New Ignition wires
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samchar12
- Cruiser
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- Current bike(s): 1988 ZN1300
1982 GL500i - Location: Powder Springs, GA
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New Ignition wires
As new wires are either unobtanium or crazy expensive, what are my options for new spark plug wires?
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Van Voyager
- Grand Tourer
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:01 am
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- Current bike(s): 1986 Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager
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Re: New Ignition wires
I'd just measure the size of the wire (some are 9mm, some are 10mm ??) and buy a length of spark plug wire from your local auto supply. Pull of your existing wires and use them as a template to cut the new ones. I can't remember the plug wire is 'resistor wire' or not - somebody else here will chime in on that (or look in the manual) - but I think it likely is.
As I recall, the spark plug caps simply 'screw' on to the end of the cable (so you can take yours off and reuse them, and the other end is a push fit onto the coils (you can cannibalize the coil end bits (small sealing ring and screw-on cinch) from your existing wires.
When I first picked up my ZN, there was a barely perceptible miss at low rpm, i.e. idle. Not enough that it affected riding but I could feel it when I stopped. When I was doing a full clean up of the bike a while later, I discovered by accident really, that the #5 plug wire had a very slight break in it. I used some left over spark plug wire that I found in the garage to replace the #5 wire and it worked fine, and low and behold, the idle miss that I had been experiencing was gone. Later I manged to find a new factory #5 wire with cap so eventually I put that on but the one I had made was working just fine.
As I recall, the spark plug caps simply 'screw' on to the end of the cable (so you can take yours off and reuse them, and the other end is a push fit onto the coils (you can cannibalize the coil end bits (small sealing ring and screw-on cinch) from your existing wires.
When I first picked up my ZN, there was a barely perceptible miss at low rpm, i.e. idle. Not enough that it affected riding but I could feel it when I stopped. When I was doing a full clean up of the bike a while later, I discovered by accident really, that the #5 plug wire had a very slight break in it. I used some left over spark plug wire that I found in the garage to replace the #5 wire and it worked fine, and low and behold, the idle miss that I had been experiencing was gone. Later I manged to find a new factory #5 wire with cap so eventually I put that on but the one I had made was working just fine.