edit: Paul and I were typing at the same time. The gear whine in the Talon is painful to me so I'm wearing ear plugs all the time, even have a jar of them in the cup holder so I can't forget them. Even with my helmet on the gear whine is painful and will cause long term hearing damage.
Yes. That and the gaskets are the reasons I installed an S&B and after 2000 miles with the filter still like new,, I put locktite on the bolts and now use a scope through the drain hole to inspect the filter at each 600 mile service.
With the S&B, I am most certain my filter will last between 10K and 20K miles, not 250 like my first one. S&B pays for itself on a Talon.
FWIW: It's important for everyone to know that Locktite kills some plastics, they'll crystalize. So anytime you're using it, make sure it doesn't touch any plastic.
Donaldson filterminder is $30. I for one dont believe i can accurately judge a filters condition by looking at it. I have done the uni prefilter, and have put over 8000 miles on the honda filter since then in the Arizona, Utah,Idaho dust and things still work. The s&b looks good, but i cant see spending that kind of money to protect a $50 filter. 13,500 miles total and i bought a lot of filters before the uni. Wish i had done a donaldson top spin instead of the uni, but this works well and its in place now
The only thing I dislike about the Uni/snorkel is cleaning the thing - I oil mine heavily, since that's what makes them work, and they're a goopy mess when it's time for cleaning. Yes, I squeeze them out as hard as I can but the plastic end makes it impossible in that area. You'd think after 50 years of dirt bikes I'd be used to it but I'm not. Having a spare filter so I can clean it when I'm in the mood helps and changes take less than 5 minutes.
I'll do the first filter check at 2000 miles on my new Talon. Yep, 2000 miles.
My original filter at 1137 miles, all of them with the Uni prefilter on a snorkel behind the passenger's seat.
The Uni at 1066 and its first cleaning -
Many guys clean a foam filter long before it's needed - it doesn't have to pass the white glove test, all it has to do is flow air and their design allows them to work when they're filthy. This thing is bright red underneath.