NGK B8ES spark plug replacements: Autolite or Champion?

[rphillips]

Interesting, I'm pretty sure all GS's, even the earliest ones, had resistor wires & resistor plug caps, but not resistor plugs. Somewhere they changed as my "91" GSX1100G has resistors at all three places. Still don't know the reason for any, all I've ever heard was to reduce static on radios. It just seems any resistor would either weaken or slow the spark, it just doesn't seem like something needed. Should be easy question for someone, what year did the Suzuki bikes start using "Resistor" plugs?

[Grimly]

Here's a quick and dirty comparison. Ignore the terrible sound sync, and cut to the last third or so to see the figures.
He seems to have overlooked that the plug cap is a resistive one, so hardly surprising he gets the results he does.

[Cipher]

Interesting, I'm pretty sure all GS's, even the earliest ones, had resistor wires & resistor plug caps, but not resistor plugs. Somewhere they changed as my "91" GSX1100G has resistors at all three places. Still don't know the reason for any, all I've ever heard was to reduce static on radios. It just seems any resistor would either weaken or slow the spark, it just doesn't seem like something needed. Should be easy question for someone, what year did the Suzuki bikes start using "Resistor" plugs?

MINE has pure copper stranded. One assumes a natural resistance but there no indication of anything more

[Cipher]

Here's a quick and dirty comparison. Ignore the terrible sound sync, and cut to the last third or so to see the figures.
He seems to have overlooked that the plug cap is a resistive one, so hardly surprising he gets the results he does.

One thing in the vid is evident in my bike and that is there is a sickly looking spark produced in spite of it the motor runs fine.
Im not sure what the obsession is with peak voltage the spark only needs to be hot enough to ignite atomised gasoline not a peat bog in a deluge.

from what I recall of the ads for performance ignitions is the need for more voltage for higher compression ratios.

Ive never suffered a perceivable performance deficit rom using a resistor plug with the stock caps
not in acceleration or fuel economy or plug life.

[rphillips]

Kind'f interesting video, we probably already knew the resistor plug would reduce the voltage but now we know how much, 12.8 kv vs 29.0 kv. Probably if used non resistor plug caps & non resistor wires the voltage may get to appx. 62kv. I wish he had tried the bike with the non resistor plugs to see if there was any difference...I'll try to make this short, yr. or two ago trying to get my GSX1100G started after its winter nap & no sign of starting, crank crank crank but nothing, not a sputter nor cough. Pulled a plug (OEM NGK JR9B resistor) & saw what "looked like" a very weak spark, new set of JR9B's & still no start & very weak "looking" spark. These JR9B plugs look exactly like the NGK D8EA (non resistors) used in my GS1100E & CB1100F. I stuck a D8EA in one plug cap & immediately saw a much brighter spark, put in 4 D8EA's & bike fired right up & is still starting & running perfectly today. Only change was from JR9B to D8EA plugs. The bike had been running fine, for yrs., with the JR9B's before this happened, I've never figured what changed but all good today with the D8EA's. ..Strange I know.

[Nessism]

MINE has pure copper stranded. One assumes a natural resistance but there no indication of anything more

Correct. Suzuki used non-resistor copper core plug wires on our GS bikes.

[rphillips]

Thanks for the correction, that just shows my old waning mind, I'd thought they were the nylon looking fibers & grey powdery stuff.

[mattd1205]

I guess another way around the “no more off the shelf B8ES plugs from autozone/oreilly/advance auto parts ” bugaboo is to run Dyna style coils/spark plug leads and switch to BR8ES. I see China is now counterfeiting the 5 ohm dyna coils and hawking them on eBay for $30 a set with free shipping. I didn’t see if they had the 3 ohm version but it wouldn’t be surprised if those are available too. It would be interesting to see how long they last versus the real deal. I mean coils aren’t exactly complex pieces

[Cipher]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...rch-mainSearch

VS.

https://fortnine.ca/en/dynatek-coil-12v-3-ohm-dc1-1

[Grimly]

I guess another way around the “no more off the shelf B8ES plugs from autozone/oreilly/advance auto parts ” bugaboo is to run Dyna style coils/spark plug leads and switch to BR8ES. I see China is now counterfeiting the 5 ohm dyna coils and hawking them on eBay for $30 a set with free shipping. I didn’t see if they had the 3 ohm version but it wouldn’t be surprised if those are available too. It would be interesting to see how long they last versus the real deal. I mean coils aren’t exactly complex pieces

Or just get a pair of MT-08 coils as fitted to umpteen million Hondas for decades.
My preference is to snag a triple set from a 1500 GlogWing and now I have a boxful of spares.
They're ~3ohms primary (so suit most GSs), have easily replaceable leads (you can fit the leads of your choice), and tough as old boots.
Best thing is the price. A triple set commonly sells for ~$25.

[pdqford]

It seems to me that if the spark jumps the gap, what difference does the extra voltage make?

Now if the extra voltage available lets you open up the spark plug gap, maybe that wider spark would ignite more fuel particles, resulting in more consistent ignition of the fuel charge? ?

Or perhaps with the original spark plug gap, the increased voltage would take longer to discharge the coil, therefore holding the arc longer , resulting in more consistent ignition? ?

Thoughts?

[Rob S.]

Side note: In the 1980's, my '73 Z1 (903cc) was burning oil like a mo fo. It very quickly fouled the plugs, and I was constantly cleaning and switching plugs. Then someone showed me these plugs with thin wire electrodes; I was told there was just no real surface for oil to accumulate, that they would fire in oil. And sure enough...

[Gorminrider]

Try NGK irridium. Pricey, but good plugs...
actually there's more to "resistance" than noise on am radios. Resistance on the secondary shapes the spark AND also reduces the back-splash of field collapse and recharge. Likewise on the primary coil. Suzuki's are "tuned" no doubt, but a resistor plug's resistance is not a super big deal if used. But, to stay "in tune" I guess you can just short out the resistor cap when using Resistor plugs....I wouldn't run less than Suzuki's, but more doesn't hurt an awful lot that I can tell.

[Grimly]

Another thing I've tried is projected nose plugs.
There was definitely a slight difference in a good way.

[Jerry]

I was unable to find the B8ES plugs for my 850 and used Champion N2C and they worked just fine. No prblems at all. I would have rather used NGKs but the Champions are the ones I found localy .