Sprint Filter P08 Air Filter for Road & Track – KTM 1090 Adventure / R (2016–2019) PM155S

The 1090 Adventure is a year-round motorcycle in the hands of most of the people who own one. That is the point of an adventure bike with a screen and heated grips: it goes out in February. February, in most of Europe, means a road surface treated with salt, spray thrown up by everything ahead of you, and air that never quite dries out between one ride and the next.

Key Features

• Dry polyester medium — never oiled, so there is nothing to wash out and nothing to re-apply
• Woven polyester threads from 22 micrometres, not pressed paper fibre
• Around twice the filtering surface of other performance air filters
• Direct replacement in the standard airbox — no modification, no remap
• Washable and reusable, designed by Sprint Filter to last the life of the motorcycle
• Two-year warranty from the date of purchase

What winter does to a paper element

Paper is cellulose, and cellulose absorbs water. A filter that has taken up moisture swells at the pleat folds, and the swelling closes the very apertures the element is measured by; when it dries it does not return to the shape it started with. Add road salt to the moisture and the process is quicker. None of this shows up as a warning light. It shows up as an engine that pulls slightly less willingly in March than it did in October, which most riders put down to the weather. The P08 PM155S is woven polyester. It gets wet, it dries, and its aperture is the same afterwards.

Salt, and the argument against oiled filters

The alternative to paper is usually an oiled cotton gauze, and winter is precisely where that choice goes wrong. Oil and salt spray make a paste; the paste raises restriction faster than a clean element would ever load up, and oil carried downstream settles on the hot-film sensor, where a film reads as less air than is actually passing. The P08 has no oil in it and never has. Cleaning is compressed air from the clean side, or lukewarm water and a mild detergent when the season has been particularly unkind — then air-dried and refitted dry.

Care and cleaning

Blow it through from the clean side with compressed air, working outwards. For a deeper clean, wash in lukewarm water with a mild detergent, rinse until the water runs clear, and let it dry fully in air — never with heat, never with a flame. Refit it dry; there is no oiling step and never has been. The Sprint Filter maintenance sheet is in the Downloads tab.

Fitment & Compatibility

Made for the KTM 1090 Adventure and 1090 Adventure R from 2016 to 2019. The same PM155S element covers thirteen machines across the KTM and Husqvarna range; the complete list is in the Fitment tab.