"too much time on my hands"

[Seeker]

can't ride? Lets polish...

Disclaimer: The bike doesn't get ridden in the rain although it does get ridden on wet, salty roads and I've now done 7500 miles. As you can see,it's fitted with a fender extender and a mudflap which helps. The finish looks like chrome until I've ridden a few times then goes to burnished gold, if left it starts to pick up small dark stains but only takes a few minutes of using solvol to bring it back (to a chrome like finish).

I polish the starter motor cover too but forgot to get the salt off after one ride (and hadn't discovered ACF50 at the time) so it still has a shine but you can see a stain.

Peter (at B and B, Lincoln) has asked Suzuki if the plug change at the 7500 service is a mistake but apparently not. The story is that the fine tip of the Iridium plugs can drop off into the engine if not changed at the recommended interval. Which makes me question why bother with Iridium plugs since one of their advantages (I thought) was long life because of the high melting point of Iridium. Maybe it's a Euro4 emission thing?

[maviczap]

You missed a bit

Bloody hell, I thought that I kept my bike clean. About these plugs, I had the same query as the service book states the plug change at the 15,000 mile service and inspect at the 7,500 service. The plugs are NGK MR8E-9 which are " To fire the gas/air mixture, the NGK MR8E-9 projection plugs are used to get the spark closer to the center of combustion for an improved burn." I don't believe that they are iridium, though I stand to be corrected. These plugs have a elongated central electrode and price wise sit between the standard and iridium plugs.

Geoff.

[SV650rules]

NGK Iridium plugs have a capital 'I' in the plug alpha-numeric part number if they are iridium so I would guess they are probably copper core or copper alloy core plugs with extended electrode in AL7, strangely if you put the MR8E-9 number into NGK website search it comes up with no result. CR8EIA-9 comes up as plug for twin spark Gladius, which is Iridium plug, so maybe they went away from Iridium for the AL7.

[QUOTE=SV650rules; strangely if you put the MR8E-9 number into NGK website search it comes up with no result. [/QUOTE]

Yep I tried that too, anyway the bottom line is once Suzuki state that they require changing @ 7,500 (as their tech department did when contacted) you have no option because if you jettison the electrode with in excess of 7,500 miles and it does some nasties then your royally screwed.

Geoff.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by macamxthe1st

Yep I tried that too, anyway the bottom line is once Suzuki state that they require changing @ 7,500 (as their tech department did when contacted) you have no option because if you jettison the electrode with in excess of 7,500 miles and it does some nasties then your royally screwed.

Geoff.

As they are not Iridium they do not have an iridium tip to drop off, I would check with tech again and ask him if he is giving you old info on Gladius plugs - I seem to remember reading somewhere that AL7 had copper alloy plugs for long life at a lower cost than iridium, if I can find it I will add to post.

[Seeker]

Peter (the owner of B and B) had called Suzuki GB because he thought it was error. There is a DL model (can't remember if he said 650 or 1000) that also called for a 7500 mile plug swap but on the latest model that has been changed to 15000 miles. Since the DL had changed he assumed the SV would change too. I'm guessing that it will change but SuzukiGB are playing it safe and sticking with their current documentation rather than checking with Japan. The plugs are £12 each.

Just out of interest can you have a quick look in your owners manual, mine states inspect @7,500 replace @ 15,000.

When I had my 7,500 service Suzuki UK said change plugs so we played it safe. They were checking with Japan but at the time there was no definitive answer. Sounds like a special plug for Suzuki to assist in Euro4 compliance.

Geoff.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by macamxthe1st

Just out of interest can you have a quick look in your owners manual, mine states inspect @7,500 replace @ 15,000.

When I had my 7,500 service Suzuki UK said change plugs so we played it safe. They were checking with Japan but at the time there was no definitive answer. Sounds like a special plug for Suzuki to assist in Euro4 compliance.

Geoff.

My AL7 manual says inspect at 7500miles and replace at 15000 miles. Manual states they are 'resistor' plugs with a suppressing resistor built in to 'suppress electrical interference to other components'.

Platinum makes sense because although not quite as long lasting as Iridium alloy they are tougher because platinum is not as brittle as Iridium. (Iridium and platinum are from same family).

Have attached NGK part number key that I found, no 'M' in there, so maybe M stands for 'Maker specific' ?? or special.

Thank you very much for that, head now hurts, off out for a ride.

Geoff.