Any one give me advice on puchasing a plug wrench for my 93 cbr. All my existing ones are too thick/short to fit it is a fairly tight, long squeeze in there. Should I just get one from Honda? Hopefully new plugs will fix my latest problem, I went for a ride the other day and after about 40km the bike started hesitating/breaking down at about 5500-6000rpm. When i went to ride it again it would only run on 3 cylinders (I used a non contact thermometer and found #3 header pipe was only 25 degrees C so I would say it was not firing, the other 3 pipes were around 150-170.

 

First I would switch out the plug wires to see if that may be the problem. Maybe #3 wire is arcing. See if the problem follows the wire.

I can't remember what socket I use but it is a thin wall one. Also I use a claw tool to go down and retrieve the the plug after I un-thread it. I then start the plug with the tool to insure it is not cross-threaded and started properly.

 

The best plug spanner is the one that comes in your tool kit. It's an excellent tool and fits perfectly in the hole..... pulls the plugs clean out too. get one if you haven't got one. In fact if you haven't got the original tool kit get one. Excellent!
You could almost strip the bike down to nothing with that little tool set. A must if you're stranded and can attempt a repair. Better than kicking the dust, wishing.
As for the not firing, Tim's probably right in the bad lead scenario but you also need to check if you've got any fuel coming into the carb feeding the cylinder that's apparently not firing. Both cause the same effect.

 

The plug sanner you need is a 12mm

The one i got off fleebay said Kawasaki 12mm but it is the long reach & works perfect, all the plug spanners/ sockets in my tool box from over the years & NONE of them fitted!

Ive found this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PLUG-SPANNER-C...item56424eb5c3

as it says in the discription the Threads are 12mm and its 18mm across the Flats for socket.

hope this helps.

 

When I'm on the road, I have my stock tool kit on the bike. When I'm at home, it's an 18mm spark plug socket. Craftsman ones fit, but not sure what your equivalent would be over there. They're generally built thinner for this reason.

 

Yup, 18mm, but it has to be a long-wall socket. My old 13/16ths spark plug socket has a thin cylinder of foam inside for securing against the insulator and pulling the spark plug. I might make one for the 18mm.

 

I tried changing the leads over and the same cyl was not firing but the others were so I would say the leads are fine, I will chase up the on board tool kit to suit from Honda on Monday when I go over to pick up the new plugs, no stock at the honda dealer, they had to get them in, same story at Bursons/supercheap etc. We might have good roads in Tasmania but we haven't any after sales service/stock.

 

I hope it's the plug now. As mentioned above the next step is fuel, Other than that my next guess is a burnt EX valve or a tight IN valve. To check the valves you would need a compression gauge.

One other thing while we are at it, when you get a new plug, plug it into the cap and place the plug up against the engine and see if it is firing just to rule out that you don't have a bad coil.

 

My plug tool is an 18mm deep from Ace Hardware. I loosen the plug then use my highly engineered special final removal/starting tool to take the plug out. It's a nine inch length of 3/8 inch dowel with a few inches of 5/32 id fuel line on one end. The fuel line fits firmly enough over the plug to spin it out once loosened and to start it back in.

 

If you need a cheap easy way of getting a spark plug tool, go to a car wrecker yard and get an early nineties honda accord spark plug tool. mine was very cheap at a couple of bucks. bonus is they are very long too and hold the plug for ease of removal and re-installation. cheers all