Spark Plugs

[JHD]

Stopped by a Kawi shop yesterday and picked up some new plugs for my bike. I have the motor out of the bike and have just finished the repair and have detailed it with a fresh coat of paint and thought why not throw some new plugs in before I put it back in the frame. Well when I went to install the first plug I notice they didn't give me the standard plug but one heat range hotter. So instead of a DPR8EA-9 they gave me a DPR7EA-9. I see this is listed online as an optional plug for our bikes but can't find anyone else on this forum using them when I do a search. Anybody?

Brad

[SgtSlag]

I guess I would return them, if possible. Changing the heat range on the plugs will change the operating temperature of the block: Hot plugs run the engine hotter, as less heat is pulled out by the plugs. The normal temperature plugs are designed for normal, in-town/highway running.

The "normal" temperature range plugs should be used, unless riding in extreme conditions, which are pretty consistent (riding in a race requires a Cold plug to dissipate racing speed's engine heat to avoid damaging the engine; riding in Winter temperatures, below freezing, on a daily basis, would be better with Hotter plugs, so more heat is retained within the engine block, so that it runs warm enough).

I would suggest also that you look at NGK Iridium plugs: good for 100,000 miles in a car (at least 50,000 on a bike); they take less energy to create a spark across the gap (not critical in a Voyager's high energy ignition system, but it means the spark will be hotter, less chance of a misfire, fewer hyrdo-carbons/un-burned gasoline fumes blowing out the exhaust pipes -- not much, but...); and the NGK products have a long, well-earned reputation for performance in motorcycles. Cheers!

[chevyman1]

1 heat range should not be a problem, check out the link below Then you can decide what you want to do

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_suppo ... p?mode=nml

[JHD]

Thanks guys for replying. I called the dealership and had a lovely conversation with the parts girl. I think she will from now on tell customers if she is going to give them an optional part. What is up with that?

Well I am leaning towards replacing my plugs with the Denso Iridium IX24B.

I also checked my coils and wires. Two of the wires had split jackets. I found new replacement copper core wire by the foot from O'reilly Auto Parts for under $4 for a 5' length. I think they said it was manufactured by Borg Warner. Looks to be very similar to the Packard 440 wire that I have purchased in the past. Very flexible and has the tinned copper core. The biggest bitch was removing and installing the stock wire jackets. Probably not necessary but I did it anyway. If you don't have to do it then I wouldn't. I found three of the four NGK caps that I bought a few years back to be bad. I checked them before I installed them and they were good. Carl says these don't last like the stock ones. How ironic, the stock NGK cap is better than the aftermarket NGK cap. Maybe the stock ones are made in Japan while the AM ones are made in China/Mexico. I will bring my multimeter with me when I pick up some new ones.

Checking the frame the other day to see if any touch up was needed before I reinstalled the motor and sure enough it looks like the POV's battery had cracked and leaked acid on the frame. So I couldn't take the time to repair and detail the motor and throw it back in a sub par frame. So I cleaned it all up and I'm going to spray it with some black epoxy paint today. Should hold up better than enamel. Also I eliminated the air hose that goes to the front forks by unscrewing the hose and then removing air fitting off the end and screwing it into the connecting pipe on the forks since I have changed over to the Progressive springs. I can also remove the hose for the battery overflow since I have no maintenance battery installed. Just trying to cleanup and simplify where I can.

[Lucasind]

Thanx for the post on Iridium (denso) plugs..... I was told a year and a half ago..
when I got my XII, that , " everything ,had just been done" Well,... everywhere
I have looked, I have found that that statement, to not be true ! anyway,
I will be replacing my plugs .before leaving for the smokies
( can I say again, CAN'T WAIT) with Iridium plugs , cause I really like everything , I've read on the LONGEVITY of them ! .......tony

[JHD]

Thanx for the post on Iridium (denso) plugs..... I was told a year and a half ago..
when I got my XII, that , " everything ,had just been done" Well,... everywhere
I have looked, I have found that that statement, to not be true ! anyway,
I will be replacing my plugs .before leaving for the smokies
( can I say again, CAN'T WAIT) with Iridium plugs , cause I really like everything , I've read on the LONGEVITY of them ! .......tony

Well Tony I posted those plugs as an option. I have never used them but have read great reviews on comparisons between them and the NGK Iridium plugs. I am having trouble finding these plugs locally. I was told that Denso is sold more on east coast and NGK on west coast. Not sure but would like to try the Denso's. So just wanting you to know that I'm not endorsing the Denso plugs but feel free to try them out and report back and I will do the same.

Brad

[JHD]

Thanks guys for replying. I called the dealership and had a lovely conversation with the parts girl. I think she will from now on tell customers if she is going to give them an optional part. What is up with that?

Well I am leaning towards replacing my plugs with the Denso Iridium IX24B.

I also checked my coils and wires. Two of the wires had split jackets. I found new replacement copper core wire by the foot from O'reilly Auto Parts for under $4 for a 5' length. I think they said it was manufactured by Borg Warner. Looks to be very similar to the Packard 440 wire that I have purchased in the past. Very flexible and has the tinned copper core. The biggest beach :-) was removing and installing the stock wire jackets. Probably not necessary but I did it anyway. If you don't have to do it then I wouldn't. I found three of the four NGK caps that I bought a few years back to be bad. I checked them before I installed them and they were good. Carl says these don't last like the stock ones. How ironic, the stock NGK cap is better than the aftermarket NGK cap. Maybe the stock ones are made in Japan while the AM ones are made in China/Mexico. I will bring my multimeter with me when I pick up some new ones.

Checking the frame the other day to see if any touch up was needed before I reinstalled the motor and sure enough it looks like the POV's battery had cracked and leaked acid on the frame. So I couldn't take the time to repair and detail the motor and throw it back in a sub par frame. So I cleaned it all up and I'm going to spray it with some black epoxy paint today. Should hold up better than enamel. Also I eliminated the air hose that goes to the front forks by unscrewing the hose and then removing air fitting off the end and screwing it into the connecting pipe on the forks since I have changed over to the Progressive springs. I can also remove the hose for the battery overflow since I have no maintenance battery installed. Just trying to cleanup and simplify where I can.

So adding onto my original post earlier.

Was talking with a local parts guy today that was a former Kawasaki mechanic. He was telling me that the stock plug caps original had well covers on the caps to keep water out. He said that that can be a big problem if the well drain gets clogged and the well fills up with water using an aftermarket cap that doesn't have the well cover. Anybody know if this is true? I have no idea since my stock plug caps were long gone by the time I purchased the bike. Also I have run across an NGK cap designated SD05FP. The ones that I am using are SD05F. The P on the end stands for special waterproof cover. I can't seem to find these locally and would have to special order them. Has anybody used this SD05FP cap and is it better than the SD05F cap? I found these at NGK Wholesale out of Cali for $2.50 per cap and $9 per plug for the Denso plugs. Seems reasonable to me.

Another thing I found last night was the POV or someone had completely obliterated the rubber feral that creates the binding force for the wire where it connects to the coil. Problem, where do you find the repair parts without having to buy a new coil. Well I came across a spark plug wire splicer called a NGK J1. This looks to be identical to the screw on cap on the coil. I'm going to buy one to see if it works. If it does work then this will be the source for anyone with the same problem that I found. If it does indeed work then one splicer can replace the parts for one Voyager coil. Fingers crossed!