Yah. I sells this stuff. Sorry, I missed this.
With stuff like oil filters my argument is simple. A 'Factory' approved UFI oil filter costs $22-25 ish. If you use it you not only know that it has the correct filtering medium and bypass pressure but it will also keep your warranty intact and ensure that there will be no reason to knock back a claim if say your tappets fail on an 8V.
There are other filters around that are dimensionally the same and fit. But do you know anything about what's inside them? I don't! They may have less or inferior filtering medium. They may be poorly constructed. They may go into bypass much earlier. I don't know. BUT they are a bit cheaper in some cases.
OK. Let's look at that. Say the UFI is $23 and the no-name aftermarket filter costs $13. Now you change the filter every 10,000Km, (Although in all honesty the change interval is way too short. Older Guzzi's had a filter that was about half the size in the sump. Because changing it required removing the sump I only used to do it every third change or every 15,000km. I have cut a lot of those older filters open to inspect them and I've never found one clogged or in permanent bypass!) so every 10,000 km you can save yourself ten bux. That's right, less than two beers can be saved by fitting something you aren't sure is going to meet the specifications for the job and it may also cause headaches down the track if you have problems you need addressing that require factory approval.
"Ah!" The cynics will say, "But he would say that! He's a 'Stealer' making a huge profit by scalping people encouraging them to buy the factory stuff off him!" . Well believe it or not I'm not going to be farting through silk in my retirement on the profit I make on genuine filters. I think there's about five bux in each one for me. Less than a beer!
On the air filter thing as I have pointed out on numerous occasions the stock filter flows just dandy! The 140 RWHP RSV-4 has a smaller filter of exactly the same construction. That being the case a great wheezing shitheap like a Guzzi is hardly going to be strangled by the factory's paper element offering. There is also the tuning aspect and charge transition factors created or increased by the use of aftermarket filters like the K&N and, quite simply, they don't filter very well! There are good reasons why Mark builds maps for the original airbox and filter set-up rather than using some fancy-schmantsy aftermarket rock strainer. They waste fuel and will compromise the engine's longevity. From a financial point of view you can buy six or seven 'Stock' air filters for the cost of a K&N and despite what people may think mesh filters don't last forever, you'll only get a limited number of 'Washes' out of them before their already inferior filtering medium degrades so they aren't even a money saving alternative really! Like so many myths though this stuff is very hard to debunk, or at least to be believed when it is debunked!
Anyway, no matter. And yes, you do have to be careful with pricing with things from overseas. Freight and exchange rates can be killers, as can delivery times. For example I'm having to get a new oil pump for Mark S's bike. Although there is a substantial saving to be made by buying from the U.S. they are on back order and can't be delivered for six to eight weeks. By sucking up to Tara the spares girl at the importer and because I was lucky enough to time it right I'm hoping to have the pump here in two weeks through our mob. It's always a balancing act.
Pete
Subject: ouch !!!!!!!! 
Fri Jun 12, 2015 12:02 am
