Plug Wire Splicing and Replacement

[L-Aholic]

The plug boots on my 81 1000L are bad and in need of replacing. The wires are also original and I would like to replace them with new wires. I have the transistor type ignition and the coils are OK so I am looking at splicing the wires after the coil with these I saw at Z1.

http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1890

and the wires with these

http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1983

Is this the best way to go or are there better options for this repair? The NGK site mentions to cut the wire a few inches from the coil. Is there enough room under the tank to use the NGK type or is there a smaller
splicer available that would work better? Will this splicer work on both 7 and 8 mm wires and is there a preferred plug wire size or type to use. Thanks for any advice.

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. L-Aholic,

I just noticed your post count. I would be remiss in my duties if I did not perform the following.


Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)! :grin:

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the garage section via the GSR Hompage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr.

And here are some quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic maintenance needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:
http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:
http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.

And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com

Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:
http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm
*************End Quote*************
**********<quote Mr. bwringer>**********
Every GS850 has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting.

It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years.

It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile o-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)

Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)

Valve clearances (more important than most people think)

Carb/airbox boots

Airbox sealing

Air filter sealing

Petcock (install a NEW one)

On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)

On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.

Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
**********<end quote>**********
***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer***************
http://denniskirk.com
Put in your bike model and see what they have.

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.

http://oldbikebarn.com seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.

OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

http://www.babbittsonline.com/
Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.

http://bikebandit.com
Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.

http://flatoutmotorcycles.com
Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.

http://alpha-sports.com
Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc.:
http://mcmaster.com
Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.

http://motorcycleseatcovers.com
Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.

http://newenough.com
You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************

Here are a few extra links:

Cycle-Re-Cycle Part 2
http://crc2onlinecatalog.com/

The ever popular Z1 Enterprises
http://www.z1enterprises.com

The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com

Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[p_s]

Are the wires themselves that bad? I don't know what you'd achieve by replacing 2/3 of them and adding a joint. Standard practice is to snip off a little at the end if you have to until you get a nice conductor core and then screw in the cap. Once too much has been snipped off of course you do need to splice in more.

[L-Aholic]

Basscliff, thank you for the official greeting. :-D I have been trying to use the search function as much as possible to minimize questions. P_S, one of my wires seems to be too short to just do the cap boot and I have a total of two wires that have cracks in the rubber covers over the hard plastic boot. The other two wires look OK but are still 27+ years old and since the new replacement wires are not too expensive I thought about doing the whole set for reliability. Is that the best way to do it or would you just replace the two wires? Thanks

[greg78gs750]

i saw a thread somewhere on here about pulling the old wires out of the coils and sliding new ones in with some silicon type sealant.....i plan on doing something with mine too as i have similar cracking in the wires, though i think my caps are good...maybe. i think there is a pretty simple electrical connection in those coils, ie a barb that just slips into the new wire contacting the conductor....not sure, but i am imagining it like a furnace ignitor wire, which has a similar setup.....i will search around a bit.

greg

[L-Aholic]

Thanks, I also saw that mentioned in some other posts but was not sure about doing it. I do not want to damage the coils. From what I recall the wire will pull out of the coil but sometimes not all in one piece. If that is the case it has to be dug out of the coil. I do not know what is on the inside of the coil where the wire goes in and do not want to risk damaging the coil by pulling or digging the wire out. Maybe if someone has done this they will let us both know the best way to do it.

[p_s]

The other two wires look OK but are still 27+ years old and since the new replacement wires are not too expensive I thought about doing the whole set for reliability. Is that the best way to do it or would you just replace the two wires? Thanks

Sounds like all 4 wires are in good shape, just that one is too short. You can of course replace just the rubber covers over the boots. I wouldn't bother replacing all four wires. I've owned 3 old bikes that are all on original plug wires (one is 45 years old). If the insulation looks fine and the plug cap end is clean, I don't think you'll gain anything by replacing them. Maybe someone more experienced than me will weigh in here. I haven't taken apart a GS coil. Some coils have screw-on posts like plug caps, some have the wire soldered on. Best not to find out if you guess wrong.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I would do all 4. Those Parts should be fine. I think I have those wires on my bike to. Would be a better long term repair. Use the solid core wires & reuse the original plug caps or replace with NGK (5K ohms) equivelants

[Nessism]

As mentioned by Lynn, the stock Suzuki plug caps are resistor caps with 5K ohms of resistance. Stock wires are non-suppressor core.

If replacing the stock wires it seems logical to me to try to replicate the stock setup - use new NGK plug caps, with the resistor built in, and non-supressor core wires. I suspect the suppressor core wires would work as well, but I think you are supposed to run non-resistor type plug caps then.

Good luck.

[dennis roy]

I was told that if the wires are good, just cracked, that you can take the end off and slide some shrink tubing over the wire and POOF sealed from the elements. I've never tried it but I will next time I can get it in the garage. My wires have seen better days so it can't be worse.

[nastyjones]

All you need to do is pick away at the glue that holds the wire in the coil. When it is removed just pull straight up on the old wire & it should slide right off. You will find a little stud at the bottom of the coil hole once the wire is removed. The new plug wire will screw right on.
I would not use old spark plug wire or end caps, the new stuff can be done for under $40. I agree with using NGK caps, they are the best. You should be rewarded with a healthy, fat, blue spark.

Paul

[emjay]

... the stock Suzuki plug caps are resistor caps with 5K ohms of resistance ...

CAUTION: THREAD HIJACK AHEAD - PROCEED WITH CAUTION

I replaced my caps a couple of years ago. I was a little surprised to have found out that they are resistor type. I thought this was something you needed to prevent the whine you'd hear over your radio and such.

Why are they needed? Am I missing something here? Edjudimicate me, man.

[emjay]

...You should be rewarded with a healthy, fat, blue spark...

And who doesn't like a nice fatty now and then.

[L-Aholic]

Thanks for all of the responses. :-D From what I have seen I think I will go ahead and get the NGK 120* tall resister type plug caps with some new 7 mm non-supression wire and do the full replacement from the coils back.

[greg78gs750]

hey l, let me know how it goes so i can do mine with a little more confidence!!