Cleaning your air filter is really easy and should be done at 300 miles, 1240 miles, and every 1240 miles thereafter. The first step is to remove the air filter box. The easiest way to locate your air filter box is to look at your carburetor. The hose that has the finger clip on it is connected to your air filter box. You should disconnect this hose at the carburetor, then remove the filter box from the scooter so you can take it apart and get to the filter element inside.

In this picture you can see the carburetor on a Zip R3i. Notice the gold clip connected to the air filter box (big black plastic thing to the right of the carb). On the Triton it looks a little different, if you are standing on the left side of the scooter and look down at your transmission case (where the kick starter is), the air filter box is bolted to that silver case towards the front of the scooter. Personally I haven't ever had to remove the gold clips, just a little bit of pressure and gentle wiggling back and forth and it should pop right off.



Diagram of the Triton R4's Air Filter Box

#4 in the above diagram would be the air filter element

Diagram of the Zip R3i's Air Filter

#10 in the above diagram would be the air filter element


The air filter element is pretty easy to get to once you have the box removed. It's just a matter of taking all those Phillips head screws out. Once you have removed the filter element, you can clean it with a solvent such as gasoline or you can hand wash it with dish detergent (dawn would be my preference) in a disposable or reusable pan or bowl. Once you have the filter clean and it has dried out (be it gas or water), soak it in some 2-cycle oil and wring out as much oil as possible. You can put back in just a "dry" filter if you wish, but it could cause small particulate matter (ie: fine dust) to be pulled into your motor. If you're not really in a dusty area, it's up to you. Dry and clean, or cleaned and oiled, put everything back the way it was. The diagrams above should help you if you have any doubts during the reassembly process. Inspect the air filter box to make sure the gasket is seated properly, and there are no signs of dry rot present. This may be a good time to apply some silicone or other lubricant on the rubber components of the air filter box to prevent them from dry rotting and causing an air leak. Air intake leaks can cause major performance degradation in these scooters. The last step is to bolt the filter box back onto the scooter and reconnect the hose to the carburetor. Make sure that it is properly seated on the carburetor to prevent any air intake leaks at the connection between the air filter box and the carburetor.

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