SV wet front plug syndrome

Originally Posted by boot

I agree. I would go as far as suggesting that GT85 would be a better dispersant than WD40 dependant on application used for. WD40 being 'Water Dispersant' and 40 days, being how long the application should be effective for.

WD 40 = Water Dispersant 40th Attempt?

I just wanted to say thanks for all the advice on this post -

my bike did exactly this on the way home last week, so this morning starting it up, when it did the same thing, I removed the front plug, soaked up all the water in it with a bit of kitchen roll (all i had to hand!), sprayed some WD40 on it, and now it works fine. I'll be buying an extenda, but thanks all for the temporary fix at least!

Cheers

[Vindaloo]

I've also had friends with SVs still having problems with the front spark even with a fender extender. I think the grease is the best, simple solution, though probably still not the ideal permanent solution.

I'm not having the problem, but the thought of it ruins my rides whenever it starts raining.

Originally Posted by Al_Sweetman

Grease is a must imho, and I'm even thinking about trying to fashion an additional cover that fits above the front cylinder well - if I recall someone did one of these a few years back.

Any update on that? I think the fender extender looks horrendous (only available colour is black) and don't like the idea of drilling holes either.

I'd thought the same thing about a cover the other day ... perhaps a rubber flap or cone that simply attaches to the spark plug lead? Total cost a few pennies. I noticed the (old) Fazer has something not dissimilar but can't find an image.

take a look at this:- http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...n912/cover.jpg

[Vindaloo]

That'll do it. A bit more involved than the rubber flap I was thinking of. I reckon even if you stopped 50% of the water getting in it'd do the trick.

I'd have thought someone would have machined and sold something by now. Just something similar that attaches to the radiator mounting would do perfectly (not sure where exactly this one bolts to on a pointy).

I may have a play myself over the next couple of days with something very makeshift. A little worried it could cause other issues (perhaps overheating?) though. My messing with bikes usually causes unwanted side-effects

Adrian

That looks v similar to what I saw many moons ago.

I think it was attached via the horn lug on the left hand side of the rad, but not entirely sure.

I dropped the rad off when I changed the plugs last and splurged silicone around where the boot sits against the head after fitting the boot - v heavy rain yesterday (dual-C down to 40) and didn't miss a beat

Now I've just got to decide whether I need to re-skim the inside of the cylinder/bore as I think some crap fell in when changing the plugs... Sounds a bit rough.

Update
---

I've managed to find the old thread from '08 showing mods by our very won DizzyBlonde and a thread from svriders showing what some yanks did

Very interesting.

http://forums.sv650.org/archive/index.php/t-120017.html

http://forum.svrider.com/archive/index.php/t-27878.html

(highlights)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...Vfrontplug.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Symptom1/fr.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...11040019-1.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b.../cylguard2.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...0/cylguard.jpg

[Vindaloo]

Cheers. Bearing in mind the ease of machining something like that, why is nobody flogging bits of slightly bent metal with a screw-hole to do the job?

Surely it's going to be much more effective and doesn't make the front fender look mismatched.

Adrian

My pyramid fenda extenda finally arrived, but I can't bring myself to fit it because
a) it looks so cheap and tacky
b) The silicone grease I've packed around the plug cap seems to be doing the job perfectly. I've had several hundred miles of riding in the rain since and not missed a beat.

I'll only reconsider if I get further problems. Thanks for the tip.

i have done a fair bit of rain riding with no problems, my plug cap is greased and that seems to work