Sprint Filter P08 Air Filter for Road & Track – Triumph Tiger Explorer XCx/ XCa / XR / XRt (2018–2022) PM202S

From 2018 to 2022 the Tiger Explorer was sold as the XCx, the XCa, the XR and the XRt — four specification levels breathing through one airbox. What they share matters more here than what separates them: these are machines bought to cover distance, and distance is the whole reason to think about an air filter. An element does not age by the odometer. It ages by the volume of air drawn through it, and a fortnight of loaded touring moves more air through the intake than a commuter bike sees in a year. The Sprint Filter PM202S is a dry woven polyester element that is cleaned rather than replaced, which lets the interval follow the riding instead of the sticker.

Key Features

• Threads from ø 22 microns, one woven layer, a calibrated 80 µm aperture
• The standard Sprint Filter medium for road and track use, rated 5,050 l/m²/sec
• Dry and never oiled: no film can travel to the air sensor or the throttle bodies
• Roughly double the filtering surface other performance filters offer, in the standard airbox
• Nothing changes on the bike's paperwork — direct replacement, no modification, no remap
• Washable, reusable, two years of warranty dated from purchase

Two identical odometers, two very different filters

Take two XRt models with the same reading. One did five years of short trips to work. The other did three long summers with panniers and a pillion at sustained speed, where every kilometre demands far more air. Their filters are not in remotely the same condition, yet the maintenance book gives both the same date. This is the argument for a washable element rather than a scheduled one: inspection costs nothing but the time to reach the airbox, so the loading you find decides what happens next. The PM202S has two states — as-fitted, or ten minutes away from as-fitted.

The restriction peaks when you are furthest from home

A drop-in filter will not make a standard triple noticeably stronger. What it does is hold intake restriction near its starting point. A paper element climbs steadily as it loads, which means the worst air path of the interval is the very end of it — and on a touring bike the end of the interval has a habit of arriving just before the longest trip of the year. Cleaning is a bench job of minutes, so the big departure can start at the low end of that curve rather than the high end.

Care and cleaning

Normal service for the PM202S is a line of compressed air on the clean side, blown outwards. After a rough season, wash the element in lukewarm water with a mild detergent, rinse it until the water runs clear and leave it to dry completely in open air — heat and flame are never used. It goes back dry, and it is never oiled. Downloads is where the maintenance sheet sits.

Fitment & Compatibility

Made for the Triumph Tiger Explorer XCx, XCa, XR and XRt of 2018 to 2022. The same element serves six Tiger Explorer listings in all, from the 1215 machines of 2011 through to this final 1200 generation. The full list with model years is in the Fitment tab.