spark plugs at 18K miles

palat_l

palat_l

Member
Visit site
here's what they look like after 18K miles.. a change out at 8K seemed a
little premature

these plugs did 2 cross country trips each leg taking 4 days, so they were run pretty hard

View attachment 11433

oh I now fall into the "you need to remove the radiator to change the plugs" camp
 
From what I can see they look ok - but I honestly can't see the condition very well. If you could take a close up of the tips with maybe a macro lens setting - that would help.
If they are a light tan or light grey - they are probably ok.
 
I think for a stock setup (no fueiling or other changes made) and with normal highway riding (vs. stop and go in town riding) the plugs will last longer than the 8k miles Yamaha says they will. Off hand I can't think of another bike I've had that recommends a plug change so soon. Good to see yours lasted as long as they did, and unless the bike was running poorly it probably would have gone a lot further.
 
Evitzee said:
I think for a stock setup (no fueiling or other changes made) and with normal highway riding (vs. stop and go in town riding) the plugs will last longer than the 8k miles Yamaha says they will. Off hand I can't think of another bike I've had that recommends a plug change so soon. Good to see yours lasted as long as they did, and unless the bike was running poorly it probably would have gone a lot further.
Click to expand...

I thought so, but I had just came back from a cross country ride so I figured that it was an appropriate time to do the plugs, oil, (coolant because of the plugs). Front pads are probably due but I will swap them at the end of the season when I do the tires.
 
I think the gaps look a bit big, aren't spark gaps normally about 1mm (1/25th Inch ish)

but overall don't look to bad, is the changing of modern sparkplugs not more to do with the insulation not breaking down giving a poor spark as opposed to them fouling an giving a poor spark ?
 
Yeah - they look good.


The condition of the plug gives a good indication of the overall running condition of the engine .. fuel mixture, oil usage, temperatures, etc.
 
OneSizeFitsAll said:
Replace the stock plugs with iridium plugs and your good to go for another 30,000 miles easy.
Click to expand...

Too late now...plugs changed and radiator filled with new coolant...not jumping into this again for another 4 years I think...

As far as the bike goes, it's been a real trooper. Zero oil consumption and no problems (once I got rid of the annoying buzz up front in the plastics).
 
palat_l said:
(once I got rid of the annoying buzz up front in the plastics).
Click to expand...

"Threadjack Alert!"

I thought maybe I was losing my mind......I sometime get a high pitched buzz / rattle at cruising speed. Does that sound like what you had and how did you fix your buzz?
 
cujo said:
"Threadjack Alert!"

I thought maybe I was losing my mind......I sometime get a high pitched buzz / rattle at cruising speed. Does that sound like what you had and how did you fix your buzz?
Click to expand...

Not unusual, honestly I would need to take the wind screen off and take a look at what I did. I think that I needed to epoxy the small triangular cover plate in place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top