Was going through my service manual and got to the part about air filters. It says some models have an in line breather filter and a foam breather filter in the air box. This in on a 99 sportsman 500 by the way. I'm not talking about the round air filter and pre filter either. Anyway, mine doesn't have the foam pre filter for the rubber hose connected the the left side of the air box that goes to the engine. It does have the in line filter. The part I don't understand is it says some models have both and some have the foam. Then below it says never operate the engine without the foam prefilter. This info is on page 2.45 of the Polaris service manual for 99 models.

Does everyone else have the inline and the foam prefilter?

 

On the 99 Sportsman,you will see two black colored rubber hoses going to the black air filter box.The one on the left side is for the gas filter.The one on the right side is the breather hose.You'll see a plastic in line filter on the hose on the right,inside of it is the foam filter Polaris is talking about.Remove it from the plastic case and clean it.Good Luck,====BILL

 

On the 99 Sportsman,you will see two black colored rubber hoses going to the black air filter box.The one on the left side is for the gas filter.The one on the right side is the breather hose.You'll see a plastic in line filter on the hose on the right,inside of it is the foam filter Polaris is talking about.Remove it from the plastic case and clean it.Good Luck,====BILL