Substitute for K&N filter oil?

Cleaned my filter today and ran out of K&N oil to recoat it. Does anyone know if there is a common type of oil that would work instead of that special oil, the red kind in the spray can? I think it's just red so you can see where it was sprayed in order to get an even coat, otherwise it just seems like a real light grade of oil. If there is some kind of motor oil or something that would work I could put some in a spray bottle to use otherwise I'll have to go to the shop on Monday and get some of the K&N oil.

 

I'd get some K&N oil..mine says not to use motor oil.

 

On the box it says the red oil is a combination of mineral oil and animal oil, what ever that is. It says not to use motor oil, diesel oil or WD-40 but I think thats just because they want to sell the special oil. Motor oil has been used in filters for 100 years and always seems to work but it's not very sticky and will tend to evaporate so mineral oil is probably better.

 

"We recommend that you only use K&N oil and cleaner. K&N air filter oil is a compound of mineral oil blended with special polymers to form a very efficient tack barrier. We have performed tests on numerous oil combinations and our blend has the required properties for maximum flow and filtration. Petroleum products such as transmission fluid and motor oil will soften and destroy the rubber sealing edges."

That's straight off of knfilters.com. Also states that it is indeed a red dye for application purposes. For 10 bucks it seems like a no-brainer to stick with their oil. The air intake is kind of important...

 

I heard the same thing from the folks at our local bike shop. They say you're better off with the original stuff. I've got K&N in one bike and a Uni in another, and was wondering the same thing.

If you reeeeally wanna know for sure, I can ride over to the K&N dealership here in Tulsa and ask Norm, who is the N in K&N :-D

 

I need to spray something on the filter for now so I can ride over to the store
and the only thing I have in spray form is WD-40 so I'm going to use that just for this morning then wash it off when I get the real red oil.

 

I went to my local Auto-Zone and found a similar recharge kit (cleaner and oil), but made by "Superflow" (?) or something. Seems to work just as good as the K&N kit.

 

I would lean more towards motor oil or ATF than WD-40, thats pretty flammable, the stuff im using was given to me at a lawnmower shop and its called "fogging oil" briggs n stratton brand, whether its right or not it was free....

 

If it is the petroleum that eats the rubber, you might be better off getting some cooking spray from the kitchen.