Yesterday I did a service on a friends Dino, which he bought about 18 months ago. As we know, it's fairly quick and easy for the engine oil & filter change but the HFT filter is another story, though the Owner's manual makes it sound so simple too. Allow 2 hours or a bit more to change the oil and both filters. The Owner's manual says to replace both filters at every oil change - 6000km or 4000ml.
I cut the old HFT filter open along the pleats to remove the filter medium so that I could examine what it had filtered out, thereby allowing filtered oil to enter the hydraulic pump and motor that we so like about this model Honda. I rinsed the pleated paper in kero vigorously, poured out most of the kero and used a magnet to remove the metal. There was still a very small amount of non-metal rubbish in the bottom of the tub.
This pic shows the metal particles that were retrieved. Had they gone into the pump & motor they would probably have caused them to seize as the clearances within them are minute.
The grey matter on the left is fine metal particles.
Given that there wasn't much crud at all in the filter and that it does very good job, I think I'll leave HFT filter change to every second oil change on mine.
When replacing the filter cover, ensure the O ring placed on the outer-most (larger_ machined surface and apply some grease to it to hold it in place while fitting the cover. The O ring tends to slip off without grease holding it there and onto the smaller diameter of the cover and get displaced, which will cause an oil leak if fitted like that.
(The last time I changed a HFT filter was on my own Dino, almost 3 years ago - soon after I got it. Perhaps I should do it again for practice.)
www.westcoastmotorcycles.com.au
