soon.

Kawasaki Ninja 650R Chronicles

Kawasaki Ninja 650R 08 Air Filter Change