backfire thru the airbox

[adamsxb12s]

hey guys i have a 06 xb12s and it has 6000 miles. when i got it had no muffler on it so i got a stock xb12 muffler of a wrecked 08 and got it put on. well before it was backfiring thru the airbox and i thought it was from no backpressure and its still doin it. its bone stock. ive put about 40 miles on since ive bought it. can somebody lead me in the right direction? thanks

[LeFox]

i'm guessing there would be some interior changes to the muffler between the '06 and '08.

i would also get the AF ratio checked.

[adamsxb12s]

i thought they were the same i tried to find more information. yeah i think its a bit lean on the buttom end. after i get above 2000 rpms it doesnt do it

[burnteyes]

mine does it also xb12 08 stock. quiet loud at times
[confused]

[adamsxb12s]

yeah i dunno what could it be the plugs....mine has a stock air filter also it looks to be clean im kinda lost its my first buell it just dont sound right. could it be the thing that controls the valve in the muffler cuz i cant see it moving thru the airbox cover

[burnteyes]

I just had mine serviced a few days ago and it still does it. I keep wanting to do the hose reroute to get rid of the gasses. Thinking it could be crappy gas in my area not burning like it should. And my the white wire but I can't find it.

[LeFox]

just to let you know, that some puffing is normal, but it shouldn't be a frequent thing.

[adamsxb12s]

well mine does it like when you try to rev when the clutch is in or in neutral

[Lokien]

Same happens with me when clutch is fully disengaged and in neutral. Thats why I never rev in those situations :D. I think its the spark skip technology that causes this, to prevent excess unneeded heat.

[adamsxb12s]

well mine does it like when you try to rev when the clutch is in or in neutral

[mrdozer2you]

well mine does it like when you try to rev when the clutch is in or in neutral

It will do it more often when the bike is not at optimum operating temperature. Its probably part of the emmissions control. If you dont have to get your bike emmissions tested where you live, do the breather re-route, this should solve 99% of it;) [up]

[burnteyes]

i have the stuff to do the breather reroute but i cant find plugs to the breather box.? Any ideas on what to use?

[adamsxb12s]

thanks ive been told that was the reason but i wanted to see what you guys thought. i love this forum

[chaser]

my bike is doing the same thing, how would i do the breather re-route?, my bike also sputters and gets bad gass milage could this be the cause?

[FIDOSOL]

Breather Re-Route is here (http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-Forum/Do-It-Yourself-Buell-Mods/Re-route-hoses)
:)

[FIDOSOL]

You are running premium right? You're engine will run like crap on anything else, also, you might have gotten a tank of bad gas, has this lasted for more than one fill-up? Try changing your gas station... The breather re-route will help with the surging from idle-3k that is common on all of our bikes.

[chaser]

well i got it brand new and its been doing it ever since i left the dealership, and yes i only use premium, is ok to use octane boosters with these bikes?

[chaser]

thanx guys

[FIDOSOL]

Octane Booster is fine I use one that is good for up to 20 gallons at least every other tank. Just makes it stand up faster is all..

[zero]

Octane booster.. pff..
Anyway.. I just picked up my buell 08 sx. Its getting its first (and last at like 400 bucks) dealer service at 1000 miles. I was getting "burps" through the intake a few times a ride. Maybe once every 10-20 miles. I'd burp the throttle to down shift and occasionally would pop.
I had always gotten gas at the local 76, but the other day I picked up gas at costco (nearly a dollar cheaper) and I couldn't get it to pop at all for the last 100 miles.

Breaking in? DDFI 3 learning.. averaging? Fuel? Just part of being a buell?
I just know if it keeps backfiring through the intake somethings going to get broken or worn out prematurely.

[09XB12Ss]

My stock 09 Xb12Ss also does it when I downshift. I only use premium and have the breather re-route. It's the only bike I've ever had that does this.

