Swapped plugs and did a throttle body synch on the FJR today. During the tear-down phase, I found the T-Bar covered with black scuff marks. My guess is that the shop that did the valve clearance check used a rubber mallet during reassembly. This was cleaned up with elbow grease and the liberal use of Nev-R-Dul; chemically-impregnated cotton batting. I had a can laying around unused from the days when I had silver rims (aluminum) on my Wing. Since getting the Feejer I've not had to worry about brake dust, road grime, and the rims pitting thanks to their black finish.
Plugs:
OEM Plugs @ 12,000 miles
The last time I did a plug swap was when I first went to iridium (NGK CR8EIX) back at 12k miles.
The iridiums don't provide any real performance boost but they do extend the service interval beyond the OEM 8k mile recommendation for plain old plugs (POPs).
Back when people started first talking about iridium they suggested that, perhaps, doubling the service interval might be possible. Without any concrete, lab-based evidence, all I can say is that I think I've been experiencing some degradation in mpg recently. To me that's one clue that it's time for a tune up. With the bike now at 28,078 miles, it was time (16,078 miles on the iridium plugs). The condition of plugs is fine and, IMO, justifies the difference in price for the iridiums over the POPs.
NGK Iridium Plugs @ 28,078 miles
The color and construction of the iridium plugs looks good. Any appearance of center posts missing or shortened is a trick of the camera angle. With EFI and it's ability to compensate for a multitude of sins, reading plugs is no longer a universal diagnostic tool. If there is serious fouling, oiling or other problem, it should show up. But it's use as an indicator of "good health" can be misleading. A few landmarks about the photo are worth mentioning. The dark areas on the insulators are greasy fingerprints; not something wrong with the insulators. The "gunk" around the top of the threads is anti-seize (silver). You can see more of it in the threads. Over enthusiastic application when these plugs were installed didn't appear to affect performance. During this service, I used copper anti-seize and used it much more sparingly. I would recommend the use of some kind of anti-seize due to the extended service intervals involved.
Throttle Body Sync:
The throttle bodies were within spec. If a shop were asked to check them, they'd probably have not done anything. I tickled the sync to get them closer. They might have drifted a little bit, but not much, since the last time they were done. A little patience resulted in them being much closer.
Fuel Consumption:
Given that local fuel is all oxygenated, these numbers can be artificially low compared to what the bike can get when out on the open road. I'll be checking my mpg over the next few weeks, but prior to the swap, my most recent numbers were:
- 41 mpg: While riding with a guy on his Daytona 600
- 43.7 mpg: Out on a GWRRA Chapter ride where they did about -20 of any posted limit (this is where I thought I should be getting high 40's to low 50's)
- 40.6 mpg: While riding with a guy on his Daytona 600 on the way back from that same GWRRA ride (closer to the speed limit with a pass at Tx51) and some commuting. I've been getting in the mid to upper 30's when strictly commuting.
Plugs:
OEM Plugs @ 12,000 miles
The last time I did a plug swap was when I first went to iridium (NGK CR8EIX) back at 12k miles.
The iridiums don't provide any real performance boost but they do extend the service interval beyond the OEM 8k mile recommendation for plain old plugs (POPs).
Back when people started first talking about iridium they suggested that, perhaps, doubling the service interval might be possible. Without any concrete, lab-based evidence, all I can say is that I think I've been experiencing some degradation in mpg recently. To me that's one clue that it's time for a tune up. With the bike now at 28,078 miles, it was time (16,078 miles on the iridium plugs). The condition of plugs is fine and, IMO, justifies the difference in price for the iridiums over the POPs.
NGK Iridium Plugs @ 28,078 miles
The color and construction of the iridium plugs looks good. Any appearance of center posts missing or shortened is a trick of the camera angle. With EFI and it's ability to compensate for a multitude of sins, reading plugs is no longer a universal diagnostic tool. If there is serious fouling, oiling or other problem, it should show up. But it's use as an indicator of "good health" can be misleading. A few landmarks about the photo are worth mentioning. The dark areas on the insulators are greasy fingerprints; not something wrong with the insulators. The "gunk" around the top of the threads is anti-seize (silver). You can see more of it in the threads. Over enthusiastic application when these plugs were installed didn't appear to affect performance. During this service, I used copper anti-seize and used it much more sparingly. I would recommend the use of some kind of anti-seize due to the extended service intervals involved.
Throttle Body Sync:
The throttle bodies were within spec. If a shop were asked to check them, they'd probably have not done anything. I tickled the sync to get them closer. They might have drifted a little bit, but not much, since the last time they were done. A little patience resulted in them being much closer.
Fuel Consumption:
Given that local fuel is all oxygenated, these numbers can be artificially low compared to what the bike can get when out on the open road. I'll be checking my mpg over the next few weeks, but prior to the swap, my most recent numbers were:
- 41 mpg: While riding with a guy on his Daytona 600
- 43.7 mpg: Out on a GWRRA Chapter ride where they did about -20 of any posted limit (this is where I thought I should be getting high 40's to low 50's)
- 40.6 mpg: While riding with a guy on his Daytona 600 on the way back from that same GWRRA ride (closer to the speed limit with a pass at Tx51) and some commuting. I've been getting in the mid to upper 30's when strictly commuting.
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