My Motorbike is trying to kill me!!

I know this has been discussed before, but what causes the plug to cut out when in the wet? Is it the HT lead getting soaked or water running inside into the threads of the plug etc?

I'm see response of "just get silician sealent" but where are you suppose to put the stuff onto?

Could someone just give me an outline where the water is getting at that causes it to cut out?

Cheers

Another possible reason could be a loose connection on one of the coils, I suffered from this, and when it comes good you roar off again. I spent hours trying to trace the problem (well an afternoon) before handing it over to a local bike garage who sorted it pretty quick.

The guy also had an SV and said that I'd bought a "good one" apparently for a standard it pulled well and he reckoned wnated to lift the front wheel. Dread to think what he was doing on the test rides...

[Biker Biggles]

The water is running down the deep hole in the head that the sparkplug sits in.There is a rubber bung that supposedly blocks this hole with the HT lead going through the bung and down to sparkplug.The bung has holes in it and is not watertight,so the silicone goes over this bung to prevent water going down the hole.There is also a small drain that goes from the bottom of the plug recess and exits on the side of the cylinder head.This needs to be kept clear of blockages.Some of the newer bikes have a rubber flap between the radiator and the plug recess to help prevent water getting in the wrong place,and many of us swear by a fender extender to prevent water being fired off the front wheel straight at the front plug.
I think that more or less covers it.

[ophic]

doesn't sound like my experience of front plug problems. I did 50 miles down the M62 in extreme wet weather on one cylinder and the bike would still do 70 uphill. Throttle response was predictable, except for very light throttle when the front cylinder had a habit of kicking back in. Wouldn't be nice in a corner but on a straight road its no big deal. Also from the sound of the engine its very obvious that its on one pot - just like a big single. It also had a bad habit of stalling if I let the revs drop.

Mine's a K3 - dunno if it'd be worse on carbed bikes.

I have a fender extender but I think it was just too wet for it to work. This is the only time its happened to me.

I've had the front plug goin the wet too (a different time to the coil) and I struggled to get much over 45 mph (70kph at the time) up hill in Germany and was holding loads of cars up, that being on a curvy s though, not sure if it makes a difference.

The added stress and sweat was also leading to visor fogging, and I didn't really know where I was going so a bit of an experience.

Thanks Biggles!

At least i bought a Fenda Extenda, but Buster Motorcycle Accessoreies sent me the wrong one for an 04 model, i get the curvey one instead, typical....

Sorry to go a bit off topic........

i was going to sugest water in the fuel?

but it looks like its the front plug

behind the rad

Hmm ok I'll look at a fender extender and yes the bike was stalling when I let it idle and sometimes even above (it stalled out at 4k revs at one point)

Will also look at sealant but I'm worried about blocking the wrong holes

Behind the rad...would the fact that mines bent mean anything

[northwind]

It's not sealant, just grease, so it's not going to cause any permanent problems- it won't wash off but you can wipe it off.