Suzuki V-Strom DL650 Air Filter change

I have a 2004 V-Strom DL650. It is a wonderful bike that I have used to commute to my office in San Francisco, each day. Living about thirty-miles from the city, the bike accumulates a significant amount of wear and tear each week. Currently I have around 38,000 miles on the bike :).

I recently changed the brakes on the bike but have been procrastinating on changing the air filter. This weekend I changed out the stock air filter for a K & N filter. The bike is idling very nicely now and I am glad I used this filter and did the work myself.

How I did it:

1) Since the air filter is under the gas tank, you have to remove the gas tank.

2) Remove the seat and the two black plastic faring pieces on each side of the bike.




3) Remove the (3) 4mm allen screws on the fairing; these should be the on ones closest to the back of the back. This will allow you to raise the gas tank on it's hinge.

4) Remove the bolt holding down the gas tank.

5) Slowly lift the gas tank

6) You need to remove the electric, fuel intake and fuel overflow. Be careful to slowly lift the tank as there is very little play in some of the lines. Be careful to put a towel under the fuel line, before you disconnect it, as a bit will leak out after disconected.

7) After a all hoses and wiring have been disconnected, unscrew the hinge bolt holding the gas tank. I lowered the gas tank before I started this step.

8) After the hinge bolt is removed, find a helper to help spread out the fairing sides for easy gas tank removal.

9) I spilled a bit of gas on my pants having the tank leaned towards me on removal but was easy otherwise.

10) Removing the screws on the filter cover was easy.
Old filter:

New filter:


11) As mentioned earlier I replaced the filter with a K & N filter, yes it was expensive. After a few thousand miles I'll be able to provide some feedback but am generally impressed with the quality of the filter over the stock filter.

12) Putting the bike back together was easy. Again I had some help to spread the fairing and re-seat the gas tank. Once the hinge bolt was back in place, I raised the tank on the hinge and secured it by the gas tank bracket to remount all the hoses and wire harness.


In conclusion,
With the new K & N filter in place the bike is idiling well and the job was relatively easy to perform. With a bit of caution I think most mechanically oriented people will be able to perform this work themselves.