[teh Nub]

My 06' Ss does it when down shifting/rev matching withing the first 10 minutes of riding. I have the breather reroute, "white wire" mod via ecmspy, have reset my TPS and AFV etc.

When I first got my bike used, idle was set at around 1300 rpm or so, when I did my first TPS reset it came out to about 900 rpm 4.6 deg / 5.1% and I just left it there.

A 12-16 ounces can of octane booster will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, I.e. from 92 to 92.3. It's not going to make any difference, but if it did, you would need to retune to see any power difference. Gasoline octane isn't nitrous oxide...

[zero]

True octane is just a constituent molecule of gasoline. Like its close neighbors heptane and nonane. It does not do a single thing at all to any power in any vehicle. What it does is reduce detonation. Octane has a way of stabilizing fuel under pressure. The best you can hope for with high octane gas is good combustion. Which might fix up an intake fart electronically?

Adding octane boost to your tank when running proper octane gas indicates a problem with the engine or gas. As well as its more polluting and usually illegal for on road use.. .. well.. like every squid's muffler.

[TMC]

Well I run a straight pipe don't care if it's illegal or poluting. It pulls like a train up in the power band. I also had a bad backfire prob finally did the breather mod and smoothed it out big time.

[zero]

breather somehow does the trick for some.

OT:
Its not only illegal and noise/air polluting.. Its also why people generally hate motorcycles and motorcyclists. I have to catch flack, attitude and road rage from YOUR rudness.
But as long as you're the only person on the planet. I guess its fine.
I don't mean to come on the board and instantly start flaming. But it amazes and disgusts me all the bike and truck fans for that matter that see no problem in making all that racket. Yet.. I bet if I stood outside your window with a bullhorn screaming all day.. you'd think me rude. Then these same tools ride up in their flip flops and t shirts and try to ride 2 feet off my tire or get me to ride in their weekend noise-a-thon. Nothing but contempt for them.
I was a kid once.. but if you're 25+ there's no excuse

Its not a race track.. its not a bike show. Its the road and its rude.

[TMC]

Are you from Cali??? Or up north??

[firechickenXB9R]

Sorry

but would like like some CHEESe with that WINE!!!!!!

<Loud Pipes Safe Lives>

[TMC]

O and if you don't like loud badass sounding bike you should give your Buell to some one who like a badass bike and you can go buy a scooter

[Roccodart440]

Mine backfires or "sneezes" through the throttle body when blipping the throtle on a downshift.

[Bill2]

The reason they "sneeze or backfire through the intake is there set a little lean off idle from the factory to help meet epa pollution specs. The carburated sportsters started doing the same thing a few years back for the same reason to meet epa specs. The simple cure is is to richen the air/fuel a little off idle, on the carbed sportsters most installed a larger pilot jet and adjusted the a/f screw. On the fuel injected sportsters and buells it takes something like ecmspy to richen up the a/f mixture but the rerouting of the breather hoses helps a lot and is super easy and reversible if need be for inspection. Both will make it run a lot smoother BTW the factory only does this to meet epa ever tightening standards not for the good of the engine! There tring to keep air cooled engine bikes around as long as possible but even lawnmowers will be watercooled in a few years.

[FIDOSOL]

Just wanted to put this out there...since I'm the one that brought it up in the first place.

OUR USER MANUALS STATE NOT TO USE OCTANE BOOSTER IN OUT BIKES...

That said, do as you will, octane booster does actually increase performance, moderately. Somebody needs to do their research...


Also, I'm just wondering, how come we don't gripe out all the non-biking cagers for what "some" (most) of them do on an almost daily basis, try to take a lane from a motorcycle? I mean if out pipes are soooo loud and soooo rude....WHY THE **** ARE THEY STILL "not" SEEING US AND TRYING TO TAKE OUR DAMN LANES?

[teh Nub]

OUR USER MANUALS STATE NOT TO USE OCTANE BOOSTER IN OUT BIKES...

