The backfiring of a motorcycle is one of the worst issues. It is very frustrating and scary when it fires suddenly. In the back end, I had faced that issue with my first motorcycle Honda. There are several reasons I found out that lead a motorcycle to backfire, which I am mentioning below.
1. Air and fuel mixture
For operating a combustion process properly, proper mixing of air and fuel is crucial. When there is more fuel than required in the combustion chamber, the excess fuel can not be combusted in resulting unburnt fuel escaping through the exhaust valve causing a sound like gunfire. If the fuel supply is reduced and more air enters the combustion chamber, the same thing will happen due to more fuel entering the engine than required. After ignition due to sufficient or insufficient air and fuel in the combustion chamber, Motorcycles backfire happens. Air and fuel must enter the engine in the correct ratio for the combustion process to operate properly.
2. Spark plug
Most of the time a motorcycle misfires because of a malfunctioning spark plug. A faulty or malfunctioning plug causes a backfire and can not ignite the engine piston at the right time. A malfunctioning spark plug can not maintain the right air and fuel mixture and also can not generate enough spark for a complete combustion. Unburnt fuel enters the exhaust valve and ignites hot exhaust, which causes a misfire.
3. Air filter
A damaged air filter can not filter dirt, debris, or polluted air. It passes all of this unwanted stuff to the engine. Which obstructs the normal performance of an engine. On the other hand, a clogged air filter prevents sufficient air from entering the engine. Which may result in a misfire.
4. Exhaust pipe
A leaked and clogged exhaust pipe causes a misfire. A leaked exhaust pipe allows the intake and supply of more than necessary air to the engine which obstructs the proper mixing of air and fuel and a clogged exhaust pipe leads to generating back pressure of the engine causing a misfire.
Prevention:
Ensure the right air and fuel mixture, change spark plugs after every 20,000 kilometers and air filter after every 15,000 kilometers to ensure better performance, and fix or change your motorcycle exhaust when needed. A maximum of times backfires happened for the spark plug and the spark plug got damaged for several reasons.
1. Bad quality fuel
Bad-quality fuel can not be burned properly that’s why the spark plug of a motorcycle is seen to be soaked in oil.
2. Fuel overflow
due to overflow, raw oil enters the engine resulting in white smoke coming out through the exhaust, and for burning raw oil, the spark plugs get soaked in oil and become black.
3. Valve oil seal
When the valve oil seal wears out and starts licking oil the spark plug gets damaged.
4. Cylinder and piston
When the cylinder and piston ring wear out the oil will start leaking and the reason you will get a damaged plug. Take care of the above-mentioned points and thank me later.
Recommendation: Do not experiment on your own as it may lead to worse. Take your motorcycle to an expert to find errors and fix them. Service your motorcycle on time according to the schedule.