[pat1121]

I'm very new to this (my bike being a week old..) and I've had problems with the battery.
I fixed the battery problem, and the bike still wouldn't start, so I talked to the dealer and he said I should replace the spark plugs. Without the bike running and with no truck, I told him I would attempt it myself.
Thing is I know nothing about replacing spark plugs. So I did some searching here and couldn't find a whole lot of information on exactly how to do this, just a lot of why and when to do it.
Can somone please tell me where to start (where they are located would be a good start!) and some instructions / precautions when doing this?
Thanks.

 

[themeatmanlandry]

Assuming your motor is the same as mine (600 Bandit), theyu are located on the top of the motor, where the wires run in.

Remove the little cover flaps that the wires run through from the holes they are resting on.

Use an air hose and blow all of the crap away from (and out of) those holes.

Remove the wires ONE AT A TIME!

Get your toolkit out (and your owner's manual) and use the tolls there to remove each spark plug ONE AT A TIME.

Put the new spark plug in to the end of the wrench (from the toolkit). It has a rubber grommet in the end to help hold the plug in place when you turn it over. Most motorcycle spark plugs come pre-gapped. Ask the guy/gal that sells them to you. If they aren't pre-gapped, look in your owner's manual and find the spark plug gap. Use a gap wrench (is that what it's called?) and set the gap before you install the plug.

BE CAREFUL not to cross thread the plug!! BE CAREFUL not to overtighten the plug!! It needs to be a LITTLE tight . . . don't over do it. You'll have a real problem, then.

Pull the flap down over the little hump in the wire, and re-install the wire. Give it a push and you should feel it seat. Make sure the flap thingy is sealing around the hole it rests on (not real important, but they put the flap there, you may as well use it!).

Do each plug and give her a crank.


Folks . . . did I miss anything? It's kind of hard to sit at a desk and try to change plugs from memory. Help me out.

 

[dirtyfingers]

Really not as easy as that. With the Katana, you have to rmove the gas tank. To do so, you have to remove the seat, then the six screws that surround the tank on the right and left cowl (3 per side). Then you can remove the two bolts holding the tank down, dont lose any of the rubber spacers. Carefully pull the left side cowl away from the tank to clear the petcock knob, and lift. Remove the fuel and vacuum lines, the vent tubes, and fuel meter wires. Now you can easily see the spark plug wires. They are numbered 1-4 from left to right. Good luck.

 

[Phease]

Is it not easier to just remove each side fairing to get the tank off rather than pulling it to one side to get the petcock out and risk damaging the fairing?
Also i'm not sure about the new katanas but on the older ones there is a frame support bar located over the top of the plugs restricting access, this has to be removed as well.

 

[dirtyfingers]

You can pull the side fairings off if you like, but that means you'll also be removing the windshield, the piece below it, the mirrors, turn signals, and the lower cowl. It's easier to be careful and just yank it to the side.

 

[icekillah]

don't know if you already got to this point but you may need a deep walled socket to get the plugs loose for my 96 kat i need to use a deep walled spark plug socket as well as an extender just to reach the spark plugs then its just a matter of putting a peice of tubing over the end of the plug and using that to unscrew the loosened plug and pluuing it out