Sprint Filter P08 F1-85 Air Filter for Racing – Yamaha YZF-R3 (2015–2026) PM44S F1-85

The catalogue carries the racing weave for this motorcycle twice. Two entries, the same 85 micron polyester, two part numbers — and they are not interchangeable, because one of them expects the airbox to be altered before the element will sit where it belongs. This is the other one. The PM44S F1-85 goes into the YZF-R3 housing in the position the factory panel vacates, which makes it the form of the racing medium that can be fitted on a Saturday and undone on a Sunday if the answer turns out to be no.

Key Features

• Racing-grade dry polyester rated at 85 microns
• Throughput of 15,000 litres per square metre per second, the open end of the range
• Dry on arrival and dry after every clean — there is nothing on it to oil
• Around twice the filtering area of other performance filters
• Sits in the series airbox in the standard panel position, with no remap
• Cleaned and reused for the life of the machine; two-year warranty from purchase

Two entries, and what actually separates them

Where a price list keeps two lines apart for one motorcycle, the difference is seldom the cloth. Here it is the installation. The second listing is a kit that asks for the housing to be modified, and it is dearer for that reason and not for a finer or a coarser weave. Establishing which one you are holding takes a moment and saves an afternoon: the number is printed on the element itself, and the number in this listing is PM44S F1-85.

What 85 microns was drawn for

Coarser than the standard 80 micron weave and far more open — 15,000 litres per square metre per second against 5,050 — the racing medium assumes engines that are opened on their own schedule and elements that are inspected as a matter of routine rather than at printed intervals. Sprint Filter puts its retention of 100 micron test particles at 95.22 per cent against 93.13 for the P08, a reminder that aperture is only one term in how a weave holds material. None of that shows up as speed: no filter inside an unmodified airbox makes a road-going R3 faster, and the honest reason to choose this one is a class rule or a paddock habit rather than a lap time.

Care and cleaning

An open weave gives up its dust readily. Compressed air on the clean side, directed outwards, is the whole of the usual service. Where a wet or oily paddock has left more than air will move, wash it in hand-warm water with a mild washing-up detergent and rinse until the water is clear. Let it dry right through in circulating air, never with heat and never over a flame, and refit it dry with nothing applied to it. The maintenance sheet is in the Downloads tab.

Fitment & Compatibility

Specified for the Yamaha YZF-R3, model years 2015 to 2026. One machine stands against this part number; the Fitment tab lists it with its years.