Replacing Ducati 748/916/996 Air Filters

Ducati superbikes have two air filters, one in each intake. To get to the filters you must remove the side fairings, the mirrors, the front cowl, the blinkers, and the intake covers. This is the left intake, with the filter removed. The filter sits in that diagonal slot:

It’s all pretty straightforward. I used my power drill to speed up removal and installation of the screws in the intake. I only used the drill to get the screws most of the way in, I did the final snugging by hand. They don’t require much torque. Some specs:

• Mirror, each – 8mm bolt
• Front cowl – (2) 4mm Allen bolts
• Blinker, each – 8mm bolt
• Intake cover, each – (6) Philips head screws
• Uni filter (pair) – NU-8302

Clean out the intakes really well, especially if anything has gotten to the airbox side. Replacing the filter consists of replacing the foam in between a plastic lattice. Save the plastic parts, they do not come with new filters.  Here is the Uni filter from my bike, a 1998 916:

The two lattice pieces simply clip together in three places. Here’s a shot of them separated:

Clean up the plastic bits if they’re dirty, and then install them on the new filters.

The seal between the intake and the filters didn’t seem great, so I elected to smear some grease along the edge of the filter where it meets the intake and cover. The goal is to put grease where air might be sneaking past the filter to prevent dirt from getting into the airbox. The dirt will stick to the grease instead of getting into the motor. You do not want grease to be anywhere on the airbox side of the intake. Any grease will work, as long as it is thick and sticky. All of this is probably overkill, but this is where I put it:

Put everything back together, and wipe off any excess grease that my have seeped through the seems of the intake.