Snowballs, and my horrible timing.

[fb40dash5]

No, thank god, not that kinda snowball. I'm done with them for a while... I love winter and snow, but the last 4 months has been too much.

I took the bike out for this year's first ride today, after parking it at work in... I don't even remember... November maybe? Jeebus, it's barely gotten north of 40 since then until the last couple weeks.

It kept up the sputtering, crappy idle, as I expected. So I bring it back to work after school, and figure I'll check the plugs, tweak the plug wires, and change the oil & coolant.

Well, if I gotta take the plugs AND wires out, guess I'll go in through the top. No biggie. Oh look, there's the coolant overflow, I wanna rinse that out too. Guess I'll just pull the ECU so I can get that out. Hey, what are these rectangles with hoses on the valve cover again? Oh, the AIS? Guess I'll delete that while I'm in there, it was a PITA to get this far. Crap, guess I'll have them overnighted from Amazon, hopefully I can ride to school Thursday. Hey, I put copper plugs in last year, lemme try those NGK Laser Iridiums I found this time.

So there it sits, about $150 in stuff later, with my coolant funnel and about 6 adapters on it to reach the cap, because I can't run it without an ignition system to get the air bubbles bled out... and about half the bike unhooked and/or removed to get to everything. Well, at least getting to the plugs from the top is stupid easy once you have everything off anyway!

I let it sit, in a shop no less, for 4 months, and I pick about the 3rd 60 degree day of the year to rip everything to shreds. WTF. :spank:

 

[Erci]

LOL!! Been there! As long as you don't end up with too many left over parts once you put it all back together, you're in good shape :thumbup:

 

[Motogiro]

You probably already know this...Set your Iridiums to the spec. for your bike and not the gap they come with. Just don't touch the anode.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk70oyUEftY"]Spark Plug Gap - NGK Spark Plugs - Tech Video - YouTube[/ame]

Don't worry you'll have plenty of good days to ride.

I have quite a few friends and family in the north east that are sick of the cold.

 

[FinalImpact]

[MENTION=17124]fb40dash5[/MENTION] that's funny as hell! (sorry, read on) I say this as I have the plates and was about to do the SAME THING! - I looked at the only 65F day we had in 2014 and rode 150 miles instead! :thumbup: I did tinker some making brackets, cleaning and inspecting, messing about but did all that after the ride!

Glad I rode too! I needed it!
PS - We set a record rainfall count this past week (day after I rode)! It was called "Spring Break" whereby everything in 200 miles drowned!


What can we do to fix that idle issue??

 

[fb40dash5]

What can we do to fix that idle issue??

Somebody on here (Moto? Townsend? I forget...) recommended removing the caps, trimming about 1/4" off the wire, splaying the conductors around ID of the insulation and reassembling. So that's what I did. I'm hoping I can get it back together after I clock out this evening, so we shall see. It was stumbling and bumbling worse than usual yesterday, until about 5-6k. Yay for Amazon Prime cheap overnight, and Napa stocking weird plugs they probably never sell in outlying warehouses.

 

[trepetti]

Somebody on here (Moto? Townsend? I forget...) recommended removing the caps, trimming about 1/4" off the wire, splaying the conductors around ID of the insulation and reassembling. So that's what I did. I'm hoping I can get it back together after I clock out this evening, so we shall see. It was stumbling and bumbling worse than usual yesterday, until about 5-6k. Yay for Amazon Prime cheap overnight, and Napa stocking weird plugs they probably never sell in outlying warehouses.

I believe you are referring to Final Impact's vibration cure. I am also planning to give that a try and I'd really appreciate your feedback on results once you do it. I would live to take as much buzz out of the bike that I can, and aside from a throttle body sync, this task seems to make a lot of sense.

Good luck and let us all know how it turns out.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Somebody on here (Moto? Townsend? I forget...) recommended removing the caps, trimming about 1/4" off the wire, splaying the conductors around ID of the insulation and reassembling. So that's what I did. I'm hoping I can get it back together after I clock out this evening, so we shall see. It was stumbling and bumbling worse than usual yesterday, until about 5-6k. Yay for Amazon Prime cheap overnight, and Napa stocking weird plugs they probably never sell in outlying warehouses.

Did you put any type of fuel stabilizer in the bike with a full tank for storage??

If not, drain out what ever fuel you can and get fresh fuel in there.

Get it running again and run some Chevron Tectron fuel system cleaner. I'd run it on the heavy side. You'll likely have to ride it a bit to clean out what ever's gooed up.

Re trimming the cap wires, FI, who discovered/documented the issue, they really only need trimming if the wire is loose to the cap.

Also, put some dilectric grease on the spark plugs boots, (just a little where it touches the valve cover). Besides helping keep water out, the caps will pop on (and you'll literally hear it) MUCH EASIER. A cap not on fully will make your engine run crappy and won't fix itself.

The AIS system BTW, can be disconnected altogether (they make actual replacement covers, very, very popular on the FJR) UNLESS your state does emission testing.

