Air Cleaner Maintenance
Bike Maintenance; Air filters and spark arrestors.
I did some maintenance on a couple of bike that had air filters so dirty you could not tell what color the filter foam was, let alone see the foam of the filter. Both bikes had about a 1/4" of dirt, crime and I think some other things actually growing in the dirt on the filter.
All Trials motorcycles have small foam air filters that need to be cleaned, or at least checked after each days ride. If the filter shows any signs of any dust, dirt, grime, anything (i have seen weeds/ grasses, all sorts of seeds and even small twigs trapped in filters) CLEAN THE FILTER and apply fresh filter oil.
A dirty filter can allow fine dust and grime to seep through the filter working into the carb and engine, causing damage.
I also worked on a bike that had an aftermarket spark arrestor on it. The arrestor was the larger style, about an 1.5" exit with a cone shaped screen inside. The screen was so plugged with burnt oils from the exhaust that i could not see light through it, even while holding it to a 100 watt light bulb. The oils collected in the screen had to be burnt with a torch to "cook" the residue so that it could be scraped off the screen.
The same maintenance is need with a spark arrestor as with an air filter, inspect and clean after each days ride.
If your bike does not run as you feel it should, does not have the power and acceleration it should, check and/or clean the air filter and spark arrestor, if equipped.
Any bike I get into the shop for maintenance I look at the air filter, 9 times out of 10 the filter need service from a simple cleaning to scraping dirt and grime from the filter then washing, drying and re-oiling.
If you don't think you could breath though the air filter or spark arrestor, neither can your bike, CLEAN IT.
If you have questions about your bikes air filter or spark arrestor contact Steve at Thumbs up Trials.