Sprint Filter T12 Air Filter for Off-Road & Extreme – Honda CRF450R (2021–2026) SM248T12

A 450 finds its lap time in a different part of the rev range than a 250 does. The drive comes out of the corner and in the middle, and the engine spends a smaller share of the moto held against the ceiling — which means the flow a very fine filter medium gives away is worth proportionally less on this machine than on the smaller one. The Sprint Filter T12 SM248T12 is a dry polyester special non-woven, filtering to 7 microns at a rated 560 l/m²/sec, built for extreme conditions.

Key Features

• The standard airbox takes it as a direct replacement — no modification, no remapping
• Filtration to 7 microns from the finest medium in the range: a dry polyester special non-woven
• 560 l/m²/sec of rated flow, specified for off-road, desert dust and extreme conditions
• A dry medium: nothing to apply to it, nothing to be carried downstream
• Washable and reused, serviced with compressed air from the clean side outwards
• Two years of warranty, starting at the purchase date

The cheapest component in a very expensive chain

On a competition 450 the top end is a scheduled item counted in hours, and the interval it is given assumes clean air arriving at the intake. Everything else in that assumption is out of the rider's hands — the piston, the valve seats, the bore finish — but the assumption itself rests on one part that costs a fraction of the rest and is serviced with a compressor between motos. This is the reason the air filter is treated as the critical maintenance item on a motocross bike and as a background chore on a road bike: the consequence of getting it wrong is not a slow loss of throttle response, it is the rebuild arriving early. Fine filtration is bought for that reason and no other.

A bigger engine loads the same element faster

Two identical elements do not age at the same rate behind different engines. The 450 draws considerably more air per hour than the 250 on the same fitment list, so for the same laps on the same track it collects a larger load — a difference that matters more with a fine medium, because a 7 micron weave reaches the point of visible restriction earlier than an 80 micron one would. Plan servicing around that rather than around a mileage figure, and if your racing happens mostly on prepared, watered surfaces, look honestly at the P08 at 5,050 l/m²/sec or the P14 at 1,800 instead. Across the media is the right direction to choose; up them is not, because there is no up.

Care and cleaning

Compressed air first, from the clean side and always outwards. If that leaves it short, wash the SM248T12 in lukewarm water with a mild detergent and rinse until the water runs clear, then let it dry out fully in air — never with heat, never over a flame. Refit it dry; there is no oiling step of any kind on this medium. Sprint Filter designs the element to last the life of the motorcycle, and the maintenance sheet is in the Downloads tab.

Fitment & Compatibility

Made for the Honda CRF450R from 2021 to 2026. One element covers four machines across the CRF competition range; the complete list is in the Fitment tab.