Please post how it goes! And of course good luck!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I believe you are referring to Final Impact's vibration cure. I am also planning to give that a try and I'd really appreciate your feedback on results once you do it. I would live to take as much buzz out of the bike that I can, and aside from a throttle body sync, this task seems to make a lot of sense.

Good luck and let us all know how it turns out.

The TB sync, if not done, usually makes a big difference, especially when re-adjusted at 4K RPM's (that's where most of my annoying vibes were at-95% gone now).

Fb's issues are likely fuel related, especially if the bike ran good when parked months ago, and now runs crappy. Plugs, caps, etc didn't change any sitting there.. Fuel will go bad, especially if NOT TREATED with stabilizer in that time frame and cause issues.

Being fuel injected and a decent fuel pump screen, at least there's NO carb Jets to gum up, clog and subsequently clean by hand... The chemical cleaner should take care of the issue with fresh fuel.

 

[fb40dash5]

Fb's issues are likely fuel related, especially if the bike ran good when parked months ago, and now runs crappy. Plugs, caps, etc didn't change any sitting there.. Fuel will go bad, especially if NOT TREATED with stabilizer in that time frame and cause issues.

That's what I thought last year. I've run all sorts of cleaners through it in the past... never fixed it for long or repeatably. I did leave half a tank in it, pretty sure I put marine Stabil in it, but I'm sure that didn't help any yesterday.

I do know the conductors looked pretty jacked up in the wires, they were practically copper powder. Worth a try anyway. Too bad I don't have a manometer, I'd love to do a sync while I'm in there, but oh well.

I got Laser Iridiums this time, NGK #6777, IMR9C-9H. See how these fare over the IXs.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

That's what I thought last year. I've run all sorts of cleaners through it in the past... never fixed it for long or repeatably. I did leave half a tank in it, pretty sure I put marine Stabil in it, but I'm sure that didn't help any yesterday.

I do know the conductors looked pretty jacked up in the wires, they were practically copper powder. Worth a try anyway. Too bad I don't have a manometer, I'd love to do a sync while I'm in there, but oh well.

I got Laser Iridiums this time, NGK #6777, IMR9C-9H. See how these fare over the IXs.

I'm not a fan of Stabil (the marine formula may be better-maybe not if you did indeed ave it in). I've seen lawn mower carbs (aluminum) varnish up a month later using Stabil. Pitched that xxx (and you'll never see that in my garage). Seafoam works very well for a stabilizer as does K100 (I use that mostly in my boat-50 gallon built in tank).
K100 Fuel Treatment

You can usually just smell the fuel for freshness. Bad fuel will have a definite odor to it vs fresh fuel.

BTW, with a half full tank, moisture will get in there and rust will form in the upper part of the tank.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

That's what I thought last year. I've run all sorts of cleaners through it in the past... never fixed it for long or repeatably. I did leave half a tank in it, pretty sure I put marine Stabil in it, but I'm sure that didn't help any yesterday.

I do know the conductors looked pretty jacked up in the wires, they were practically copper powder. Worth a try anyway. Too bad I don't have a manometer, I'd love to do a sync while I'm in there, but oh well.

I got Laser Iridiums this time, NGK #6777, IMR9C-9H. See how these fare over the IXs.

Ageed, if you can see whitish, etc at the spark plug cap ends, definitly worth inspection/ fixing.

 

[FinalImpact]

So your saying the wires into the caps "looked jacked" as in damaged?
Most of the bikes helped, mine included actually run well, idle great and are not misfiring and correcting the loose wires into the caps help remove/reduce vibration.
Your statement about the wires looking bad, well I'm curious how this one will pan out. As in there may be more to it. The flip side, few have mentioned the wires turning to dust.
Last thought; do not exceed the suggested MAX gap. High compression engines will burn better with a median gap set by yamaha, not the plugs manufacture. So go with 0.025" - 0.027" and you should be fine.
Can you toss up pictures of the OLD plugs porcelain end?

 

[fb40dash5]

So your saying the wires into the caps "looked jacked" as in damaged?
Most of the bikes helped, mine included actually run well, idle great and are not misfiring and correcting the loose wires into the caps help remove/reduce vibration.
Your statement about the wires looking bad, well I'm curious how this one will pan out. As in there may be more to it. The flip side, few have mentioned the wires turning to dust.
Last thought; do not exceed the suggested MAX gap. High compression engines will burn better with a median gap set by yamaha, not the plugs manufacture. So go with 0.025" - 0.027" and you should be fine.
Can you toss up pictures of the OLD plugs porcelain end?

The caps were fine, but the conductors in the wires looked like hell, they were all mangled and smashed up. I've been in the I think 3 times now, plus however many times the POs were in there, and I know I never messed with the wires before, so I figured it can't hurt.

