Bike wouldn't start, it kept sputtering and hovering just a fraction from fully starting. So I went through the checklist; gas, check, air, check, spark, check... wait that's not good.

Notice the black ends and orangish ring around the ceramic as well, not sure what caused that. If you guys know let me know.


(ignore the orange paint, over spray from marking lines)

So, after a quick run to pick up new spark plugs and installing them. (Man is that a tight fit changing the plugs) I started it up. Instant start, not even a slight hesitation. Made my day.

 

i think its fine, it looks like the original plugs because thats how mine looked. They just look really old and fouled

 

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they were the factory original plugs. Their gone now so doesn't matter lol.

 

Dragon - maybe you can help me out. Just walked out to my bike @ lunch and fired it up but it's running on 3 cyls. Felt a little rough on the way to work, but I hadn't ridden in a few days, thought it might just have been the ol' girl warming up. It was on all 4 going to work though.

it did this to me a month ago too where it was on 3, and was getting gas out of the carb overflow. no gas today though. I was thinking I had a stuck float maybe, so there's an auto parts store right down the road - rode down there to get some seafoam. I check my header there to see which pipe was cold, and it's #4. well, I reach in to put my hand on the #4 plug wire and it feels loose. I pull it out and put it back on, and there's nothing changing. Plug wire doesn't feel like it is "locking" onto the end of the spark plug. The boot also has some residue where water has gotten in and down around the bottom - probably from washing it sunday afternoon.

Instead of seafoam, I bought 4 fresh NGK CR9's and roll to a nearby buddy's house to try and swap out #4. Along the way, I can feel/hear the bike intermittently hitting on all 4, so wiggling the plug wire around some had done some good at least.

I change out #4 but notice that the new plug gives off a blue spark, but the old one gives off a fat yellow spark. I'm guessing plug was done - the ceramic doesn't look too bad though.

Here's my big question - neither the old plug or new plug has anything threaded onto the end, just the threaded part coming out of the plug. the plug wire doesn't really seem to lock onto the end of the plug, or into anything in the cylinder all that well. Seems like something should be a little more "positive" engaging as far as keeping that connection secure.

Did your old plugs have anything threaded into the end, and did your wires seem to just sit down on top, or securely lock onto the plug?

 

You should feel it snap into place, it does take some force but you will feel it when the coil pack is engaged. Do you have the correct plugs?

 

I had to work on it a little bit once I got home and did the other 3 plugs. It does snap into place, just not quite as firmly as 1-3 did.

It seems like this plug was in worse shape than the other 3 - looked like water had gotten in around the boot (I washed the bike Sunday) and might have been causing problems.

I did the plugs today - I might throw some new plug wires it it before long - but right off the bat the low end and idle feel much smoother than it did with the old plugs.

 

Yes - they are the correct NGK CR9EH9 plugs that the manual prescribes.

 

You might have a bad number 4 plug wire

 

That happened to me just 3 weeks ago, the ignition coil on #1 cylinder was not "locking" to the plug. That #1 plug was also the worst of the lot just like you described. The thread was almost non-existent.

I think that at some point water or moisture got trapped there and slightly corroded the metal in the boot not allowing a good flow of electricity and further agravating the corrosion

New coils,plugs and voila, all good