12 000 miles - spark plugs

[thepointchris]

12 000 coming up, so it's time. I plan to follow the method that @TimeMachine and others have documented (without taking the tank off).

Any last minute tips that anyone wants to add before I order plugs and tools?

And, to say it again, what an amazing body of useful information on this Forum - thanks to all the contributors and collaborators!

Chris

[Hammerhead]

If you haven’t removed the plastic wire holder widget that clogs side access, it’s worth pulling the tank once & doing so for future tank on access. Super tight squeeze otherwise.

 

  Pulling the tank also gives you a better picture of what you’d be doing blind by feel later. 
 

With any luck we’re never swamping these bikes but having that side access more open for on trail needs is something worth doing.

 

  Have your patience well stocked &

ready, a plug wrench equipped with something that holds the plugs in itself.  And some dielectric grease for the boots. 

[vagrant318]

12K miles is the interval? Id think they could go 20K or more on the factory plugs

[bth2]

initially i think you will have to remove the tank to gain access to the wiring that needs moving and cable trays that need removing. pita job. i replaced with irridium plugs.

[Canzvt]

Factory manual recommends inspection at 10,000kms (6k Miles) and replacement at 20,000kms (12k Miles).

[Jesse]

With the right tools its not a hard job, I would still remove the tank it comes off really easy like 5-10minutes and you have room to see what you are doing and move or remove some items to make it easier next time. 

[thepointchris]

7 minutes ago, Hogan said:

I have 35,000kms on the original plugs.

They last a long time, especially these days with coil pack ignition which is much better at supplying the necessary voltage.

It's not uncommon to see cars roll in with 150,000-200,000kms on the original plugs. If the vehicle isn't driven extremely hard all the time everything just lasts longer.

The T7 is not a high strung engine. At best a bad plug will lose you a bit of power (and increase emissions), at worst you get a misfire.

I would change the plugs at the valve clearance interval (40,000kms), since you will need to be in that area anyway.

 

 

 

 

interesting proposition

[Jesse]

37 minutes ago, Hogan said:

I have 35,000kms on the original plugs.

They last a long time, especially these days with coil pack ignition which is much better at supplying the necessary voltage.

It's not uncommon to see cars roll in with 150,000-200,000kms on the original plugs. If the vehicle isn't driven extremely hard all the time everything just lasts longer.

The T7 is not a high strung engine. At best a bad plug will lose you a bit of power (and increase emissions), at worst you get a misfire.

I would change the plugs at the valve clearance interval (40,000kms), since you will need to be in that area anyway.

 

 

 

 

All newer vehicles have platinum or iridium plugs which last much longer than a stand plug like the T7. Almost all motorcycle engines rev much higher than any vehicle on the road which increase wear and service internals.  Most turbo, super charged, performance based engines need plugs sooner even with platinum or iridium.  I change my T7 plugs at 16,000 miles the plug was  worn and needed replaced.  While it would have made it to the valve clearance check its not a hard job 

Edited November 1, 2022 by Jesse

[thepointchris]

Thanks for all the replies and comments- iridium sparkies ordered!

[Simmons1]

For peak performance plugs should probably be changed per the manual.  On most of my bikes I typically change them at 50K miles and the bikes are still running fine and the plugs don't look awful when changed.

[jdub53]

It surprised me when I found the NGK iridium plugs on my '14 R1200GS looking like this 48k miles after I'd installed them, and incredibly the bike was still running perfectly. These plugs still looked like new when I'd last checked them with 36k miles, and two sets of iridiums on my previous '07 R1200GSA still looked great at 48k miles on each set when I changed them out.

 

I know we're talking T7s here and I installed NGK iridium plugs in my T7 at 8k miles, but my point is that I won't assume any motorcycle plugs will go super high mileage with no wear.  

 

[Ray Ride4life]

Be careful when buying NGK, don't buy them cheap because they're very much copied.

[thepointchris]

11 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Be careful when buying NGK, don't buy them cheap because they're very much copied.

thx @Ray Ride4life- I picked them up a O'Reilly at what seemed like full-pop.

[Oxxa]

On 11/1/2022 at 7:16 PM, Hogan said:

I have 35,000kms on the original plugs.

