AndyH

Flying Banana....spark plug failure ?????

14 posts in this topic

http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y379/andrewhigginson/Flying%20banana/DSC_0069_zpswk8kx6n7.jpg

 

Got fed up with lying on the floor getting dirty doing

the new project..So fired up the yellow beasty yesterday to go

for a hoon and blow away some cobwebs.

I went out for about an hour on one of my old routes , a good selection 

of A and B roads.I was giving the bike plenty or murder in second and third

gear..the bike was running like a dream.

I was on my way home ,was just putting in a last overtake before the roundabout

on the A50 when I felt a faint judder through the throttle.I took the roundabout

in second gear and the thing was chugging like an old steam engine.The bike picked

up a bit after the roundabout but was running like crap.

Panic ensued...CHRIST I AM BREAKING DOWN !!!!!

Half a minute later the bike was still running,and was on a mission to get the 8 or 10

miles home completed.

The turbine hum was replaced by dronning like brrrrrr noise.Intermittently it would

snatch slighly and run properly,before going crap agian.I was thinking it through..

fuel,fuel filter,Fpr etc etc...but no....the bike was definately running on 3 cylinders.

I was pretty sure that a plug was failing.Or could it be an injector getting blocked??

 Anyway I made it home.Switched the bike off and had a cup of tea.Restarted the bike

and It seem to be runnning on all four again....It had cooled down somewhat.

So any suggestrions appreciated.

Has anyone else experienced  this?

Could it be a plug??

Water in the fuel maybe?

Anything else?

Should I chuck some injector cleaner in the tank  and run it a while before I start delving in?? 

 

I had a plug fail on my old Bandit many years ago...I set of for work on 1200cc four and

by the time that I arrived at work I was riding a 900cc triple !!

So its not unknown.

A mate tells me that plugs can fail straight out of the box or after only a hundred miles.

 

 Bear  in mind that the  Yellow X is the same bike 11 months ago took me up to Carlisle,

around the Lakes.The North East and South West Scotland over a long weekend and never missed a beat.

The plugs have been in for about 3000 miles only!!

 

Opinions please chaps..

 

 

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Hi Andy, I had something similar in the car, turned out to be a partially blocked breather hole in the filler cap. So only played up after a spell of hard driving. If it happens again open the filler cap and see if it makes a difference. Good luck. PS had a good ride out to Devils Bridge today, great to have some decent weather for a change.

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Always work through the system in a logical route, it may be worth letting the bike warm right up till the fan kicks in and then take it for a short but fast ride.

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Checked the filler cap...opened o/k..no sucking noise..plenty gas sloshing around..

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Similar thing, when I first got mine I went to the TT and it started to run on 3 on the way to the ferry, had 2 weeks in the Isle of Man and a trip back to Lincolnshire before taking it back to the dealers, new plug fitted and not missed a beat since(9yrs).I did take it to the Honda dealers in Douglas but they were flat out. Hope yours is a similar simple fix.

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Cheers John....Still a bit of a ball ache changing the plugs..but

at the moment they are the number one culprit.

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Cheers John....Still a bit of a ball ache changing the plugs..but

at the moment they are the number one culprit.

 

Yes they are Andy, I have done it twice on two X 11's and took one look and got my mate who was helping me to do them whilst I drained the oil , and he commented on this saying, I notice how you get ME to get the plug :).

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Look at pic looks like you got a bargain,went to local Honda dealer today Wings (blackpool,lancaster +wigan honda) they have a 10% off card you pay a fiver for so may come in useful if you need a few parts ?

PS I was asking about a part for the yellow +grey sf1 and the spares man show me the bike list and I notice there is no solid sfy yellow  listed on honda data base ?

Edited by blueboy
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Thanks for the heads up Brian.Might look into the card thingy

if the parts required start to mount up.

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Tried the bike today Jase and its definatly running on 3..in fact

one of the downpipes is cold so I know which plug to change.

Will probably start job on Sunday If I get the time

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Did Mine last year , had a problem with water in the tank , so it was easy (well as easy as it can be !!) without the tank and air box in place , the brace across the frame is right in the wrong place to use a socket set with ease , the original plug spanner actually works well.

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Tried the bike today Jase and its definatly running on 3..in fact

one of the downpipes is cold so I know which plug to change.

Will probably start job on Sunday If I get the time

 

Personally if it was me I would just change all 4 whilst I was there, unless they are quite recent, they are buggers to get to, make sure you got the proper spark plug tool to get them out, they are quite deep and have stuff in the way to make it difficult.

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Have done spark plugs before on the big X lads.As you say

the spark plug tool with the biult in wobble bar that is part of

the bike toolkit is pretty indispencible.

Will let you know the outcome

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If you are using (dont remember if the original one has it) spark plug toot that has that rubber insert to keep the plug in the tool, remember every time when you remove the tool LOOK that the rubber insert is still there.

It would be the pita to get it off from the spark plug and usually you notice it when one of the plug cables wont fit properly.

Personally i use magnetic ones, 3/8" ones with proper extensions and joints are usually thin enough to fit in those really tight places.

Really true that sometimes that original one is the only tool that fits.

Edited by Maintenanceman
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