Been using OEM oil filters on all my sportbikes - 2000 ZX-12R, 2006 ZX-14, and 2012 ZX-14R. Has anyone ever tried the ST6607 Supertech oil filter from Wal-Mart? I've been using them on my cars for years and have always had good luck with them.

Probably be fine as long as the bypass and all that is setup for the same pressure. I suppose if it's specific part # for the bike, IMO it should be fine. I say stick with OEM. Not sure what kind of cars you have but there's a difference between the engine in a supersport and the family truckster. Or to say, run good filter and oils and it might decrease the chances of it throwing a rod for 100k miles.

I say stick with OEM.

Thanks Vic and Rook. OEM it is.

Out of curiosity, I took the ST6607 Supertech filter (the one for the 14) apart because I wanted to see what it looked like inside. No big deal money wise because it only cost $2.84. There's no bypass valve in this filter, which I think is something important. I watched Vic's video on you tube where he took a 16097-0008 Kawasaki oil filter apart. The OEM filter is very impressive compared to the ST6607. I want what's best for my bike. I'll stick with the $12 OEM compared to the $2.84 filter which I wouldn't trust without the bypass valve.
By the way Vic, great video! You explain things so good, just like Rook does on his videos.

There's an anti-drainback valve on the OEM filter. What does the bypass valve do?

Isn't that for in case the element gets so clogged the engine would still get adequate flow through the by-pass?

One thing the bypass valve does is prevent dry starts. If it's really cold out the oil is thicker, sometimes unable for it to pass through the filter quick enough. When that happens, a valve on one end of the filter element opens up and the oil flows right back into the engine. It's unfiltered oil, but it makes sure the oil flow will keep going right back into the engine preventing oil starvation. The other thing is like mad5674 said. If the element is filthy, it'll bypass it and the oil will flow around it and right back into the engine, unfiltered of course. That's why the oil filter should be changed at every oil change, unlike some people I know don't do. Oil filters can clog up just like air filters except it's worse having a clogged oil filter.

--- some kind of weird double post ---

* Last updated by: VicThing on 5/3/2017 @ 6:07 PM *

Thanks Mok I wish I had better video skills. I thought the oil filter video was pretty good, there's no doubt the 0008 is a great filter although it's "build" isn't quite as exotic as the old 0004.

I am of the mindset that these days people are overly concerned with filters. The main reason is oil filter marketing hype. And I don't mean throw some paper towels in a can and you're good to go. I mean that IMO any "marketing" such as "filters down to .0000000000000000000001 micron" is pointless and serves no practical purpose.

For standard engines, Frams cheap orange filters quality and filtration are completely adequate. They are an engineered product designed to meet certain specifications, cardboard glued endcaps and all. Performance engines IMO do deserve a little more attention simply because the extremes the engine will see. IMO the most important thing is the bypass valve pressure, which needs to be the same. And that's the problem with "guessing" that because a filter will screw on it's compatible. Two filters might screw on but one might have a 8 lb bypass spring and the other might be 4 lb, because that's what the engine manufactures called for. So in one engine, the one might allow bypass too frequently and in the another engine might not bypass enough.

Been using Wix filters on all my vehicles for years. The trouble with off-brands like Supertech is, you have no idea who makes them or where they come from. Like Harley-Davidson oil, the label tells you nada about who makes it. If they are made by a good manufacturer, they're probably ok. I know Wix makes a lot of filters that get other brand names on them before retailing. I'm sure the OEM filters are good quality, but they're kind of spendy.

With regard to the Wal-mart filter, they do indeed have a by-pass valve. The Kawasaki by-pass is 1 bar (14.5 psi) differential but the Wal-Mart filter, due to multiple applications, likely covers a range from 10 - 16 psi.

The anti-drainback valve covers the inlet holes on the baseplate in order to prevent oil from draining out of the filter when the engine is not running. The by-pass valve is there to allow oil flow through the filter in the event that the filter media is unable to pass the required amount of fluid. This is all based on a pressure differential across the media and once the inlet pressure is greater than the outlet pressure by 14.5 psi then the by-pass will open and allow unfiltered oil to the engine. Dirty oil is better than no oil.

Most low cost oil filters will provide an efficiency of 95% for particles greater than 30 micron (beta ratio of 20). This is likely the standard that the OEM filter sets and probably the same for the SuperTech. Better quality filters will filter 99.5% of the particles of 20 micron size (beta ratio of 200). One critical aspect to note is the flow characteristics. Some OEM filters have lower filtering capability because the manufacturer feels that flow is more important than particle removal. This might also be Kawasaki's stance based on their choices of filter design.

I personally use either OEM or Mahle OC575.