They last a long time, especially these days with coil pack ignition which is much better at supplying the necessary voltage.

It's not uncommon to see cars roll in with 150,000-200,000kms on the original plugs. If the vehicle isn't driven extremely hard all the time everything just lasts longer.

The T7 is not a high strung engine. At best a bad plug will lose you a bit of power (and increase emissions), at worst you get a misfire.

I would change the plugs at the valve clearance interval (40,000kms), since you will need to be in that area anyway.

 

 

 

 

Can a spark plug leave you stranded without notice? Or does it show signs before complete failure?

Edited March 22, 2023 by Oxxa

[Ray Ride4life]

A sparkplug mostly goes bad very slow, that's why many people keep riding with them "because they spark so they're fine" but exeptions are the rule so yes, it can happen that one just dies.

[Alan M]

I removed my spark plugs the other week as I had the tank off. I removed the plastic shield from the RHS while it was off.

 

Couple of points, as others have mentioned, easier to remove the tank when changing the plugs, 5 minute job. I also removed the 3 securing bolts from the ABS pump, it adds no additional time and makes removing the LHS coil pack so much easier as the pump can now lift up a little.

 

The pump bolts use small spacer tubes. It’s worth fixing these to the panel with some glue/silicone, if you ever need to do this on the trail then these are the parts that’ll get lost.

 

Should have said, not remove the tank but just pull it back and tilt it up.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Alan M
Edit

[winddown]

On 11/2/2022 at 1:26 AM, Hammerhead said:

And some dielectric grease for the boots. 

like rubber grease?

[Hammerhead]

13 hours ago, winddown said:

like rubber grease?

What Is Dielectric Grease?

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A look at dielectric grease and how it is used in automotive ignition spark plug wires, electrical harness connections, and other automotive wiring situations.

 

[roygilbo]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:53 AM, Jesse said:

All newer vehicles have platinum or iridium plugs which last much longer than a stand plug like the T7. Almost all motorcycle engines rev much higher than any vehicle on the road which increase wear and service internals.  Most turbo, super charged, performance based engines need plugs sooner even with platinum or iridium.  I change my T7 plugs at 16,000 miles the plug was  worn and needed replaced.  While it would have made it to the valve clearance check its not a hard job 

Just checking here, but the stock T7 plugs are neither platinum or iridium?  I just picked up four OEM (I like having spares) plugs from the dealer.  Do you have a plug to link to that I could source?  I live in Canada.  Will return the OEM plugs to the dealer then.  

[S.Ga.Rider]

I bought a set and planned on changing them at 20k miles 

[thepointchris]

Mine looked OK, taking them out at 12K, so you could/should be fine for 20K? But for the price of two spark plugs, what's to gain, was my thought. 

[jdub53]

13 hours ago, roygilbo said:

Just checking here, but the stock T7 plugs are neither platinum or iridium?  I just picked up four OEM (I like having spares) plugs from the dealer.  Do you have a plug to link to that I could source?  I live in Canada.  Will return the OEM plugs to the dealer then.  

 

NGK Iridium LMAR8BI-9. I've been using them for the past 6k miles.

 

[roygilbo]

On 3/25/2023 at 4:16 AM, jdub53 said:

 

NGK Iridium LMAR8BI-9. I've been using them for the past 6k miles.

 

Just ordered these from ClubPlug out of Quebec.  Best price in Canada (but I had to add a gapping tool and anti-seize to qualify for free shipping - over $69)

NGK LMAR8BI-9 (91909) - FREE SHIPPING in Canada - ClubPlug.ca

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NGK LMAR8BI-9 (91909) - FREE SHIPPING in Canada - ClubPlug.ca We carry NGK Spark Plugs, NGK Wire Sets & NGK O2 Sensors. Full line of NGK Canada products, Laser Iridium, Platinum, Ruthenium HX, Iridium IX, etc...

 

[vagrant318]

Well I'm at almost 19000 miles on the original plugs, bike is running great. Just ordered the iridium laser plugs from O'Reilly. I'll see what the originals look like and depending maybe get 25-30k out of the iridium..

[vagrant318]

So are people using anti seize on the plugs? How about a torque spec with or w/o anti seize? I'm going to change mine out this weekend and always get hung up on those little details the first change..

Thanks