Improving life of spark plug number 3?

[Bretty]

Hi all,

Unfortunately my bike is subject to on street parking, all year round and is exposed to weather. I leave her on the sidestand as she periodically gets knocked over regardless of which stand I use and at least on the sidestand she has less distance to fall, and gets less damage.

As a result of being on the side stand, the rain inevitably sits around spark plug number 3. Brown rust emerges from around the ceramic/white bit, the shiny metal bit gets all corroded and pitted and my bike then misfires at high revs and runs lumpy as hell.

I now replace spark plug 3 every six months!! This time with a liberal coating of red rubber grease. She now runs right as rain (bad pun ).

What can I do to improve the life of spark plug 3? I've used a bike cover through winter but these don't last very long. 

Brett

[Bimbam]

Use a bike cover. You can have it unde the seat.

[Fazerider]

Park the bike in the living room.

[Jules-C]

Use a bike cover. You can have it unde the seat.

. 

And make sure the drain hole isn't blocked

[His Dudeness]

Drain hole blocked or not blocked it's still going to collect water from being leaned to one side on the stand. The only way around it is to cover the bike or maybe a make some sort of small shield to deflect the rain away from that area.

[darrsi]

Drain hole blocked or not blocked it's still going to collect water from being leaned to one side on the stand. The only way around it is to cover the bike or maybe a make some sort of small shield to deflect the rain away from that area.

You mean like a cover? 

[His Dudeness]

 Maybe some sort of rain deflecting anti gravitational force field around spark plug three 

In fairness it's not always practical to put a full cover over a bike so a small guard to deflect water away from the spark plugs is a good idea

[darrsi]

Maybe some sort of rain deflecting anti gravitational force field around spark plug three 

In fairness it's not always practical to put a full cover over a bike so a small guard to deflect water away from the spark plugs is a good idea

I'm surprised it doesn't get mentioned much more often to be honest, as there are plenty of people that don't garage their bikes overnight.
Mine's left out in the elements on a daily basis, but not 24/7.
I used to use a cover at work but taking it off and storing it when it's chucking it down became a bit of a chore so i haven't used it in ages.


In Bretty's case i would make sure the drain hole is clear, give the area around the plugs a blast of air occasionally then just cover it with WD40 every now and then.
Changing a plug every 6 months sounds very excessive to me.


Or the more expensive way is to consider an extension of the fairing.

[Deefer666]

Park it upside down

[Bretty]

Park it upside down

Should I just lay it on it's side, like when you were a kid and you'd just lay you bike on it's side outside your mate's house?

This is how I normally find my bike...

[Bretty]

... and this is why a cover doesn't last very long.

[Bretty]

There seems to be a rubber flap under the tank that flops / drapes down on top of the spark plugs. I've no idea what it does but was thinking of making something similar, zip tied to the frame and flapped over the right hand side of the engine to prevent it collecting rain.

Would that be a good idea, or would it affect the cooling of the engine?

[celticdog]

Cut the top off a plastic PET coke bottle or similar, thread the HT lead through the top hey ho your spark plugs got it's own little umbrella!

[darrsi]

There seems to be a rubber flap under the tank that flops / drapes down on top of the spark plugs. I've no idea what it does but was thinking of making something similar, zip tied to the frame and flapped over the right hand side of the engine to prevent it collecting rain.

Would that be a good idea, or would it affect the cooling of the engine?

Flaps should be lower down, they're in place to guide water to the drainage holes.

[His Dudeness]

There seems to be a rubber flap under the tank that flops / drapes down on top of the spark plugs. I've no idea what it does but was thinking of making something similar, zip tied to the frame and flapped over the right hand side of the engine to prevent it collecting rain.

Would that be a good idea, or would it affect the cooling of the engine?

Flaps should be lower down, they're in place to guide water to the drainage holes.

This debate was had many moons ago probably on the yuku site. As to whether that flap should be pointing down towards the spark plugs or down the front of the engine. I think down the front of the engine. Surely that's better than guiding water down at the spark plugs.

[Fazerider]

There seems to be a rubber flap under the tank that flops / drapes down on top of the spark plugs. I've no idea what it does but was thinking of making something similar, zip tied to the frame and flapped over the right hand side of the engine to prevent it collecting rain.

Would that be a good idea, or would it affect the cooling of the engine?

Flaps should be lower down, they're in place to guide water to the drainage holes.

This debate was had many moons ago probably on the yuku site. As to whether that flap should be pointing down towards the spark plugs or down the front of the engine. I think down the front of the engine. Surely that's better than guiding water down at the spark plugs.

I suspect that with the flap forward, airflow will have more effect than gravity and the rain will stream off the sides and spray over the plug caps more than with the flap down. The manual shows the flap positioned down.
Not that either position will have much effect when the bike's on the sidestand.

[BBROWN1664]

the flap should sit on the front rocker cover to prevent water getting into the plug recess under normal riding conditions.

I can understand why plug 3 is being affected and not #4 as #4 is most likely to get the water from the side first.

[Bretty]

Spark plug 3 sits in a puddle of water, mud, slugs, spiders and leaves. :-(

[bootz76]

I use a cut down milk carton 4pinter I think to cover both 3 and4 and put a weight on top seems to work for the past 3 years

[unfazed]

Keep it on the centre stand when not in use and/or parked for long periods.
Make sure the drain holes are kept clear.

[darrsi]

Keep it on the centre stand when not in use and/or parked for long periods.
Make sure the drain holes are kept clear.

Judging by his history and the photo's I think he'd be better off with stabilisers! 

[Fazerider]

the flap should sit on the front rocker cover to prevent water getting into the plug recess under normal riding conditions.

Yamaha disagrees:

[Jules-C]

Yamaha don't always get it right.   The can't even spell Relay correctly!

[Frosties]

... and this is why a cover doesn't last very long.

The road markings clearly say M/C and not scooter. This type of parking is why I can some big feck off tie wraps/cable ties or whatever you want to call them - they fit perfectly to either brake/clutch lever of a scooter and can be pulled feckin tight  .


These ones are similar to mine so you can write a suitable message in permanent marker such as "don't park like a cnut"


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Natural-Marker-Ties-Cable-Tie-Marker-I-D-Tie-Tag-Write-On-Label-200mm-x-4-6mm-/131773505647