Removing the Air Cleaner on a ZX-6R

Warning

I am not a mechanic or a representative of any motorcycle or tool manufacturer or anything else official. This page is only my notes on doing this procedure myself. Although I believe what I have documented here is correct, I make no promises and you do this at your own risk.

Objective

The air filter housing must be removed (need not be opened) to access the carburetors, spark plugs, and valve cover for maintenance. To clean the air filter, you only need to take the top off the housing; you don’t need to remove the entire unit.

Required

Tools Required

  • Rear stand (recommended)
  • Phillips screwdrivers
  • Hex wrenches
  • Metric sockets, including a long extension shaft.

Difficulties & Warnings

Some difficulties could be:

  • Dropping a bolt or a socket inside the air filter when removing two deeply-buried mounting bolts. Retrieve with a magnet, or by opening the air filter.

Procedure

Putting the bike on a rear stand makes this job much easier by leveling the bike and holding it steady.

First you must remove the gas tank. Then:

With the tank removed, you are looking at the airbox.

Push back the compression clip on the rear breather hose
and remove the hose – just leave it dangling in the bike.
Pull out the two rubber stoppers in the airbox. These expose the interior and allow you to reach in with a long socket to get to two mounting bolts.
Remove the mounting bolts along the back side of the airbox.
Using a socket with a long extension shaft,
remove the two mounting bolts inside the holes.
Now the airbox can be lifted off, exposing the carburetors underneath. You have to pull it back slightly to dislodge it from the ram air ducts coming in from the front of the bike. Note I’ve labelled the hoses, and which bolts (long or short) went where, using a white felt marker.

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