[robmcmaster1]

Hi all
I bought a 02 crf450r in pieces,just finishing the rebuild and ordered a air filter off of ebay but it doesn't fit.The seller says there are 2 different airboxes for that year bike.Can anyone verify this or know how to identify which 1 I have?

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

Does the face of the airbox where the filter is placed have 6 bumps/pins on it ?? , if so then its a 02 airbox , the other years do not have that ( as far as i know) and are shaped slightly different , though 02-04 airbox/subframe should work as far as fit on the bike , but the exhaust mount for the mid pipe is different on the 02 than 03-04 , but again , the 02 filter itself will be different and the 03-04 will be the same as each other , 05-08 are different from the 02 , and 03-04 , if you were searching on eBay then a lot of sellers don't have a clue as to the differences between the years and will say that ALL parts will swap between 02-08 , though most parts will swap from 02-08 , some are year specific

Does the filter not fit onto the cage correctly ? , is that the main issue ?? , or does it not sit down on the airbox correctly ??? , does the cage fit on the airbox correctly without the filter ????

If the filter fits correctly onto the cage , it "should" work , the 02 has a wide seating area of the filter (as they were prone to leaking dirt past so the filters were built up on the mating surface area to help keep dirt out of the intake tract , i just got a new brand filter (that i had not used before) and when i removed it (just moments ago in fact), i could see the surface was not as wide as my other filters , but it still sealed fine and no dirt got in , but the "bumps" were on the outer most edge of the filter sealing area as opposed to the center of it , a true 02 specific filter will have 6 round notches in its mating surface (for the pins)

But any filter i buy usually states its for the 02 ONLY , i prefer UNI filters as they seem to have the best surface sealing area , as its double reinforced and quite wide and won't distort easily , UNI part number is NU-4133ST if your interested , its specifically for the 02

Hope that helped

I can take pictures if you need them to decipher what a 02 box and filter look like , just ask ....

[robmcmaster1]

lots of good info thanks.I will be back home in couple days and confirm what airbox I have.Thanks