Kawaaski FR651V - FX air box conversion

[coder]

And Kawasaki offer the Baldwin canister filter as a dealer fitted upgrade for both the FR & FS although it is quite expensive to fit to a FR

Do they? I could not find anything like that. This was the first thing I asked my dealer, if there was a filter / airbox upgrade option
for the FR engine and he said "no". aslthough he agreed they "should".

So now I am curious. where does Kawasaki offer a Baldwin airbox upgrade, and how much
coin they want for it?

I did it "my way" because did not see Kawi offering an "official" upgrade.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Down here I think it was a $ 600 upgrade which included the steel blower housing and the filter .
Not real popular because the FX engine is only $ 800 more .
Only know it because had a customer ask me how much to do it as comparred to having the dealer do it.
I ended up putting on an EngineAire one because it is about 1/3 the price and I fit them to the ROPS, not the blower housing so it is easier for me to remove the housing when cleaning the engine.
From memory I charged out about $ 450 for the job.
She has never been back so I suppose it is working fine.
RPOS are manditory on all ZTR's down here and it is so much easier to mount on rather than the blower housing , just need a couple of feet more air tube which is really cheap.
You only need to look at where & how they mount filters to skid steers to realize that mounting onto the engine is silly but of course easier for the mower factory as it becomes a single drop in item.
Kohlers seem to be the worst.
Got a couple of them where the canister filter adds near an hour to removing the blower housing , so of course it never happens till it should have been done 3 seasons ago .

 

[7394]

If mounted properly to the blower housing, as I have done. It is simple to remove blower housing with 1 hose clamp needing loosening as you would anyhow.

Then whole works lifts off & it still looks stock on the machine. .

 

[bertsmobile1]

Do they? I could not find anything like that. This was the first thing I asked my dealer, if there was a filter / airbox upgrade option
for the FR engine and he said "no". aslthough he agreed they "should".

So now I am curious. where does Kawasaki offer a Baldwin airbox upgrade, and how much
coin they want for it?

I did it "my way" because did not see Kawi offering an "official" upgrade.

I knew I had seen the kit somewhere
So here it is on offer from an on line parts retailer
Their SKU number is their suppliers number
Canister filter kit for FS & FR

And the same kit from my wholesaler
FR & FS filter upgrade
Unfortunately RGS have the worst computer searching program ever written.
Comparred to their ordering system Fortran that I had to use at college is very user friendly and Cobol is Apple type intuiative.
If you take the "Kaw" off the parts numbers listed, they are the actual Kawakasi Australia part numbers which are mostly the same as Kawakasi USA part numbers
Not it shows all of the parts needed & their Kawakasi numbers except the nuts & bolts.
This kit says with the blower housing so it is easy to remove the blower housing for cleaning the fins.

Note it does not come with a flow meter and uses the single element , not dual element filter

 

[coder]

Are those kits aftermarket kits, or are they "approved" by Kawasaki?

Not that I care much, just curious. ( I already convinced myself it is a good idea to put a cylindrical filter on the engine, without any downside)
Super expensive,. Partly because they replace the air cooiling shroud, which IMO is not needlessly.

I got my kit here: https://powerequipmentman.com/collections/best-sellers/products/air-filter-upgrade-kit
$180-ish, including an inner and outer filter. You remove the OEM air filter cover, and their bracket screws right into the into the original air filter cover's
existing mounting holes. You could probably piece a kit together from ebay parts cheaper, but you would have to probably drill the air cowl.

What I esp. like about the kit I linked to: you can remove it and put pack the original filter. kit. If heaved forbid I need some warranty work, I can remove the
cylindrical filter kit, and restore the original configuration and none is the wiser. I do not want to waste my breath arguing with Kawi that this filter kit is "OK"
no matter how many ways I can prove and demonstrate that the cylindrical filter works better in every way than their silly little filter they insist on putting on the
FR engines. I lack the time and energy to try to lead any horse to the water, if the horse insists on not drinking.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Remember I am in OZ so those are monopoly money dollars
and if you look at the RGS page you will see they are all genuine Kawakasi parts with Kawakasi part numbers as there is a full break down of the "kit"
As to weather kawakasi offer it as a kit or it was assembled by RGS, no idea but they are all genuine parts, no aftermarket bits at all
The next size up uses the twin element filter which of course is better still .
RGS are a wholesalers and do sell into dealers , they are also factory supported Kawakasi distributors that I get my complete engines from.
Allmowers are a retailer who sell on line
I have seen mowers in the dealers with the kits fitted listed as an option
Weather they came from the mower company that way or the dealer fitted them on site, no idea .

 

[coder]

I asked my mower (Ariens) dealer about whether he or Kawasaki offers the cylindrical filters as an upgrade,
and he looked at me like I had 2 heads. So it does not look like they do in the US. All these upgrade kits are either
put together as a DIY solution, or some enterprising companies offer these like the folks I linked to.
Sort of an unofficial thing.

Some people in the various Kawasaki themed lists whine about these airboxes spreading
fear and uncertainty. The objections go like: Boo, you will be found out and loose your warranty or maybe fined by
the EPA because you are tinkering with emission control equipment. Took me a while and some research
to cut through all that BS, and convince myself that this was a good idea.

 

[bertsmobile1]

As previously stated.
They are all genuine Kawakasi parts in these kits .
ow down here we get lots of droughts so lots of dust so the local variants of most mowers come with better air filters than the std USA ones do.
Up until B & S took over Victa all local push mower variants either came with a snorkel as standard or as an optional extra.
This includes quality brands like Honda .
Now only Masport & Super Swift come std with snorkels which goes a long way to understanding why 20 years was around the average service life for a walk behind down here .

 

[coder]

Bert, thanks for providing the Australian context. I was already convinced that fearmongering here in the US had no rational basis.

My filter minder demonstrates to me that the snorkel style airbox, and the safe and efficient double cylindrical filter does not cause
undue air restriction compared to my "factory equipped" air filter.

Assertions that these filters are a misfit for the cheaper Kawi engines, and cause them to run lean are apparent BS.
Anybody can get a filter minder for $40, install it on the airbox and see for themselves.

Some people who posted their experience with the upgraded air box report being able to run for years without replacing
the air filter. Or, if they replace it, they only do the outer filter, because the inner (safety) filter is still pristine.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The only time I replace the air filter on a snorkel fitted mower is when there are so many spider webs I can not see the colour of the filter paper.
We used both the filter in the top of the snorkel ( Victa , Rover Pace & Masport ) or strait snorkels that feed onto the standard air filter ( B & S engines & Honda )
Honda provide a replacement main jet wit their kit because the instruction say it will cause the engine to run lean, however I have never fitted one & never had a problem with the engines overheating .
Now this might be a problem in a lab test cell but definately not in use.
My wholesaler used to sell a replacement B & S panel filter cover with a spiggot to take 2" diameter air tube which is standard for most mowers.
However B & S asked them to stop selling it so they deleted it from their line and the next catalogue had a lot more genuine B & S parts in it .
Stens deleted it from their next catalogue as well.
None of the mowers I have fitted the snorkels to have ever had a filter change since it was fitted and for some that is now 9 years ago .
The Suzuki engined Toros down here came with snorkels fitted standard and the jets in their Mikuni carbs are the same as Mikuni list for the carb in the USA where snorkels were not fitted.