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Is it time to pull the plugs?

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pesto_boy

pesto_boy

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I'd like to get some advice form those of you who have changed the spark plugs on your Bandit (1250).

I currently have about 24,000km (approx 15,000Miles) on the Bandit and am debating whether it is worth going through the trouble of changing the plugs.
I have Yosh can, TFI box, modified air box, removed secondaries (the pots on my TFi are set much lower than suggested - running it quite a bit leaner). Overall the bike is running purrrrfectly, and I'm not sure if new plugs would make it run any better, or if they are even needed at all.

Those of you who have done a plug change, how did you find them? At what mileage did you pull them? Any info would be appreciated.
 
Book says : 7500 miles or 24 months replacement. I did a change out at about 10,000 miles and went to High buck ones at 24,000. Have not touched them since.
 
For me, once I started thinking about it, I wasn't able to let it go. I changed them at 11000--- it wasn't needed, they didn't look that bad, as far as wear, they were carboned up a bit. I changed them again at 27000, again not worn, however seemed to smooth out the ride even more than it normally is. Doug
 
Even if they dont look bad they still need replaced in my opinion. They arent designed to last forever and ive had plugs that looked perfectly fine but werent. With that said i would try to schedule it when you do other services like valve adjustment.
 
I changed mine out at 14,500 and they were in good condition....Most likely, you're not going to hurt anything by keeping them in a bit longer..Plugs can go quite a long time however their performance degrades over time....Changing mine at 14,500 gave a definite yet slight increase in low rpm response and a tad more smoothness...
 
Monkey Wrench Cycles said:
i would try to schedule it when you do other services like valve adjustment.
Click to expand...

+1

No rush to change them, but yes you should put it on the calendar. They are a huge pain in the posterior to change, if you can combine it with other work that will make access to them easier you will not be sorry. :trust:
 
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pesto_boy said:
I'd like to get some advice form those of you who have changed the spark plugs on your Bandit (1250).

I currently have about 24,000km (approx 15,000Miles) on the Bandit and am debating whether it is worth going through the trouble of changing the plugs.
I have Yosh can, TFI box, modified air box, removed secondaries (the pots on my TFi are set much lower than suggested - running it quite a bit leaner). Overall the bike is running purrrrfectly, and I'm not sure if new plugs would make it run any better, or if they are even needed at all.

Those of you who have done a plug change, how did you find them? At what mileage did you pull them? Any info would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I initially inspected my spark plugs at around 8,500 miles, and replaced them at 16,750 miles even though they still looked pretty good, and my bike was running OK, but If you've never checked the plugs at all especially after the mods you have done to the engine, and given your mileage I would highly suggest that you pull the plugs and at least look at them to get an idea just how lean or rich your engine is running.

Pulling the plug is hard to do and only requires lifting up and supporting the back of the gas tank at least 7" to gain access to the top of the engine.

Then you need to disconnect the electrical connectors from each of the coils and carefully pry them up off of the plugs, and the first time you remove them can require a lot of force, so I recommend first spraying a little silicone spray down each of the spark plugs holes and letting it soak around the outside of the rubber on the coils which will make the coils release and pop off of the plugs with much less force.

First try using your hands and pulling straight up on the coils and see if they will pop off of the plugs. If not then the safest way to pop the coils off of the spark plugs is to use a flat piece of metal or aluminum about 3/16" thick by at least 1" wide by about 8" long which you will place between the top of the valve cover and the bottom of the coil underneath the electrical connector. This allow you to pop the coil coils straight up off of the spark plugs with out putting any undue side loading on the cols which if to much is applied can end up cracking the coil housing.

If you do not have a piece of metal this shape to use to pop the coils off of the plugs, a curved auto brake adjusting spoon with the right angle, or a large flat blade screw driver can also be used for popping the coils off of the plugs. Just make sure that you are pushing as straight up as possible on the coils so as not to apply to much side loading on them which like I stated can crack the coil housing, and in order to apply the force as straight up on the coils as possible, you may need to place a piece of thin metal between whatever your using as a pry tool and the valve cover to act as a fulcrum to get your pry tool pushing up on the coil as straight up as possible.

In order to remove the two outside coils once you have popped them off of the plugs, they will need to be rotated and angled correctly in order to clear the radiused indentations on the inside of the top frame rails which allow the coils to be removed completely. The first time you do this it may take a few second turning and positioning the coils until you get them in the correct position, and even then it a pretty tight fit past the frame rails.

Once you have the coils removed, first blow out each of the spark plugs holes with compressed air to remove any dirt that my have gotten down into the holes, then use the two spark plug sockets supplied in your tool kit to remove the spark plugs.

Once I break the plugs loose I have two slightly different lengths of black rubber hose that I use to push down onto the ends of the plugs which allows me to quickly unscrew them and pull them up out of the recessed hole, but the first time you remove the plugs, you may not be able to use the rubber hose method as they can be to tight for the hose to grasp the plugs and allow you to turn them.

