If you think that your bike simply needs an air intake valve, I’m sorry to tell you but that’s not true, and no, it doesn’t only increase your running expenses (I have noticed a lot of people avoid buying one thinking it’s uneconomic). In fact, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The air filter is there to make sure your bike is running long and strong, otherwise it would have given up a long time ago.
To put it simply, the air filters are there to make sure that the air that goes into our bikes is clean enough as to help burn the fuel. And it’s important to mention that the cleaner the air is, the better combustion you will get out of your bike and in turn you will get more efficiency and power delivery. Otherwise, in order to get the same result without a motorcycle air filter, you would need to burn more fuel because the air is not clean enough to produce a proper combustion. That had been the major cause of incomplete combustion in older vehicles which resulted in a lot of smoke coming out of the exhaust.
So how do they work? Well, air filters feature multiple layers of filtrates that help purify the incoming air. There are many different types of motorcycle air filters each designed with optimal efficiency in mind as to be able to help filter the air properly. As aforementioned, the purpose of an air filter is simply to filter the air that goes into your bike. A filter would be located on the front of the combustion engine where it can get more air intake. When the engine is working, the air that is needed to produce combustion is sucked in by the unit. To achieve this, the air is sucked in via a pipe which has the air filter attached on its opening.
Finally, the most common question when it comes to this topic: How important are motorcycle air filters? Well, important enough for many experts to not encourage people to ride their bikes without one. An engine seizure could be the worst case scenario and this can occur due to the jamming of the piston in the cylinder. And this can happen because the oil won’t be able to be useful to the bike due to losing its effectiveness with all of the impurities trapped in it. Scratches are another problem that may arise and this can lead to engine destruction due to a build-up of a lot of impurities.
