Sprint Filter T12 Air Filter for Off-Road & Extreme – Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin (2017–2019) PM159T12

A machine with two airboxes invites an idea that does not work: fit the fine cloth on one side and leave the standard weave on the other, and get some of each. The engine does not read it that way. It draws through both elements at once, and air that can reach the throttle bodies through the looser path will take it, because that is the path of least resistance. The result is not an average of two specifications. It is close to the retention of the coarser element with only part of its flow. PM159T12 is the 7 µm nonwoven for this housing, and on this machine it is a decision about the pair.

Key Features

• Two elements per machine, both of them the same cloth — the pair is the unit
• 7 µm filtration at a rated 560 l/m²/sec, the tightest specification Sprint Filter lists
• Dry polyester nonwoven, developed for airborne mineral dust and sand
• No oil at any stage, so nothing can be carried downstream onto a probe
• Around twice the working area of a conventional performance element, per side
• Goes into both standard housings unaltered; washable, two-year guarantee

Parallel paths do not average

Two elements of the same specification behave as one filter of twice the area, which is why the pair can be judged by the figures on the listing. Two different specifications do not: the engine is not obliged to take half its air through each, and it will not. What such a mix buys is the weaker filtration of the two together with a flow figure well below what the standard pair would give. If the fine cloth is worth fitting, it is worth fitting on both sides; if it is not, neither side needs it.

Where 7 µm belongs, and where it does not

The T12 is the outer end of the range and describes air rather than ambition: suspended mineral dust as a normal condition, sand, tracks where a looser cloth is measured in engine life rather than in service intervals. Against the standard element for this housing at 80 µm and 5,050 l/m²/sec, this one is rated at 560: a large reduction in flow, on clean days as well as dirty ones, and given up twice because the engine breathes through two of them. No element makes a standard Africa Twin stronger. Chosen for the right air this is a deliberate trade; chosen for European tarmac it is a cost with nothing on the other side.

Care and cleaning

Service both elements together. Compressed air from the clean face outward is the routine, and with a mat this dense it repays patience. Where air is not enough, wash PM159T12 in lukewarm water with a mild detergent and rinse thoroughly. Drying cannot be hurried and cannot be helped along: still air only, never a heat source and never a flame, and nothing goes back into a housing damp or treated. The Sprint Filter maintenance sheet is in the Downloads tab.

Fitment & Compatibility

PM159T12 is listed for the Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin from 2017 to 2019 — one machine, two elements. The later CRF1100L carries its own reference, so check the build year against the compatibility list on this page before ordering, and order for the count the engine requires.