[scottynoface]

Irridium plugs are not any kind of an upgrade, unless your trips are always < 5 miles.

[Katchu]

thats what I read too, If you do short trips only use iridium, if longer the NGK standard code CREK(9). In my manual it says if the plugs come out dark use CREK (8) if they look white use (10) gonna do the plugs soon at 30000kms now.

[Syndacate]

What's CREK 8, 9, and 10?

So you use irridium plugs if you only do short trips? Weird. I would probably do that as I typically ride to class more than anything else..but when I'm free I still go on longer drives on the weekends - but regardless, it's not me who will make use of these - I need to sell my poor kitten . They probably won't be making <5 mile trips.

[DClark]

What's CREK 8, 9, and 10?

So you use irridium plugs if you only do short trips? Weird. I would probably do that as I typically ride to class more than anything else..but when I'm free I still go on longer drives on the weekends - but regardless, it's not me who will make use of these - I need to sell my poor kitten . They probably won't be making <5 mile trips.

They are great all around. FWIW, the package of my ND Iridiums came with some crude graphs showing how bikes with IR plugs were faster.
Here's the deal- the IR plugs give the performance of a 1980s or 1990's race plugs with the longetivity of a platinum plug.
Those race plugs used needle thin electrodes, reducing spark shrouding. So, you'd get a bigger spark than with a regular plug. The downside was that they didn't last long.
Iridium offers the durability of platinum, but better conductivity. Both NGK and ND claim that can produce a better spark under adverse conditions than regular plugs. Do the relay mod for the coils, use iridium plugs with double the gap spec'd by the manual and you'll likely notice a smoother bike with more power.

[Syndacate]

They are great all around. FWIW, the package of my ND Iridiums came with some crude graphs showing how bikes with IR plugs were faster.
Here's the deal- the IR plugs give the performance of a 1980s or 1990's race plugs with the longetivity of a platinum plug.
Those race plugs used needle thin electrodes, reducing spark shrouding. So, you'd get a bigger spark than with a regular plug. The downside was that they didn't last long.
Iridium offers the durability of platinum, but better conductivity. Both NGK and ND claim that can produce a better spark under adverse conditions than regular plugs. Do the relay mod for the coils, use iridium plugs with double the gap spec'd by the manual and you'll likely notice a smoother bike with more power.

I'm not sure what the relay mod for the coils is. I'm about to sell the bike, so I'm really not looking to upgrade, just want to get it to stop missing, and I know it's an issue with the coil/wires or the plugs? I'm thinking/hoping the plugs, though :-\.

So in other words I don't need iridium, and unless I wanted to replace or mod the coils to have a higher output, there'd be no need for a larger spark, so I wouldn't even get iridium, then, correct?

[Katchu]

What's CREK 8, 9, and 10?

So you use irridium plugs if you only do short trips? Weird. I would probably do that as I typically ride to class more than anything else..but when I'm free I still go on longer drives on the weekends - but regardless, it's not me who will make use of these - I need to sell my poor kitten . They probably won't be making <5 mile trips.

In the manaul for my Katana, the little pocket size one I keep under the seat. It says the 3 types of plugs to get NGK CREK9 is stock. The other two if the plug looks darker or lighter. Once you view the plug it will tell u which one is best for how the bike is firing. IE- lean/ rich hot or cold. Im just gonna stick with the stock replacements

[DClark]

I'm not sure what the relay mod for the coils is. I'm about to sell the bike, so I'm really not looking to upgrade, just want to get it to stop missing, and I know it's an issue with the coil/wires or the plugs? I'm thinking/hoping the plugs, though :-\.

?

Coil mod is described in the 1100 forum of the board, it uses relays to send power directly from the battery to the coils (positive terminal), resulting in a much hotter spark. if you are selling, don't bother, but if you have a bad connection somewhere in the + lead to you coils, would help.

[Katchu]

heres a good write up on plugs http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/maint...sparkplugs.htm

[Syndacate]

heres a good write up on plugs http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/maint...sparkplugs.htm

Ah, I'll have a looksee - thanks.

In the manaul for my Katana, the little pocket size one I keep under the seat. It says the 3 types of plugs to get NGK CREK9 is stock. The other two if the plug looks darker or lighter. Once you view the plug it will tell u which one is best for how the bike is firing. IE- lean/ rich hot or cold. Im just gonna stick with the stock replacements

Ah, okay. I'll take a look at all of them, if nothing looks special, I'll probably just go with the CREK9.

