K&NMotorcycle Oil Filter: High Performance, Premium, Designed to be used with Synthetic or Conventional Oils, Wrench Off Nut: Fits Select Ducati Motorcycles, KN-153

K&N KN-153 oil filterThis K&N oil filter is a direct replacement for Ducati 444.4.017.1A and Ducati 444.4.003.4A oil filters, which are commonly used on many of Ducati's motorcycles including the Superbikes and the Monsters. Normally, I recommend to my friends and family to buy OEM oil filters. That means AC Delco filters for GM cars, and Ford Motorcraft filters for Ford cars (as an example). I normally avoided buying K&N oil filters because I felt they were always overpriced and overengineered. The 17mm nut on the bottom is useful, but not necessary on a car. The extra burst strength of the shell, and the high flow media isn't needed and not worth the extra coin.However, in the case of my Ducati 696, the OEM Ducati filter was more expensive than the K&N! It made no sense to buy the OEM filter if the K&N was less expensive. The K&N filter is very well made, with index markings on the side of the can to help you with finding that 7/8 turn to properly torque it. The 17mm nut comes in handy with the 696 where I have limited room with a traditional filter wrench, although that nut isn't mandatory.Each K&N filter comes with the gasket pre-oiled and wrapped in shrink-wrapping to prevent debris from contaminating the filter media. The shell is somewhat shorter than the OEM filter, but I had no issues running this on my 696. The anti-drain back valve seems to be working, as a cold start on my 696 does not result in any odd noises.Overall: 5/5 stars, it is well made, and less expensive than OEM filters. It makes it a no brainer for a Ducati.UPDATE 14 MAR 2012, downgraded to 3/5 starsI have noticed some oil seepage at the oil filter seal for some time. I had originally hand tightened it like every other car oil filter. I then torqued it to 11 N-m after noticing a puddle on the garage floor. I cleaned up the filter area and observed that the oil would seep out once the engine warms up to normal operating temperatures. I torqued it to 2.4 kg-m as per the K&N spec on the side of the oil filter case, but it was still seeping. I contacted K&N and they are taking back all of my filters to inspect it. I purchased these filters from Amazon and the cardboard K&N boxes were kind of old/beat up. I didn't think of it much at the time, but Amazon might have some old/defective stock that they are selling to buyers. The batch codes on my filters were all 1111006.I downgraded my rating to 3 stars because I expected K&N oil filters to be Tier 1 products, and as a result I will be unable to ride the Ducati until I get replacement oil filters.UPDATE 18 MAR 2012, back to 5/5 stars:I contacted K&N to ship my defective filters back, but I needed a filter to get my bike running. I ordered another KN-153 from Amazon, and this time the box wasn't beat up and the filter seemed newer. I installed it with some lube on the gasket seal, torqued to 11 N-m as per the Ducati spec - which BTW seemed to be 1 turn after contacting the gasket, and fired up the engine. After several days of using the engine and riding the bike, I didn't find any puddles or signs of seepage. I guess the filter I had before was defective.UPDATE 14 APR 2012, no change in rating:K&N had shipped me replacements for each of the filters I sent back. They were all the same lot code as the one I purchased from Amazon so I could actually ride the Ducati while K&N did their investigation. The new filters they shipped me were all the same lot code as the new filter I purchased from Amazon: 0111118K&N tested the old filter and said nothing was wrong with the filter or gasket, and that it must have been because I didn't torque it enough (I had actually torqued it to the K&N spec, which is significantly higher than 11 N-m, it still leaked). The new filter from Amazon was installed on the bike, and I torqued it to 11 N-m as per Ducati's specification. After about a month of riding, and several 9000+ RPM shifts, there isn't a drop of oil seeping from the filter.

I have been using the K&N 153 on my Ducati Multistrada 1100s exclusively for the past 12 years and have had no problems whatsoever. Easy off/on with the 17mm nut as opposed to using a filter wrench. I've heard that these filters are better (more folded surface area) than the OEM and quite a bit cheaper. Running with Motul 7100T. Never had a leak or any issue. it's a no brainer, go with the K&N!

Fitted to a 2014 Ducati MTS Pikes Peak.This filter also has a nut on the bottom of the filter to help with removal.No filter straps or more extreme measures required!The nut is also thru drilled and you can use it to wire up to avoid any possibility of loosening.(We use a small tie wrap to the sump screw stud and it works well)This also avoids any tendency to over-tighten the filter on fitment 'cause you can secure its position regardless.

K&N is my go to oil filter for all of my vehicles. This K&N is for my Ducati 996 Not the cheapest but it has the best flow and filtration compared to other big name brand filters. Engine Masters on TV had a shootout of about 10 filters from budget Fram to an exotic custom filter tested on a Chevy V8. Most filters are either good or very good. This was the best flow and top tier filtration. I could probably get away with a cheaper filter since I change oil about every 3000 miles or every year at a minimum. The nut on the bottom is a bit hokey and kinda helps but not much which is why I took a 1/2 star off. I highly recommend this filter.

Filter fits and works as expected. Hex nut makes removal easy but I do not recommend using the hex nut to install with torque above manufacture's spec. You or your mechanic won't be able to remove the filter at the next change if you do.

No guessing when ordering parts. Get the right part for your motorcycle when needed. Great value. No complaints here!!!

Great fit. Reading the reviews, it seems K&N had some quality control issues on these not threading very well several years ago. That appears to have been a one off problem as it was an identical fit to the Ducati OEM filter. Easy to install with the nut built into the end. I did have some issues getting the old K&N filter off as the nut on the end was too soft and started to strip in the wrench. This wasn't a K&N problem though because the previous owner had torqued the filter on way beyond the recommended torque spec. I ended up having to drive a screw driver through the old filter to remove it. I don't see that problem happening again if filter is installed to correct torque spec. Definitely recommend prefilling your filter with oil prior to installing to reduce air in the system on first start up.

Changing the motor oil/filter on my2020 Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled 803 and replacing the current filter with aK&N oil filter. Easy replacement installed with no problems. Good pricing. Thank you