Replacing ignition wires on an '82 GS650g

[Guest]

Got a strange question regarding replacing the ignition wires on my '82 GS650G. The factory wire seems to be locked/insulated with what appears to be some expanding foam. Kind of like great stuff. When installing the new wires is it necessary to cover this junction with something like electrical tape? There is no rubber boot which goes over the coil output and the wire..

Thanks,
Mark

[recycled64]

The original set-up for holding the plug wires in place was a plastic 'clip' arrangement, not available as a separate parts. The 'foam' you have would indicate, possibly, that your wires have been replaced once already. My own '82 650 had a combination of reshaped paper clip and electrical tape holding the wire in place, on one coil. I replaced that with 3 small zip ties with approximated the factory arrangement pretty well.

[koolaid_kid]

Actually, that is incorrect. recycled64, it sounds like your wires were replaced already. The OEM wires were embedded with a silicone-type sealant. Many have reported success in digging out the sealant and replacing the wires, some have not.
If you do replace the wires, I have a suggestion: if you use suppression wires, you will not need to use the expensive suppression NGK-style caps.

[mehall2]

Thanks to you both for the quick reply. I too have seen the clips that recycled64 describes and I can't remember if was on my 77GS550 or a TDM I once owned. I've used the suppression style wire on the 77gs550 when replacing the points system while going with newer coils. I've just never used them with older stock coils.

I actually have some dyna suppression wires on order, cheap from ebay $10 including shipping so they were too good to pass up, even if I won't use them for this project.

Will let you know how it goes.

Mark

[mehall2]

Ok, I've tried using the black permatex to hold in the wires into the coil without success. Sounded like a good idea but it does not bond to the wire at all. I've reset them with Gorilla Glue which seems to be working much better. According to the packaging, it's resistant to extreme heat and it expands as it dries. This is good since there was a slight space with the 7mm wire.