Spark plug recommendations

[Aries]

I'm going to change the plugs on my 99 this weekend. Any recommendations as to which brand I should use? Also, I rode the bike home from the shop the other day and for the most part the bike ran good however, I just cleaned the bike up and then ran the engine for a little bit at idle. Within 10 minutes, the engine stalled. I fired it up several more times and now it won't idle on its own. Any ideas what might be causing this to happen?

[Jess from VA]

The standard OE NGK do remarkably well. 

You won't find a thread here complaining about them failing or being inadequate.  They can get fouled by other causes that would foul any.

Some have used the more spendy iridiums.   I don't know why, except for people chasing performance mods. 

[Bighead]

I'm going to change the plugs on my 99 this weekend. Any recommendations as to which brand I should use? Also, I rode the bike home from the shop the other day and for the most part the bike ran good however, I just cleaned the bike up and then ran the engine for a little bit at idle. Within 10 minutes, the engine stalled. I fired it up several more times and now it won't idle on its own. Any ideas what might be causing this to happen?

What did the shop do to it is the first question?
Like Jess said OE plugs are every good.

[dreamaker]

In my opinion use the products recommended by the Mfg. They are proven to complement the longevity of the bike. Honda makes good products, far as iridium plugs, I think they are high dollar crap, my bike ran crummy with them in. My rule of thumb is, go cheap up front, and you will big pay in the end.

I had a similar issue like yours, and it was a speck of dirt in one of my slow jets, Popped it off, blew the speck out, and it ran great afterwards!

[Aries]

I purchased the bike from someone who had let it sit in the garage for 4 years so I had the shop remove, dip and rebuild the carbs.

[Moonshot_1]

I'm going to change the plugs on my 99 this weekend. Any recommendations as to which brand I should use? Also, I rode the bike home from the shop the other day and for the most part the bike ran good however, I just cleaned the bike up and then ran the engine for a little bit at idle. Within 10 minutes, the engine stalled. I fired it up several more times and now it won't idle on its own. Any ideas what might be causing this to happen?

I would think any good brand of plug will do.

As to the other issue, are you sure you are not out of gas? Or at least not hitting the reserve mark?

Another possibility is the battery. If I recall the engine has to be at 1200 rpm or so for the alternator to make enough juice to charge the battery. You had the lights on and ignition going and you were at idle. This is just a thought from reading this board for years. Not from experience.

If possible, make sure you got gas or flip it to the reserve, get it started and run it like you stole it for a while and see if it gets better.

[dreamaker]

Two other thing you may look at, check the vent hose from the gas tank, make sure it is clear, it makes good homes for spiders, also if you know anyone with a bore scope (its a tiny cam with a light on it) to check for rust sediment in the tank. Another thing maybe call the people that did you carbs and ask them if there was ant crap in the bowls, like rust.

[Bighead]

You also said it ran good for the most part. More detail would be good. It should have ran perfectly and not missed a beat. The smile on your face should have been unremovable.

[WintrSol]

far as iridium plugs, I think they are high dollar crap, my bike ran crummy with them in.

Thing is, all iridium plugs I could find are resistor plugs and, with resistors in the plug caps, you're doubling up. If your engine calls for resistor plugs, then they are much longer lasting, and provide a slightly hotter spark, but in the Valk engine, the slightly hotter spark is countered by the extra resistance.

[Aries]

I just checked the tank and the fuel was lower than I would have thought. I switched it to reserve and held the tach at 2000 for a few moments then let it idle back down. Idles fine now. I'm a little shocked how much fuel was burned just on my 50 mile trip home from the shop.

 What kind of gas mileage should I be expecting to be getting?

[Bighead]

anywhere between 28 to 40 depending on your right wrist

[Rams]

anywhere between 28 to 40 depending on your right wrist

I've seen lower and slightly higher numbers but, that's darn close.   

