Topic: Replaced plug wires. Bike runs much better...

[xnewmanx]

I had an issue with my 3rd cylinder not firing/misfiring at low RPM and blowing a lot of unburnt fuel out the tailpipe.  I knew this problem had to be either inside the coil or in the spark plug wires, because cylinder 2 was fine.

I saw a thread somewhere about replacing plug wires on potted coils so I decided to give it a shot.  Ground them open, pulled the old plug wires out, soldered on the new ones and repotted them with electrical epoxy.  Pretty straightforward.

I also replaced the 10K caps with 5k caps. (only because I couldn't find 10k caps anywhere).  Fired it up and runs so much better.  Solid.  The NGK part number for the caps is XD05F.  The cloth cable is from lowbrow.

[liPPy]

Nice job on the coil wires. The cloth is a perfect compliment to the olive paint.

Your bike definitely has a unique look to it - like a pit bull ate a tractor. In a good way. Oh, and I love those pipes

[fmctm1sw]

Dude, what are those things wrapped around your rims, alligators?

[Sitarz84]

How can you tell if cylinders are misfiring or not?

[KubaCB550]

I just did the same thing except went down a little bit on the wire and just spliced it. 

I didnt want to mess with the coils just yet.   Works great, also put on new NGK caps.  Good info.

[Chachi]

Same here Kuba. I cut a few inches from the coil and added new wires with NGK twist-on splicers and finished with new caps. It definitely runs better now. The new wires look better, but my improvement is most likely due to better connections between the wires and resistor caps.

[xnewmanx]

I actually purchased the splices but the wires didn't look that healthy right where they met the coil, so I decided to just get into the coils.  Also the splices seemed a bit ghetto to me.

I could tell the cylinder was misfiring because I have a 4-4 exhaust and you could see/smell the unburnt fuel.

[Mingo]

More pictures of the bike. What are those forks?

[xnewmanx]

I don't really have anymore. They're off an 06 gsxr. Got em for 250 dollars. Simple to install.

[apehanger 550]

  I just lost a coil-- the coil itself is bad. Now I have something to practice on splitting the case open at the spark plug wires.  The replacement i got was really sun-baked on the spark plug wire, so it is good info to know.
  The wire that you used is carbon, or is it copper core??

[aperry]

Xnewmanx, quick question: can you detail the process you used here?  I've read other threads where it sounded like people cut the old wires flush at the location where they enter the coils.  Then they drill 1/4" in and epoxy the new wire in there using a copper nail to ensure conductivity and to help mechanically.  Looks like you've ground out large "windows" into the coils so that you can sink the new wires in deeper and have better access for soldering/epoxying the new wires?  But I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at.  Is there a thread that you followed for this?   

I think my wires are ready for replacement!

Thanks,
Aaron