Coil mod is described in the 1100 forum of the board, it uses relays to send power directly from the battery to the coils (positive terminal), resulting in a much hotter spark. if you are selling, don't bother, but if you have a bad connection somewhere in the + lead to you coils, would help.

I don't think it's from the positive lead to the coils, I think it's from the coils to the plugs. My rationale, as dscribed earlier, is simply that I found the spark plug wire was 1-2" out of the head, and pushing it back in there firmly alleviated the problem for 10 minutes or so. Plug could have just been too ****ed to rescue, though (that's what I'm hoping for, anyway).

It's weird, if it was a car I would just replace the wires too, but nobody sells just the wires. Everybody sells both the coils and the wires for some exhorbitant price. It COULD just the coil, but it would probably not be able to start, as it would only be running on 2 cyl. So I think it'll just be:
- New plugs
- Clean off any corrosion on the coil connections to the plug wires

If the above doesn't solve it, I'll have to source out a new (used) wire kit...possibly a coil/wire kit if I can't just find the wires by themselves (which I haven't been able to).

It's 10x harder to sell anything that has mechanical troubles, and I'm in a bind financially, so I just want to change the oil (over-due for an oil change, it was changed just before I got it and I put 3k on it, haven't changed the oil), fix this mis-fire, and get it sold.

[Malarky112]

Is the Katrider store still functional? They have plugs on there, 22 bucks shipped and you'll know you have the right ones.

http://katriders.com/vb/sales.php

[Syndacate]

Aight, so my friend's doing something today, but being as it's a nice day, think I can do this alone (yeah I'm new to working on my bike, don't know anything about it, so sue me ). I'm ok with spark plugs...been doing that forever, but the fact that you gotta remove so much on a bike is a completely new concept to me.

Few questions.

So I called (advance auto, like autozone...but not) just now, after going to NGK's website, NGK lookup for a '97 Kat 750 said JR9C, I called them, they said they have them, stock #6193, which is the same stock # off NGK's website. So I'm thinking I'll go pick up 4 of the 13 they have in stock O.o. It's $4.50/pc, not breaking the bank.

So assuming they're actually NGK's (messages seem to get lost in translation on the phone) and I buy some, for installation..

Do I need to empty the fuel? I mean yeah, sure, the petcock is right there before the line, but there's no "off" setting for it.. I BELIEVE the fuel is under pressure so it would need a vacuum to get pulled out...but am I wrong here? Will it just come dumping out all over the place? I'd be happy as all hell if I could replace the plugs today...even more-so if that was the problem and it runs right after this O.o. Then I can sell this thing and pay for my damn appt for Summer (****).

Anybody have any pearls of wisdom?

EDIT:
PS: What's the difference between the JR9C that everything mentions as the "correct plug" for a '97 Kat, and the CR9EK that everybody in here is mentioning..I'm assuming the CR9EIK is the Irridium ones, but what's the difference in JR vs CR?

[Wild-Bill]

The petcock should only flow when it's set to prime or there's vacuum on the hose leading into the back of it. If you take one of the fuel lines off and stuff starts pouring out (you will get some dribbling from residual stuff) then the petcock needs a rebuild or at least cleaning.

You won't be able to get a standard spark plug socket in there. If you don't have the OEM toolkit then pick up a deep-well 18mm socket from Autozone. The one they sell has thin enough walls to fit into the head recess. For installing the new ones a chunk of 1/4" fuel hose works well to hold the plug while you get it started.

[Syndacate]

The petcock should only flow when it's set to prime or there's vacuum on the hose leading into the back of it. If you take one of the fuel lines off and stuff starts pouring out (you will get some dribbling from residual stuff) then the petcock needs a rebuild or at least cleaning.

You won't be able to get a standard spark plug socket in there. If you don't have the OEM toolkit then pick up a deep-well 18mm socket from Autozone. The one they sell has thin enough walls to fit into the head recess. For installing the new ones a chunk of 1/4" fuel hose works well to hold the plug while you get it started.

Thanks for that last tip, wouldn't have been able to do it without that little bit of advice. I have the OEM toolkit, that one worked fine.

So the problem:
Replaced the spark plugs, runs exactly the same.

I was getting really hopeful because the previous guy installed different types of spark plugs..but it apparently made no difference (they were all similar NGK plugs, just some had 1 and some had 2 arms over the pin). Though a little on the black side, didn't look bad at all.

Damn.

In case anybody wants to lend some hand to my original problem
- Original problem
- Last page in that thread

Need to sell this bike pretty badly, I'm pretty broke at the moment and want to sell it while it's still a seller's market at the beginning of riding season .