Spark plugs

[Cellarman]

Apologies if this has been asked before, one of my winter jobs is to change my plugs, question is, is there any benefit of fitting iridium spark plugs or will standard plugs be sufficient?

05 gen1 1000
Cheers Tim

[sadlonelygit]

what will be of benefit is removing the AIS

g'wan, lash out on some brisk plugs..............lrt me know how you get on.
 

[Cellarman]

Ok what's the benefit of removing the AIS? I guess you need some sort of blanking plugs

[Cellarman]

Just found this, is it an easy job to do? I'm pretty good with a spanner
https://www.sgmotorsport.biz/product/yamaha-fz1-fazer1000-ivans-air-induction-removal-kit-2001-2015/

[sadlonelygit]

the benefit of removing the AIS is that you can actually get at the plugs 
iirc you need to blank off the airbox feed, a hose and 4 x blanking screws........and a decent tap.

[Cellarman]

Looks like I have two jobs to do now lol

[Falcon 269]

Get a good quality M8 x 1.25 tapered HSS tap and 4 x M8 x 10mm socket head bolts for the exhaust stubs.  You'll also need a plastic bottle cap or bung to go over the AIS hose stub on the airbox and a rubber cap for  intake stub on #4 cylinder.  You can get all this for under £15 and save a bundle on Ivan's kit for this job.

[Cellarman]

Get a good quality M8 x 1.25 tapered HSS tap and 4 x M8 x 10mm socket head bolts for the exhaust stubs.  You'll also need a plastic bottle cap or bung to go over the AIS hose stub on the airbox and a rubber cap for  intake stub on #4 cylinder.  You can get all this for under £15 and save a bundle on Ivan's kit for this job.

Cheers Falcon, I think I will go the diy route as I have some stainless socket heads and the hss tap needed just the rubber bungs to source but I will worry about that once I have it all apart
Many thanks Tim

[Falcon 269]

You're welcome, Tim.  I can't stress enough though that the tap should be tapered.  A parallel tap will stand a much greater chance of binding and breaking.  There's plenty of stud to let you get enough thread cut with the tapered tap for the 10mm bolts. 

[Steve rowland]

Hi I cant comment on the iridium plugs except to say when I read up on this recently there was no hard data to say there was any benefit and everyone said std NGK has no probs.
I just changed the plugs last weekend on my Gen1. A bit fiddly on numbers 2 and 3 but possible with only lifting the tank up, nothing else removed! Tools:
1. one pair of hands that are not the size of dinner plates!
2. the std fazer plug spanner (the one that hinges)
3. 14mm spanner
4. 14mm socket plus universal joint and long extension.
5. Pliers to help lift the no.2 rubber plug cap (cant quite get enough finger power to lift this one)
As with all plugs important to make sure that you hand tighten first to avoid cross-threading, but ultimately I found the job fiddly but doable and easier than most of the write-ups!

[PieEater]

I fitted Iridium plugs as they cost me about twice as much as the standard ones but last three times as long. That was about 20,000 miles ago and still going strong.

[PaulSmith]

I used to swear by iridium plugs but I eventually realised that it was just the "new plug effect". Any new plugs are better then old plugs, Iridium or otherwise. Yes they last longer, but unless you plan to ride around the world non-stop with no access to servicing, why would that matter? I usually change my oil at about 4,000 miles. I change my filters every second oil change and my plugs every third oil change (so about 12,000 miles) even when they don't need it. 

[Cellarman]

New (Iridium) plugs now fitted, went for iridium as they were only a fiver more than standard
AIS also removed, it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, I was a bit concerned about tapping the exhaust stubs but it turned out to be a piece of piss, use a good quality tap & take your time it's easy.
Anyway happy new year foccers