Plug Wires
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,027
Likes: 163
From: Grapevine Texas
Plug Wires
Just an observation. While I had tank off and was doing oil pump change, I decided to go ahead and replace the spark plugs, and I also wanted to at least check the plug wire resistance.
Old wires....
Aft right 7.5k
Front Right 22.5k
Aft left 8.8k
Front left 16k
The right front was deffinitely out of limits, which I thought for a two year old bike was odd. I went ahead and bought the 10mm screaming eagle wires.
New SE wires
Aft right 4.5k
Front right 8.8k
Aft left 4.6k
Front left 9.3k
New ones, whether just new or SE or combo were half what the stock ones were. My plugs all came out normal burn looking though two were showing .036 on the gap, which was outside of ideal. New plugs were spot on at .033, and checked with feeler gauges not a typical plug gap gauge which have margin of error. Just thought I'd pass along, thought that was interesting for two year old wires to show that kind of wear. Manufacturing defect, or yanked on when dealership did mx, who knows.
Old wires....
Aft right 7.5k
Front Right 22.5k
Aft left 8.8k
Front left 16k
The right front was deffinitely out of limits, which I thought for a two year old bike was odd. I went ahead and bought the 10mm screaming eagle wires.
New SE wires
Aft right 4.5k
Front right 8.8k
Aft left 4.6k
Front left 9.3k
New ones, whether just new or SE or combo were half what the stock ones were. My plugs all came out normal burn looking though two were showing .036 on the gap, which was outside of ideal. New plugs were spot on at .033, and checked with feeler gauges not a typical plug gap gauge which have margin of error. Just thought I'd pass along, thought that was interesting for two year old wires to show that kind of wear. Manufacturing defect, or yanked on when dealership did mx, who knows.
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 1,143
Likes: 433
From: Menifee, CA
Well, according to what I've read, plug wires deteriorate over time, and not that much time. They are not a wire core, but a carbon core. They can be damaged by removal from the plugs, which is rather difficult, even with the tank off, especially those inside two plugs.
Stock plug cables are cheap. I keep a spare set on hand. Because they are so cheap, and because they are easily damaged, and because they deteriorate over time no matter what else, I replace the plug wires whenever I remove the plugs. The maintenance schedule sez to replace plugs every 30k miles but this seems a long time to me. Especially given that, after 15k miles my plugs are visibly worn. Plugs are also cheap, so if I remove a plug I will never put an old plug back in the motor. At $5 each, a new plug will always go back in.
Stock plug cables are cheap. I keep a spare set on hand. Because they are so cheap, and because they are easily damaged, and because they deteriorate over time no matter what else, I replace the plug wires whenever I remove the plugs. The maintenance schedule sez to replace plugs every 30k miles but this seems a long time to me. Especially given that, after 15k miles my plugs are visibly worn. Plugs are also cheap, so if I remove a plug I will never put an old plug back in the motor. At $5 each, a new plug will always go back in.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 5,076
Likes: 3,293
From: Plover, WI
Well, according to what I've read, plug wires deteriorate over time, and not that much time. They are not a wire core, but a carbon core. They can be damaged by removal from the plugs, which is rather difficult, even with the tank off, especially those inside two plugs.
Stock plug cables are cheap. I keep a spare set on hand. Because they are so cheap, and because they are easily damaged, and because they deteriorate over time no matter what else, I replace the plug wires whenever I remove the plugs. The maintenance schedule sez to replace plugs every 30k miles but this seems a long time to me. Especially given that, after 15k miles my plugs are visibly worn. Plugs are also cheap, so if I remove a plug I will never put an old plug back in the motor. At $5 each, a new plug will always go back in.
Stock plug cables are cheap. I keep a spare set on hand. Because they are so cheap, and because they are easily damaged, and because they deteriorate over time no matter what else, I replace the plug wires whenever I remove the plugs. The maintenance schedule sez to replace plugs every 30k miles but this seems a long time to me. Especially given that, after 15k miles my plugs are visibly worn. Plugs are also cheap, so if I remove a plug I will never put an old plug back in the motor. At $5 each, a new plug will always go back in.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 7,821
Likes: 4,381
From: Texas
ANYTIME someone mentions removing a plug wire, you post this - and I love it. Glad you posted it in my thread because it made my life a helluva lot easier. Thank you
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,027
Likes: 163
From: Grapevine Texas
I bought that Lisle tool above before I changed my plugs, but honestly on this bike, those boots are so thick that I was digging and digging and looked like I was scratching the holes up so I quit and just bought the plier type pullers. They still pull on the boot but you don't have to get them in the bottom of the hole to pull up on boot.
These are what I ended up using instead of those Lisle hook ones above. I have used that one before, and it worked well, just my observation was all they were extremely tight at the angle trying to grab the bottom of the boot on this bike.
These are what I ended up using instead of those Lisle hook ones above. I have used that one before, and it worked well, just my observation was all they were extremely tight at the angle trying to grab the bottom of the boot on this bike.
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