Today we're doing something we haven't done on camera before: pulling the Figurati Magnetic Reusable Oil Filter off a Harley-Davidson after 5,000 miles, cracking it open, and showing you exactly what it caught. This happened to be oil change day on this bike too, so you'll see a routine three-hole service (engine, primary, and transmission) going on in the background using products from the Law Abiding Biker Store — but the star of this one is the filter teardown. (see video below)

If you've been on the fence about switching to a reusable magnetic oil filter, this is the video for you. We're not just telling you it works better than a stock OEM paper filter — we're opening it up and showing you the proof.

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Why We Run the Figurati Filter and Dipsticks Together

Before we get into the teardown, it's worth explaining why we don't just run the Figurati Magnetic Reusable Oil Filter by itself. We also run the Figurati magnetic engine and transmission dipsticks in combination, and there's a real reason for that.

Your oil is circulating through the whole system, and each of these components is catching debris at a different point in that flow. The engine dipstick and transmission dipstick each carry a 2,000-gauss neodymium magnet sitting directly in the oil, grabbing ferrous metal particles the moment they show up. The oil filter is doing its job further down the line. Interestingly, once we started running the dipsticks and the filter together, we noticed the dipstick magnets were catching less than they used to — because the filter is now grabbing some of that debris too. That's the system working the way it should.

The transmission dipstick deserves a special mention here. Your transmission case has no other filtration at all, so that magnet is the only thing standing between metal particles and your transmission internals.

Everything we used in this video — the Figurati filter, the wrench, the drain pan, the funnel kit — is available in the Law Abiding Biker Store. We're a bootstrap company of bikers helping bikers, and we actually use, test, and install many of the products we sell before we ever put it in front of you. Watch out for cheap knockoffs floating around Amazon and eBay — when you buy from us, you know exactly what you're getting. And remember: free shipping on orders over $100, and no sales tax if you're outside Washington State.

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Cracking Open the Figurati After 5,000 Miles — What We Found

This was the first time we've pulled this filter apart and wanted to show you what's actually happening inside after real miles on the bike. Once the housing was off, it was pretty much what we expected: the internal stainless-steel mesh and the array of magnets were coated in fine ferrous metal and debris.

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The Figurati filter carries five total neodymium magnets working alongside the mesh — four external pre-filtering magnets rated at 2,700 gauss, plus a fifth internal magnet at 2,800 gauss positioned beneath the bypass spring. Wiping the magnets down showed a heavy coating of fine gray metallic debris that a stock OEM paper filter simply has no way of catching.

This is really the whole point of running a serviceable, reusable filter instead of a disposable one. With a paper filter, you change it and throw it in the trash — you never get to see what's actually circulating through your engine. With the Figurati, you can pull it apart at every oil change, inspect it, and catch a real problem early. If we'd started seeing large metal chunks instead of fine debris, that would have been a red flag worth chasing down before it became a bigger issue.

We also want to address something that comes up in the comments constantly: the claim that a stock OEM filter catches more debris than the Figurati because of micron ratings. That's simply not accurate, and we've done a full deep dive on exactly why in a separate article & video — Harley-Davidson Reusable Oil Filters: What Every Rider Needs to Know Before Making a Switch. The short version: a filter rated too fine on the micron scale will plug and trigger the bypass valve, sending unfiltered oil around the filter instead of through it. That's exactly why OEM paper filters are commonly rated around 10 microns nominal rather than absolute, while the Figurati is rated at 25 microns absolute — a genuinely apples-to-apples comparison the “10 micron” argument ignores entirely.

We should also mention: don't count on the little magnets built into your OEM drain plugs to do this job. They're weak, they only catch the largest debris that happens to settle at the very bottom of the case, and they sit outside the active oil flow. They're better than nothing, but not by much.

How to Clean and Reassemble Your Figurati Oil Filter

If you're running the Figurati, here's the process we used to service it:

Disassembly. Push down on the housing, turn it a quarter turn to release it from the internal channels, and the ears will pop up so you can separate the stainless mesh filter from the housing. Take note of which way the internal spring cone faces — it goes cone-up — so you don't have to guess when you put it back together.

Bypass system. Back out the threaded collar, remove the ball bearing, and pull the bypass spring. The fifth magnet (2,800 gauss) sits at the base of that spring — don't lose track of it.

Cleaning. Spray the housing and mesh filter with parts cleaner, working from the inside out. A cap from another aerosol can makes a handy 90-degree nozzle extension if you want to direct the spray into tight corners. Follow up with warm water and soap, working inside-out again to flush out anything the parts cleaner loosened. Don't use compressed air on it — that can damage the mesh.

Drying. Let it air dry for about 24 hours, or overnight outside in the sun if you want it to go faster. If you don't want to wait, a second filter is a smart investment — clean one while the other's on the bike, and you're never stuck waiting to ride.

O-rings. Every Figurati filter comes with two extra external gaskets and two internal bypass O-rings. You can reuse the originals if they inspect clean, or replace them every time for peace of mind — we replace ours.

Reassembly. New O-ring into the internal channel, bypass spring back in cone-up, ball bearing on top, threaded collar snugged down (by hand, then just a light tightening with a wrench — don't overtighten). Mesh filter back into the housing cone-up, new outer O-ring seated in its channel, and the whole assembly reinstalled by hand only — snug it down, then give it a quarter to a half turn max. Never use a wrench to tighten an oil filter onto the bike; you'll overtighten it and it won't come back off next time.

For removal, we recommend the Figurati End Cap Oil Filter Wrench, built specifically for these filters so you're not relying on a 17mm socket that could round off or mar the finish.

The Tools That Make This Job Easy

While we had the bike on the lift, we ran through the full three-hole service — engine, primary, and transmission — using a few tools we carry specifically because we got tired of paying dealership prices for the Harley-Davidson branded versions.

Our low-profile oil drain pan is functionally identical to the Harley-branded pan at a fraction of the price — flat design, no lip to catch on, plenty of clearance to get up under the bike and pull plugs cleanly. It works just as well on an Indian, for the record.

The 3-in-1 Harley-Davidson oil change funnel kit covers all three holes: a funnel for the oil filter removal (with a hose so oil goes exactly where you want it instead of down the bike), a funnel that makes filling the primary a non-event, and a small funnel that actually fits the tight transmission and engine fill holes without spilling everywhere.

We're a full 45 minutes to an hour into a job that would run you $400 to $500 at a dealership, using basic tools, and getting the satisfaction of knowing it was done right. If you want the complete step-by-step on servicing your own bike, we've got two dedicated tutorial videos covering the Milwaukee-Eight and Twin Cam motors.

Wrapping Up the Service

Once the housing was clean and reassembled, we hit it with Bug Slide before putting it back on the bike — our go-to waterless cleaner for chrome, paint, and just about every other surface on the bike, and gentle enough that we don't reach for parts cleaner near a finished part. We also pulled the transmission dipstick, which had been in place for the same 5,000 miles with zero other filtration protecting that case, and it was carrying a noticeable amount of collected debris on the magnet.

Everything went back together with AMSOIL in all three holes, the primary and transmission were topped off using the funnel kit, and the filter went back on hand-tight with the wrench used only to get it started — never to torque it down.

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Watch the full teardown, cleaning process, and service below to see every step in real time.