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Some very quick and simple reading on air filter comparisons and performance...
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest2.htm
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest4.htm
Count me as one in the "the stock Yamaha paper air filter is the best" category. Despite what some people will tell you the motorcycle manufacturers don't put paper air filters in their bikes so they can make tons of money on you buying replacement air filters, nor do they choose paper filter because they are cheap. They choose them because they work the best for nearly all situations with a properly designed airbox, and therefore they avoid the most potential warranty claims. They also design them to flow way more air than the engine needs, so any claims that oiled-gauze filters (K&N, BMC, DNA, etc.) "flow more air" are snake oil. Even if such filters were capable of passing more air it wouldn't matter... In this case the engine couldn't use it. It already gets all it could possibly need (and more) from the stock paper filter and airbox, and more than enough even if you have a different can, headers, a flash, a PC-V with AT, and 87 different PC maps.
Worst part of oiled-gauze filters is that they pass more dirt than paper (and so does oiled foam). That might be fine for a race engine that is torn down on a regular basis to check internal tolerances, etc., but are you going to do that with your Super Tenere?
Yes, the motorcycle manufacturers do use oiled-foam filter on their MX and enduro models, but these are bikes where the filters are expected to be cleaned are very frequent (relatively) intervals, like after only a few rides, not tens of thousands of miles. Oiled-foam certainly doesn't filter any better than paper, and again even if an oiled-foam filter could flow more air, your Super Tenere engine is already getting all it needs with the paper filter, and more.
Can you same money by using a washable oiled-gauze or oiled foam filter? Maybe... But frequent washing of oiled-foam eventually causes enough wear-and-tear on them that they need to be replaced. We use a rotation of three oiled-foam UNI-brand filters on each of our vintage CZ race bikes... One for practice, and one for each moto during the day, then they are cleaned an re-oiled... And at the end of the year at least one needs to be replaced. We also keep spares on-hand, because sometime they get torn or the glued-seams split. Point is, you may buy oiled-foam filters and save a bit of money for a while being able to clean them, but sooner or later the oiled-foam ones will have to be replaced, and no doubt they will be more expensive than the factory paper filter.
Oiled-gauze saving you money? Again, maybe... But how much? From all reports on this forum the stock paper filters are going 12,000 to 25,000 miles before needing to be replaced (I replaced mine at 16,500 miles, but it really didn't need to be. It looked much like AVC's). How many miles a year do you ride? But remember... Oiled-gauze passes more dirt than paper, so the real questions here is "How much dirt do you want in your engine between oiled-gauze filter servicing?", and "Do I really want *ANY* more dirt in my engine than I have to have?"
Bottom line - IMHO you will see absolutely no performance gains with oiled-gauze or oiled-foam, and either will actually require more frequent servicing with more effort. You may save a few pennies over replacing the OEM paper filters in the long, long, long run, but you will be letting a lot more dirt and grit in your engine in the meantime.
Just my two centavos... YMMV.
Dallara
p.s. Get well soon, Creggur. My girlfriend had her gall bladder out a few years ago, as did one of my best friends, and both said it was brutal just before and during, but the "after" was all worth it. Take care!
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