The plugs look OK, but they've probably only got 3k on them. They're on the high end of spec, my 0.66mm feeler fits in there easily, so they're gonna be pushing 0.7mm. I've got the new ones as close to 0.6mm as I could get them. Hopefully between messing with the wires, new plugs, fresh gas, and a can of Seafoam it'll even out. My transmission/motorcycle guy just visited, and unfortunately he also lacks a manometer. Silly Ducati fans! Yay, another Saturday project to add to my list, right after head gaskets on my car, fixing my downstairs bathroom plumbing, putting a roof on the house.... blah.

 

[FinalImpact]

The caps were fine, but the conductors in the wires looked like hell, they were all mangled and smashed up. I've been in the I think 3 times now, plus however many times the POs were in there, and I know I never messed with the wires before, so I figured it can't hurt.

The plugs look OK, but they've probably only got 3k on them. They're on the high end of spec, my 0.66mm feeler fits in there easily, so they're gonna be pushing 0.7mm. I've got the new ones as close to 0.6mm as I could get them. Hopefully between messing with the wires, new plugs, fresh gas, and a can of Seafoam it'll even out. My transmission/motorcycle guy just visited, and unfortunately he also lacks a manometer. Silly Ducati fans! Yay, another Saturday project to add to my list, right after head gaskets on my car, fixing my downstairs bathroom plumbing, putting a roof on the house.... blah.

At least that's your house and your stuff!! There is the joy of doing it for others too! ...

Anyway - 1 and 4 look a little darker (richer). Could just be the lighting/flash but it seems like they all have the look of moisture being present (as in rust occurring). Do you plug the exhaust when it sits? If so, that might explain it. << Shot in the dark but unless water can funnel right down the exhaust, i'd leave the pipe plugs out so it can breath.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

You are using a WIRE feeler gauge correct? Hopefully NOT a flat gauge.

Probably already known but this is critical as the ground electrodes have a curve "inside". The wire gauge goes inbetween the ground electrode and center is where you want to be when checking the gap.

 

[fb40dash5]

At least that's your house and your stuff!! There is the joy of doing it for others too! ...

Anyway - 1 and 4 look a little darker (richer). Could just be the lighting/flash but it seems like they all have the look of moisture being present (as in rust occurring). Do you plug the exhaust when it sits? If so, that might explain it. << Shot in the dark but unless water can funnel right down the exhaust, i'd leave the pipe plugs out so it can breath.

Those were in no way in any order, so I got no idea which is actually which. Probably the lighting anyway, that was my phone with flash... they all look a hair darker than ideal, but not bad, and only 1 is a wee bit darker than the rest. They've all got a tiny bit of oil on them, but other than that, all good by my eyes. No rust, and I definitely don't plug the pipes. I even treated it to being stored inside this year... I have a shed, but it's behind the house and a muddy mess to get to most times. At work seemed like as good a place as any to let it sleep.

You are using a WIRE feeler gauge correct? Hopefully NOT a flat gauge.

Probably already known but this is critical as the ground electrodes have a curve "inside". The wire gauge goes inbetween the ground electrode and center is where you want to be when checking the gap.

Flat feeler gauge blades, but I've never had an issue getting just an edge in there and measuring. I'd be scared ****less using a wire on these fine tips anyway, between the wire tip and the little iridium dot welded on the ground side. Too much risk of hooking something. You're not even really supposed to gap them, but I don't have a problem closing them up some.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Flat feeler gauge blades, but I've never had an issue getting just an edge in there and measuring. I'd be scared ****less using a wire on these fine tips anyway, between the wire tip and the little iridium dot welded on the ground side. Too much risk of hooking something. You're not even really supposed to gap them, but I don't have a problem closing them up some.

Please watch the second video. It shows how to check them and indeed, how to adjust the precious metal plugs:

NGK Spark Plugs USA

 

[fb40dash5]

Please watch the second video. It shows how to check them and indeed, how to adjust the precious metal plugs:

NGK Spark Plugs USA

Yeah, I think I can figure out how to gap my plugs, thanks. My feeler gauges work just fine to measure gap, and never have I needed to open the gap on a fine wire plug. They generally come either acceptable, or with too much gap, as this set did. No fault of NGK's of course, since they're not the spec'd plug.

 

[fb40dash5]

Well sonuva....

Wonder if that's got anything to do with anything. I just got it put back together enough to run and warmed it up. Other than one of the coil primaries working itself off when I was installing the battery box, it sounds much better, still a little hiccup now and then, but much improved. Then for some reason, I decide to feel the fuel hose.

Well, that's not s'posed to be like that. Now to wonder if it's been like that as long as I've had it, if I did it some time ago, or if I did it this week. It's dang near kinked shut. Hopefully I can cut that plastic junk off the fittings and run some proper fuel hose. Who decided to use nearly rigid tubing on a fuel tank you lift up?

 

[FinalImpact]

Would likely idle fine but falter under load. So, you could feasibly cruise at 4000 rpm, but have it fall on its face from a quick rev to 6500 whereby it could be sluggish and lean. Hesitating.... Depends how bad it was. Another member had that happen, I think his wouldn't hit the happy post past 8K. Don't recall exactly.

Good luck. Sorry, but GLAD you found it now! :thumbup: