Oil filters are an integral component in any machinery that involves an engine or a heavy usage of oil.
So, do motorcycles have oil filters? All motorcycles have oil filters installed to clean the engine oil from contaminants. Irrespective of the manufacturer, country, and model – all motorcycles do have oil filters installed in them.
Now that we know motorcycles have oil filters, let’s dig deep into why they have them, where are they located, and should they need to be replaced.
Why do motorcycles have oil filters?
Motorcycles have oil filters installed to clean the dirt and contaminants in the engine oil before the oil enters the engine crank case.
What the oil filter does is – it weeds out both the dirt plus soil contaminants as well as the metal particles from the engine oil.
Now, how does this cleaning help exactly?
If the engine oil enters the engine crank case with contaminants, the dirt and soil particles will form deposits in the engine components and the metal particles will increase the metal wear of the engine.
Without an oil filter, the oil will be contaminated easily.
These contaminants if left unfiltered will harm the engine’s performance, endurance as well as its life expectancy, and durability.
In order to avoid such premature wear and sludge or deposit formation in the engine components, motorcycles have oil filters installed in them to clean the engine oil free from these contaminants before entering the engine.
Do ALL motorcycles have oil filters?
Yup. All motorcycles have oil filters installed in them.
In fact, it’s not just all motorcycles, but all cars have oil filters.
Wait, this just does not end here. All vehicles and locomotives that have engines will have oil filters fitted somewhere to filter oil from contaminants.
Any vehicle or machinery you see with an engine, you can be sure that there must be an oil filter there somewhere to clean the oil. This is not just applicable for engine oil, oil filters are also used to clean different other types – such as transmission oil, greasing oil, or any other oil you name it. Oil filters are super damn helpful.
Other than that, if any machinery has very high oil usage, then those machinery will require oil filters too. Basically, if you see an engine or a type of oil used heavily in a vehicle, machinery or locomotive – you can be sure that there is an oil filter somewhere.
To give you a few examples, an oil filter is used in inner burning engines for engine vehicles (both on-and rough terrain), fuelled airplanes, rail line trains, ships and boats, and static engines like generators and siphons.
Heck, the oil business itself requires oil filters for oil creation, oil siphoning, and oil reusing.
We strayed far too away from the question here.
To summarise, yes, all motorcycles have oil filters in them. And so do a hundred other types of vehicles and machinery.
Where is the oil filter located?
The oil filter is usually located either within the crankcase or below it. If the oil filter is fitted within the crankcase, you need to unscrew the filter portion to replace the oil filter.
If the oil filter is fitted below the crankcase, these oil filters can usually be removed by hand without the need for any wrenches.
Again, the position of an oil filter depends on manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. These two are the main locations where the oil filters are usually fitted in a motorcycle.
Should motorcycle oil filters be changed
Yes. Your motorcycle oil filter should be changed during every maintenance schedule. This frequency will be around every 6000 miles (10,000 kilometers).
Changing the motorcycle oil filter is usually accompanied with changing the engine oil. Although the frequency of engine oil change and oil filter change need not necessarily coincide over time, it is best practice to change the engine oil and the oil filter together if possible.
Also, every time you change the oil filter, change the engine oil as well. No matter how recent the last oil change was. What this ensures is that the new oil filter will be dealing with new and clean engine oil from start. You anyway require some clean oil quantity while installing the new filter in your motorcycle.
In short, change the oil filter in your motorcycle every 6000 miles (10,000 kilometers) or during the scheduled maintenance of your motorcycle, whichever is lower.
And change the engine oil as well whenever you are changing the oil filter.
To Summarize
All modern motorcycles have oil filters fitted in them – irrespective of the motorcycle manufacturer, model, and country of origin.
Oil filters filter dirt, dust, metal particles, and many such contaminants from the engine oil. This filtering ensures that the engine and its components perform better and have higher durability.
Apart from motorcycles, oil filters can be seen in cars as well. Not just cars, any vehicle or locomotive that has an engine in them – will contain an oil filter to clean the oil.
To give you a few examples, an oil filter is used in inner burning engines for engine vehicles (both on-and rough terrain), fuelled airplanes, rail line trains, ships and boats, and static engines like generators and siphons.
Motorcycle oil filters have a shelf life and need to be replaced periodically. A typical time frame to replace that oil filter in your motorcycle is every 6000 miles of distance traveled. Even better frequency is following the maintenance schedule as laid out in your motorcycle’s user manual.