That said, do as you will, octane booster does actually increase performance, moderately. Somebody needs to do their research...


What kind of crack are you smoking? You swear by octane booster 2 months ago, and now advise against it...

As I and several others have said, octane booster doesn't do jack by itself. It will only raise the octane a few points which makes your 92 (R+M)/2 will become 92.3 (R+M)/2.. Torco is a "concentrated race fuel" kind of an octane booster, but it's nothing like what you get at walmart, autozone, etc... Even if the octane was drastically raised like you assume, you would have to increase timing to take advantage of the higher octane fuel.

Here's your research-
When I had my Evo VIII, I ran pump gas and race gas when I raced SCCA. I had a tune for the 93 pump and the 110 race gas because I had to increase timing and boost to take advantage of the fuel. My car actually had less performance if I was running the 93 octane tune with 110 in my tank because it actually burned richer and the optimum A/F ratio was lost among other things.

Here is an octane booster review, enjoy...
http://volvospeed.com/Reviews/octane_boosters.html

Under the North American octane system AKI (Anti-Knock Index) pump fuel is graded as (RON+MON)/2. Meaning if a fuel has a RON (Research Octane Number) of 96, and a MON ( Motor Octane Number) of 90 its AKI would be 93. Race fuels can be graded on any of the standards AKI, MON, RON. So what is octane and why is it important? Octane is what gives petrol its ability to resist pre-ignition. As displacement, compression, boost, RPM, go up it becomes harder to keep the fuel mixture from igniting prematurely. If under load or high heat, you experience knock with 87 octane, stepping up to 91 octane is logical step for both performance and longevity. If you experience no knock or timing pull at 91 there is no benefit to you stepping up to 93 or higher. The additives that raise octane have less energy than the base fuel, effectively lowering the BTUs of the fuel. That is you will make the most power and have the best fuel economy with the lowest octane that is capable of preventing knock under your specific conditions.

[FIDOSOL]

Hey I know for a fact that after I put octane booster in my bike I can FEEL the difference when it comes to the throttle, same as I can feel it in my truck 78 Chevrolet Cheyenne 4X4. Now I only put up that second post in an attempt to correct my error, that first post was before I checked the user manual for my bike, that second post is an attemptdamage control. I would hate for anyone to mess up their bike or even experience the slightest loss of engine reliability because of bad advice on my part.

Oh and your experience in a forced induction vehicle is what you are comparing to Naturally Aspirated?... You should know better.. [smirk]

[teh Nub]

What octane booster were you using? I want to get some of this stuff if it will increase power by it's self...

[FIDOSOL]

keep in mind it's all relevant to the vehicle you are using, in different climates they will perform differently. I'm coming from ga/sc/ky. Octane booster gives me alittle more umph. I like the sarcasm, skeptics are the norm...

[teh Nub]

You still didn't answer my question, what brand?

If all of your vehicles have timing that is too far advanced causing detonation, and you have an octane booster that significantly increases octane, I could see a change, but a 12 - 16 oz bottle of octane booster won't raise your octane level much at all, and your truck/motorcycle more than likely have stock tuning and should not be detonating from the factory enough for 0.3 (R+M)/2 to make a difference. Especially since the Buell was designed to run on 91 (R+M)/2.

[FIDOSOL]

Dunno, it has horses on it or something, I discontinued usage as soon as I read that it was not recommended in our user manuals.

[maybebuell]

octane has nothing to do with hp...adding octane will gain no hp....had to do with compression ..heat a motor creates ....running higher octane when not called for will only cause carbon buildup on valves and pistons

[tredhed367]

harley recommends chevron super unleaded in all harleys and buells they swear by it!

[Roccodart440]

My girlfriends sportster does this something terrible, especially in cold weather. It's a 2002 883 hugger with screaming eagle kit.

[NOMADIC]

the breather re route, new plugs and it went away!