How to change your air filter on a Honda CRF450

A big part of owning a MX bike is the maintenance. One of the most basic and dirty jobs is cleaning your air filter. This should be done minimum once every 8 hrs. Here are the steps for doing this:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 10mm T-handle
• Filter cleaner
• Filter oil
• pair of latex gloves

1. Remove the seat by unscrewing the 10mm bolts at the rear of the seat. They are located above the side panels (number plates).

2. Loosen the wingnut bolt that holds the filter in place. Slowly pull the filter away from the mounting surface, and take care not to drop any dirt into the air boot.

3. Begin to turn the filter counter-clock-wise until the double tabs are lined up with the top of the air box. Be sure not to snag any part of the filter on the air box when turning it, as this can tear the air filter and possibly drop dirt into the air boot.

4. Begin lifting the filter out of the air box. At the same time twist the filter counter-clock-wise until it is parallel with the subframe rails. When this is done the filter should lift right out.

5. Lift the filter out of the air box. You still must be careful not to drop any sand or debris into the air boot of the air box; if some sand happens to slip by be sure to clean it out thoroughly. Once you have a clean filter to reinstall, just repeat all of these steps, only do it backwards.

Tips & Warnings

• have a back-up filter already prepped. This will speed the process, as you can easy install the back-up without waiting for the dirty one to be cleaned. You can then clean the dirty on when you have time and store it as your back-up for next time.
• Block the intake with a clean rag when the filter is off, this will prevent any dust/particles from entering the car.

[cyclepedia]

on 9/4/2008 cyclepedia.com has a pretty detailed online manual that shows you procedures like this is detail. If you are going to be performing your own maintenance you really should purchase a manual of some sort.