Reigniting The Spark

This morning I was running late for office.  As usual the ride sets up the mood for the day at work. But after leaving home the bike started stuttering, seriously , and finally before I could come to a conclusion on whether to visit the mech it just stopped after few bends. No matter how many times I push the starter or even kick it won't buzz. Decided to do the check up myself and sort it out. Knowing my bike and how I maintain it I would be in a better position to troubleshoot the issue. So here is how the process went:

Observation#1: Bike was stuttering even after initial warm up

Possible Reason#1: No/less fuel

Tank was full, as I fill it just yesterday. So nope.

Possible Reason#2: Bad fuel/water or any other thing in fuel.

I fill in Shell, one of the most trusted places for fuel in Bangalore. Secondly there hasn't been any rain recently for water to go in. So this possibility ruled out.

Observation#2: When the bike started stuttering, I tried revving the engine hoping if any water or debris gone in, should burn n go out of the engine. But it didn't help. Rather I noticed some black smoke with each rev.

Possible Reason#1: Fuel is not burning completely, means improper combustion. Bad spark could be one of the reasons.

So next I opened up the spark plug and there it is! Full of Carbon:)

Carboned out spark plug was causing the motorcycle to stall

There should have been a file or sand paper to clean it properly, but I had to do away with the carbon deposits using the sharper edge of the screw driver. It just worked. Though I was late for work n bunch of curious people keenly observing me getting my hands greasy wearing clean pair of formals on the side of the road, but all I was focused on was to fix the bike and roll. Which I did:) In no time I was cruising on my usual route to work.

Had it not been the carbon coated spark plug behind the issue, next reason for improper combustion could be low air intake. The intention behind sharing this post is to make you understand that, the solution or fixing the bike may not be all that challenging (in common breakdown scenarios like this one!), rather the troubleshooting is what makes the difference. So we must try and get the first part right.

Btw I made a note of the items missing in my tool kit and will make sure they are in place before my next ride.

Cheers,

Sid