[old2soon]

Fuel mileage IS determined by the right wrist the speed you chose to go wind resistance and tire pressure. On M/C specific tires-43-45 P S I front and 40 45 P S I rear. When you get past 3000 R P Ms your fuel consumption increases dramatically. DO NOT fergit-6 carbs 100 H P 100 foot pounds of torque. You use it it cost's large to use it.  June this year going to Inzane-15 on I-90 we were cruising at the ton-and rippin thru fuel.  I have gone to reserve from a full tank on my I/S in less than 125 miles. That's 6 gallons. YOU do the math1  As to your original query-N G Ks.  RIDE SAFE.

[John Schmidt]

Go fill it up, turn the petcock to "On" and see how far you go before you have to switch to reserve. If you have a Standard or Tourer, you have a 5.3 gal. tank assuming it hasn't been switched for an Interstate tank. That tank holds 6.9 gal. The reserve on the smaller tank should leave slightly over a gallon, the reserve on the I/S tank is slightly less.

Depending on speed and rpm, I'll get around 34-38mpg, sometimes higher. Before I mounted the fairing and radiator pods, it wasn't unusual to get at/above 40. Keep the rpm below 3k helps with the consumption also. If your mileage is much, much lower....low 20's, they probably set up your carbs to run too rich. That would involve resetting the pilot screws on the bottom of the carbs, mine are set at two full turns out from seated and I run #38 slow jets, OEM is #35.

[Aries]

My wife did complain about a gas smell as she followed behind me in my truck on the way back from the shop. I thought the fuel smell seemed strong while the bike was sitting at idle. How difficult is it to make the adjustments to the carb?

[Valkjerk]

Somebody needs to help him out before he winds up with hydrolock. Remember, it sat for a long time. Could potentially have petcock problems. Hope I'm dead wrong.

[Bighead]

My wife did complain about a gas smell as she followed behind me in my truck on the way back from the shop. I thought the fuel smell seemed strong while the bike was sitting at idle. How difficult is it to make the adjustments to the carb?

They tend to run a bit rich. Sitting at Idle they do give a LOUD smell if in a garage.

[Aries]

The mechanic did say that someone had to have been in the carbs before. He said he had found some rubber washers in the carbs and that he had no idea why they were there. The guy I had purchased the bike from did say that he had to have the carbs rebuilt around 7 years ago. What rubber washers installed on the jets could the mechanic have been talking about and why would they have been there? In doing research, I see that the original owner had switched the stock exhaust to a 6x6. Could this mod add the the " rich " fuel smell coming from the pipes?

[Woton]

My rule of thumb is, go cheap up front, and you will big pay in the end

Perhaps I'm not getting your point, Dreamaker.  Iridiums are about twice the cost per plug as standard NGKs.  You seem to feel they are not even the quality of standard plugs, and I just can't agree with that.  I do understand your feeling, given your described experience with them, that the iridiums cost you even more than their high initial cost given a resulting poor performance and your subsequent decision to remove them and reinstall standard plugs.

I'm running them for two reasons - first and foremost I tend to try to use upgrade products vs OEM when available for the Valk.  That explains my Amsoil usage as well.  These products may not offer that much improvement over OEM, but I'm digging a little deeper in my pocket to give the old girl what I hope is a better product.  Of course, what constitutes "upgrade" products to me probably doesn't meet someone else's definition  

Secondly, as I do the Amsoil I run the iridium plugs double the recommended change interval.  So, I'm getting back some of my investment in that fashion.

Can not say that I note any marked performance improvement from the NGK iridium plugs.  But, I've certainly noted no decline in performance.  If I were a stickler for the recommended change interval I probably would be running neither the iridiums nor the Amsoil.

[solo1]

My '97 standard averaged 32 mpg overall in the 13 years that I had it.

I have found over the years in both cars and motorcycles that the recommended OEM spark plugs work the best in a standard engine with no mods..  In the few cases where I deviated from that,  it caused problems.