• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Replacing original spark plugs wires.

  • Thread starter Thread starter RedBaron
  • Start date Start date
R

RedBaron

Guest
A couple of months back I went through the coils on my 1100GK and 1100GL. As I'd taken photos of the process I thought I'd share them here to help in the future. I'd noticed isolated photos and descriptions posted by folks on here and I used them as reference during my run at it. Thank you for your posts. Hopefully putting photos step by step might encourage others to make the jump. It's worth doing. My bike now runs better and no longer shocks me when I am near the valve cover lol. Only ~500 miles on them so far, but they've functioned flawlessly

First I removed the wires by gripping the coil in one hand, and twisting the wire in the other.



This tore the outer most layer of insulation right at the exit to the coil, and the old wires easily slipped out.



On one coil I chose to chip away the old epoxy, but this was also taking chunks out of my coil. After some thought I decided to throw on the dust mask and hit the edge of the coil quickly on the grinding wheel. I liked the result.



This leaves the that outer most layer of wire insulation the last remaining hurdle in dis-assembly. The epoxy used to assemble the coils is very thin down around this insulation. I used a straight pick like this -



-around the perimeter of the remaining insulation inside the coil opening



-working in circles and what-not to break the epoxy's hold. Now, if you're wondering, this only applies to the perimeter of the hole. the base has a protruding spike that goes into your wire and shouldn't be trifled with. Ok, after a little while you wind up with these little brain slugs-



Hooray! Now you should install your new wires! I used 7mm regular old copper wires from Oreilly's. The special ordered a long length for me from a bulk roll in warehouse (figured owning some extra wire could be handy. Anyway cut your wires close to length and install them held in place with the epoxy of your choice. (I actually took a risk and used a dab of Gorilla Glue, has held great so far but use at your own risk).

Oops, lost that picture. Oh well, you get the idea.

Top off the wires with NGK XB05F and VB05F caps and throw them on the bike.



A good coil relay mod won't hurt ya either.

Keep those wires off your valve cover, and wire spacers can be built using ziptyes if you want (search google).

If this post is redundant feel free to remove it. Just thought it might convince someone to dive into their coils. (It's easy)
 
Nice job. You might mention what sleeving you're using, as that's important, too. Or was the original stuff still ok?
 
Great write up, thanks for sharing it. You should contact Cliff and see if he can post this to his website, it would be a great addition. I did this to my 78' 1000 4 years back and they're still working perfectly. If I remember right I used a type of epoxy putty from Canadian tire.
 
Honestly I didn't mention sleeving because I'm no longer using much. At first (as seen in some of the pictures) I used the original sleeving split with a razor blade (It didn't want to slip off on it's own) and retained it with lengths of heat shrink purchased from the local plumbing supply (sold in 3 ft lengths there). The wires became hell to bend and didn't want to easily return to their original routing (there's a pretty steep bend just south of the coil on mine). Wound up using a smaller diameter heat shrink and no cover. With their flexibility they seem easier to route around the valve cover without resting so close on it or close to each other.
 
Whatever works for you. Long-term vibration killed the sleeves on one of mine and out of desperation I wound up using bright yellow garden hose as an outer for quite a long time on that bike. I just couldn't find the right silicone rubber that matched the OEM stuff, and something was better than nothing.
Of course, brightly coloured HT leads are now a 'feature'.
That's what it was, yeah. :)
 
Last edited:
Lol. So far so good. found a picture installed, but before I'd finished wiggling to where I'd wanted. Forgive the dirty engine, I've since cleaned it up a bit.

 
Oh, found a picture of the coil with gorilla glue. I'd still recommend epoxy for absolute bulletproof applications. The GS is my local daily driver and I generally take the Triumph on long trips so I didn't bother to ride out to get epoxy for my uses. Still, this stuff locked on tighter than dick's hat band and seems harder than a rock so maybe it'll work for others too.

 
"Dirty engine", he says. I wish mine were as dirty as that.
 
Lol, I guess I just stay frustrated at the GS' lack of cleanliness because I always feel like I lack the space to completely dissassemble the bike and build it back. Well, space is tight but time is tighter. I'd always prefer to work a job from start to finish but between my junk and customer junk I usually end up with too many things going on at once to do to the GS what I'd like to do. Now I'm looking at letting the boss retire and buying his business, a likely XS650 purchase, a nephew or niece on the way and so on and so forth. C'est la vie
 
I used the grinder method on my 850G coils as well. So much simpler and faster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top