Sprint Filter P08 F1-85 Air Filter for Racing – Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 (2018–2026) CM196S F1-85

The word Racing in the title of this page is not a verdict on anybody's motorcycle. It comes from the price list, where each medium is filed under an intended duty, and it describes the cloth. Sprint Filter also says of itself that its filters are the most used in MotoGP, Moto3, World Superbike, Supersport and Superstock — by the company's own account, which is a manufacturer's statement about its programme rather than an independent measurement, and not a claim about what a Continental GT 650 will do with this element fitted.

Key Features

• Racing-specification polyester, run dry, filtering at 85 µm
• 15,000 l/m²/sec rated flow, roughly triple the standard weave's 5,050
• Retention measured at 95.22 % on the 100-micron fraction
• About twice the filter area of other performance elements, inside the standard box
• Drops into the series airbox as it is — nothing modified, nothing remapped
• Never oiled, washable, specified for the life of the machine, two-year warranty

What a label from a price list can tell you

It tells you what the medium was drawn for, which is genuinely useful, and nothing at all about whether that duty is yours. The 80 µm weave is filed under road and track, this cloth under racing, the 14 µm non-woven under dusty conditions — and all three are listed against the identical three motorcycles over the identical years. The catalogue has therefore sorted the cloth and left the motorcycle to its owner. That is the right way round, but it does mean the decision cannot be read off the page.

The honest part

Fitted to a standard Continental GT 650 this element will feel like nothing whatsoever, because a drop-in filter does not make a standard motorcycle noticeably stronger and an open weave only raises a ceiling that road use never reaches. What survives that deduction is small and real: a cloth that takes longer to load than a finer one, a panel washed back to a known condition instead of replaced, and a housing that is never opened up or altered to accept it.

Care and cleaning

The CM196S F1-85 is serviced dry and refitted dry. Compressed air on the clean face, worked outwards, takes off what the weave has caught; nothing is oiled or coated at any stage. A greasy film calls for lukewarm water, a drop of mild detergent and a thorough rinse. Drying is done in open air alone, with nothing warm anywhere near the element — a heat source is what actually destroys one. The maintenance sheet is filed under Downloads.

Fitment & Compatibility

For the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, 2018 to 2026. The identical element is listed for the Interceptor 650 across the same years and for the Bear 650 from 2025 — three machines on one airbox. Check yours in the Fitment tab.