I also recommend applying a light coating of copper anti seize compound to the threads on the plugs before installing them, as it will make removing them easier in the future and prevent damage to the aluminum threads in the head. I also coat the outside rubber jacket on the coils as well as the rubber on the inside of the coils with am light coating of dielectric grease which also makes the coils pop off of the plugs much easier the next time you go to remove them. :rider:
 
The first time I did them I was surprised to find that it was much easier than I expected and it only took me a bit over an hour...If you're refraining from doing it simply because you're dreading it don't worry, it's actually quite easy if you eliminate the guess work by following Metric's advice...One thing I would like to add to Metric's post is to before you do anything, immediately go ahead and loosen the bolt on the right rear fairing so you can make space to pull the right plug...It will make it much easier to get the plug out and will dramatically cut your time fiddling...Otherwise you may fiddle for quite some time only to realize you have to do it anyway...Leave the left fairing alone as there's plenty of clearance...Also, once you get the tank up first thing you do before anything else is to loosen the bracket that holds the radiator fill...You will need to be able to move it for clearance on the other plugs.
 
Thanks for all the great advice and step-by-step directions guys! I guess it has to be done sooner or later... Laziness sometimes gets the best of me!

I does look like a real pain, but after the hassle I went through removing the secondaries (drilling the screws out was a little nerve-wracking), I'm not overly concerned about getting the plugs out; while I'm at it, I'll probably try to get a set of iridium plugs as replacement.

The 'good' thing is that the bike is parked for the winter (lots of snow up here), that gives me about three months to get it done before riding season starts.... Oh, how I envy you guys living in the southern States!
 
twist said:
No rush to change them
Click to expand...

+1. Here's a pic of mine when I finally pulled them at ~27k miles when I checked my valves:

plug.jpg


They didn't look new, but they didn't look bad either. I haven't touched them since, and I'm at ~49k miles now -- I've been putting it off until I check my valves again. I'm not concerned about them at all, but I suspect I might get an MPG or two better with fresh plugs.

YMMV.

trey

*edit* Just saw you said you've drilled your secondaries... changing the plugs is a walk in the park compared to that -- don't sweat it :thumb:
 
Thanks for all the onfo on plugs. Now I'm gonna open a can of worms (maybe) and ask if anyone has a particular brand they endorse.
 
Shotrod said:
Thanks for all the onfo on plugs. Now I'm gonna open a can of worms (maybe) and ask if anyone has a particular brand they endorse.
Click to expand...

I just use the the stock NGK's which for me a and a lot of others last a long time, and their only about $3.50 each at Kragen auto parts which is were I but mine. I have stuck with NGK spark plugs in pretty much all of my Japanese bikes, as that's pretty much what most come equipped with and I have always had gotten good life out of them, especially their iridium plugs, which are at least 3 times the cost of the the stock plugs, and I doubt you could tell any difference in performance between the two.
 
treybrad said:
+1. Here's a pic of mine.... They didn't look new, but they didn't look bad either. I haven't touched them since, and I'm at ~49k miles now -- I've been putting it off until I check my valves again. I'm not concerned about them at all, but I suspect I might get an MPG or two better with fresh plugs.

YMMV.

trey

*edit* Just saw you said you've drilled your secondaries... changing the plugs is a walk in the park compared to that -- don't sweat it
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.
Hmmm... valves!! There's another questionable maintenance interval. From what I've read, they rarely go off specs; I'll definitely be leaving that for much, MUCH later. But I guess it won't hurt to pull the plugs to see how lean/rich the engine is running.

whitesands said:
It was 78* today in Texas!:sun:
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Thanks for rubbing it in! ;-)
Here we're in the low teens... which in all honesty might not stop me from going for a ride, but it's the bloody snow and ice that really make it hard to travel on two wheels!
 
PhilS said:
It is really early in California Mr Metrik! You should be sleeping! :doh:
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Phil.

Yes it is early, but I went to bed at around 8 pm last night because I was pretty tired from working in the shop all day and I did get up a little early this morning at around 4:20 am, and usually I wake up at around 5 to 5:30 am each day, for as I've gotten older I find that I only need about 7 to 7 1/2 hrs of sleep each night.

My on cat actually work me up this morning because he was out of food, and once that happened I couldn't go back to sleep, and than I stated thinking about the Christmas present I bought for my bike that got delivered yesterday which I plan to install today, and the pictures I have to of my new adjustable mirror mounts. So now it's coffee time. :rider:
 
Scott, when you get around to putting those mounts on your web site, it would be useful to see some photos with one mirror mounted as stock, and the other with your adjustable mount, so we can see the difference.
 
BlueStreak said:
Scott, when you get around to putting those mounts on your web site, it would be useful to see some photos with one mirror mounted as stock, and the other with your adjustable mount, so we can see the difference.
Click to expand...

I'm taking pictures today, and I plan on doing just that. :rider:
 
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