Air Cleaner & Emission
Equipment
Air Cleaner
- Your bike's got to breathe, and so do you, so
both of these areas are important. Taking care of your air filter
is a no brainer! If you have a paper type, check it every 4,000
miles, or even more often if you ride in dusty conditions or lots
of rain. If it looks bad, replace it. If you have an after market
washable type, by all means wash the damn thing. Don't forget to
clean out the air filter housing too. Everywhere you can reach. It
doesn't take much effort, and your bike will run better. Your
motor and carbs will last longer too. That's a big benefit for
such a small effort!
- Running around with a dirty air filter not
only makes your bike run bad, but it causes the air/fuel mixture
to be too rich. This will over time foul your plugs, and lead to
deposits in your intake system.
- Most air cleaner elements have a rubber seal /
edge. Put a thin layer of grease on it. It will seal
better.
- Never Never Never run your bike without an air
filter. Dirt and dust is the last thing you want getting into your
motor.
- Rather than waiting for the interval called
out in your owner's manual, inspect your air filter more often.
Bang it a few times to remove particles of dirt, then blow it out
with compressed air. Doing this on a regular basis will extend the
life of your air filter.
- I found a replacement auto air
filter for my 95 750 nighthawk that fits right in the stock air
box, the only thing that is required is to slightly bend the
filter when installing it. I bought it at Murrays auto parts
Powerflo # sa13192 about $5.00 quite a savings over Hondas $30.00
filter. The FRAM equivalent is CA3559, but I haven't tried this
one for fit yet. John
Emission Equipment
- Modern bikes have a closed crankcase system to
prevent hydrocarbons from being discharged into the atmosphere.
Blow-by gases are returned to the combustion chamber through the
air cleaner and the carburetor. To prevent moisture from
contaminating the engine compartment (this is bad), a seperator is
used, which sends the gases off to be burned, and the moisture is
sent "down the tube". If you don't periodically drain the
crankcase breather tube, guess where the moisture goes!!
- The crankcase breather tube should be checked
more frequently if the bike is operated at continuous high speeds,
or in the rain. It only takes a few seconds to pop the cap off and
drain it. Make it a regular habit.
- California models have an EVAP (Evaporative
Emissions Control System). Without getting too technical, it's
just a canister with some hoses, routed through a couple of valves
(an air vent control valve and a purge control valve). When these
things start going bad, your bike runs bad. That's all I can tell
you. I'm not an automotive engineer. Normal maintenance would be
visual inspection, looking for cracked hoses, cracks in the EVAP
canister, and periodic replacement of the EVAP canister. Check
your owner's manual.
Troubleshooting Emission Control
Equipment
If your engine stalls, is hard to start, or idles rough, it
might be caused by:
- a faulty EVAP purge control valve
- a faulty EVAP CAV control valve
- kinked or clogged hoses in the emission
control system
If your fuel economy and your performance is getting worse,
check for:
- a faulty EVAP CAV control valve
- Damaged or misconnected emission control
system hoses
If you get Afterburn when you engine brake, it might be caused
by:
- a faulty Pulse secondary air supply
system
- Plugged hoses in the emission control system