Fowvay, the ST6607 Supertech filter does not have a bypass-relief valve. I cut it open and looked. The endcap on the back or inside of the filter element is a solid metal cover with NO valve or hole to relieve pressure. The OEM has one. Check out VicThings video on youtube.

That's pretty crazy no bypass. As far as I underatnd, and it's somewhat ridiculous but apparently conditions can happen under normal operation bypass may occur. During start up or high rpmn/higher oil pressure situations. So if someone is considering a filter that has no bypass this would seem scary to me.

And again, bypassing seems like a vary strange situation because no filtration is occur and even worse it seems like potentially filtered debris could re-enter the oiling system during bypass.

LOL it's one reason I've come to the determination filtration down to the umpteenth degree is completely pointless and useless. It's also another reason I believe (I don't know) magnets are a good thing to put on the filter housing.

Mokaw, every application for that filter requires a by-pass relief valve. It is possible that you have on older version that had the by-pass valve located at the base plate (Ford requires this on many of their applications). Those filters are dirt cheap and I will buy one today and do a cut-and-paste and post the photos here.

I also have a Mexican made Gohner brand filter of the exact same design that I'll post pics of and possibly and OEM Mahle produced OC575 branded as a Nissan filter.

These filters are utter garbage. You can see how poorly designed they are, how small the filtering surface is, and how cheap the by-pass is. It's a piece of rubber that deforms under pressure to allow oil to pass.

But ultimately, this is the by-pass valve with the slots on the side that allow oil to pass when the pressure delta across the media is exceeded. OK, this is my $3.01 contribution to this thread :)

* Last updated by: Fowvay on 5/6/2017 @ 9:47 AM *

Thanks Forway. Very cool. I'm not an engineer with an undersatnding of such parts or fuild dynamics to konw whether just by the design this is bad or good. Most of my knowledge of understanding typically between good and bad filter "practices" are based on observing results from other oil filter testing and information. I can't say just because this bypass is built differently it can't or doesn't work properly.

The type of rubber is significant though. Most rubbers in a filter are nitrile or silicone, silicone being the superior, longer lasting. Nitril tends to harden over time which could very well impact this bypass's functioning. I don't believe there's any laws about coloration of the rubber inside filters, but it seems most of the time black can indicate nitrile. It certainly has the appearance of nitrile rubber.

Nitrile as the anti-drain back valve, and bypass could potentially lead to poor anti-drain back performance and poor bypass performance. Theoretically, the anti-drain back could fail allowing oil to back out of oil system. The bypass could fail, either not allowing bypass or allowing too much bypass (in the case the rubber might fail "open").

I don't know the implications of this. Probably under normal duty and normal change intervals it would probably be fine. For those int he severe duty like me who change the oil (in my autos) 6 months I would not want to run this filter. Filter media looks pretty good, people would like metal end caps and metal anti-crush tube. Coil spring is generally considered superior to the stamped/leaf springs. In this situation, it's probably more important to have a coil spring vs leaf spring.

I think it's an interesting design. But given there's a single piece of rubber which plays multiple roles and that rubber is a "negative" as far as typical reviews I would say this filter is something I wouldn't use on my bike and most likely not on my autos.

I use fram TG in my auto, synthetic media, silicone anti drain back valve, metal anti-crush, about the only "drawback" is it uses cardborad end caps and not metal. For ~$6 it's a good filter and I have no problem running it for 6 months. The cardboard thing never bothered me, plenty of take off's cut open and there's just not issues with the cardboard and most likely any filter will fail some place else before the cardboard end caps. Metal end caps are like a guarantee, you put them under your pillow at night and the end cap fairy will leave you a quarter.

I feel that the carboard endcap controversy is way overblown. I have NEVER seen a failure of one of the carboard end caps.

Here's my choice...built in magnet, stainless steel mesh 30 micron, race mechanic tear down proven....pricey but one time only. Plus I use a magnetic drain plug to boot.

Do you know what percentage of 30µ particles are being removed? There should be a published beta ratio with particle size capture for this filter.

Don't have that info, but researched a ton of reviews, from many years back, and many professionals with different applications, and could not find a single negative from any.

Best oil filter thread I've seen in a while.

I thought I read a while back that the marketing can be miss leading
In that they state "the smallest" the filter captures and that most
companies dont state the largest that passes through.

So although a filter may capture down to like 4mic it may let like 10mic through
Where as another filter may capture down to 5mic but may only let largest of
8mic through.

So the one that may not filter down as much might actually be a better filter.

Totally made up the sizes, but is there anything to that?

That may of actually been marketing speak from the aluminum reusable filter people.

Your text to link here...

Fowvay, if that piece of rubber is considered a by-pass valve, I think it's a very poor excuse for one. Thanks everyone for the information. By the way Fowvay, love your bike. It' just like mine.