Close Quarters

Just a couple minor upgrades again that won't cost no more than a couple of £s. First of all I wanted to change the spark plug cap on the XTRS' HT lead. It has one of those Chinese designed 'all metal' jobs on it & although it seems to work fine, I remember stories of people having intermittent problems in the wet weather with these on other types of Chinese bikes (like the cruisers etc) in the past, with regard to magazine articles I've read & motorcycle forums I've frequented. And all in all I'm just not in the right frame of mind about something all metal that is designed to be part of the electrical ignition system! It's something I would recommend doing personally.

The standard cap:

I decided to change the cap for a good quality NGK one. Changing the caps themselves is not an overly difficult task. There is a self tapping style screw inside the cap attached to the HT lead end which screws into the lead & the copper wire core inside, making contact. Removing it is just a case of unscrewing it in an anti-clockwise manner while holding the lead still with your other hand. Attaching the new one is just the opposite & just requires screwing onto the lead. Remember to put the rubber seals which came with the new cap onto the lead before you screw the new one on, they're there to stop moisture from getting inside & you might need a little force to do so!

To get to the spark plug area itself you first need to remove the upper right side fairing. just undo a few strategically placed screws, not forgetting the ones placed at the front inside near the front wheel.
While I was there I was also going to replace & upgrade the spark plug to an high performance NGK Iridium plug: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/products/spark_plugs/iridiumix.asp?mode=nml
The plug itself is supposed to give both a boost in performance & fuel economy. So I swapped them out while I was there.
It's very close quarters itself working within the area as part of the chassis comes right across close & I thought I was going to have trouble removing the original plug, as none of my spark plug spanners would fit in there! I also didn't have the little toolkit included under the rear seat, which sometimes includes a crude socket to remove the plug with a hole in for a screwdriver to lever it round. I started to become concerned. & rummaged in one of my old socket drawers & found a spark plug socket that fitted both my spark plug & socket set, even if it didn't fit the socket set or I wasn't able to get it in (that's what they all say!), it had the nut molded on the top to be used with a spanner. I was lucky, I didn't need to make a trip down to Halfords to buy one after all.

Close quarters:

With about 2cm turns at a time I was able to remove the original 'Torch' Spark plug. I'll keep this plug around as a spare should I need it, It seems to work fine, I was just always going to change the plug for a new decent one if I was in that area.

Looking at & inspecting the tip of the old plug itself, it seems to be running a bit rich & needs to be leaned out a bit at the carburettor (air / fuel mixture). I need to up the idle speed screw at the carb a touch anyway, as it seems to be idling at bit low & I've noticed I'll need to take the bike apart some in order to get at it properly. So I'll leave it all to be done at the same time. It's also probably not the best time of year to be stripping the bike down either now, cold & wet outside or stuck in a freezing cold garage!

Running a bit rich:

NGK Iridium:

When screwing a new plug in always make sure to be patient & do it by hand first to make sure you don't cross & damage the threads on the engine's cylinder head. You can repair damaged threads with a Helicoil kit but, it's a road you really don't want to go down. Finish by tightening with tooling until secured. & the new cap should just push down with a 'clip' on the spark plug with some pressure.
I cable tied the loose HT lead to the chassis to make sure it doesn't flap around, loosening the cap off the sparkplug over time. It would be a right pain in the arse to be driving along and have the thing shutoff because it knocked the cap off half way down the highway!: