What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Greybeard]

Today I rode 150 miles from home to the South Wales BSAOC location. The bike, as usual, ran like a Swiss watch.

I usually shun motorways but today I decided it would be quicker and less tiring to cover the first 30 miles on motorways. I just follow a lorry and stay at 50 to 60mph. This technique keeps idiots from constantly overtaking and pulling in front of me.

The weather: It lightly rained for the final half hour. I'm going to be prepared tomorrow;  I'll have my rainsuit on before I leave my accomodation.

I'm sitting in  a pub where I had traditional English Friday evening dinner; fried battered fish and chips, (fries). Bitter-shandy then a glass of Merlot to drink. It feels great to be on my own for a while 👍

[RichardL]

Sounds like you're having a great time. By the way, I believe everyone knows what "chips" are when use in context with "fish."  This chain in the US is long gone, but plenty to take its place.

Richard L

[Greybeard]

Sounds like you're having a great time. By the way, I believe everyone knows what "chips" are when use in context with "fish."  This chain in the US is long gone, but plenty to take its place.

Richard L

Or take its 'Plaice' 😁

[Roger (Doomtrainbarx)]

I've noticed lately a lot of backfiring/popping out the exhaust on overrun, so I took the mag pick-ups out (which were new last year) and did the scribe test on white paper. The black lines kept coming and coming, so got the old ones out (I never throw anything away), tested them and clean as a whistle ! - Cleaned the slip ring and fitted the old pick-ups - 40 mile test run and not a murmur from the exhaust - result.

[Worty]

wot about some resistor-free NGK plug caps - that go straight onto the threaded bit?
They're the only ones I use, and they stay put. They also have grommety sleeves on lead-to-cap and cap to plug body.
And,  . .   as they are rigid it's impossible for the screw to 'miss' the HT cable core when you fit them. Which happens a lot with those soft rubbery ones if that's what you've got.
Cheap enough, and much easier than mashing solder, cross-threading on purpose or whatever?
Or do they lack 'the look'?

Don't know what you mean by 'the look' Bill?  I know the ones you mean, used them on bikes before, but just wanted to know if anyone had found a solution to the 'loose terminal' issue.  Will have a look for the resistor free items.  Cheers guys.

[groily]

Don't know what you mean by 'the look' Bill? 

Nothing untoward W - I was just worried you might not want 'modern', with obvious NGK logos on the plastic!
A few folk I know, who care about 'the look', demand - just for example - exposed brass terminals on black and yellow or black and red diamond braided cable, nothing else will do! And KLG or Lodge plugs let's say  . . . .Older bikes in those cases - but where 'period' is important, then the modern bits are less appealing . . .
Me, I don't care as I favour function over form within reason, but I take my hat off to efforts to keep things as they were, or near as.

[Worty]

Ah, it's ok Bill.  I want the bike to run as well as possible as I ride it as much as I can.  Didn't quite realise you could get the non-resistor threaded type of cap as they weren't popping up on my searches.  I do have a couple of brand new 'rubber' terminal cap items which work great if the friggin cap stopped unscrewing - hence exploring the 'fixed cap' solution.  Anyway, I'll see how I go - cheers pal.

[Minto]

Halfords sell em, or my local one does.
NGK, non resistor plug caps that is.

[BigJim]

With a legend at bsaoc rally.

[Worty]

Is that GB - you know, they guy with the grey beard?

I went through my spark plug stash today (I've got 16 of the beasts via various deals).  Seems half are fixed terminal and the other half removable.  Picked up a tip from some petrol-head website and adapted one of their ideas for locking the removable items.  Got a small length of automotive wire, stripped it back and separated the copper strands.  Folded one strand in two and put it over the top of the threaded terminal with the folded part at the top of the terminal, then screw down the terminal cap.  It provides plenty of resistance and, once nipped up with pliers, is impossible to unscrew by hand (unless, of course, you've got hands like dinner plates and the grip of a mountain gorilla).  Very pleased with myself now, so will have a few 

[RDfella]

Worthluck - one thing about your plug issues confuses me - what is causing this? I've always believed in curing a cause rather than patching the condition. Over 60yrs I've driven tractors / motorcycles / cars / vans / trucks and operated machinery from lawnmowers to 50 ton tanks and, in all those tens of thousands of hours, only ever had a plug terminal unscrew once - driving down to London around 1965 in a hired Vauxhall Victor 101. It went on to 3 cyls after St Albans so I pulled into a filling station and saw no3 plug lead was off - the terminal had unscrewed. Only once in all that time, and I only ever do those terminals hand-tight. Must be something odd happening with your engine.

[Greybeard]

Is that GB - you know, they guy with the grey beard?

Tis me 😁

[Worty]

RD, I've never had a plug lead come off, despite being on the road for 40+ years.  I see the issue like this.  The cap comes loose and theoretically could unscrew all the way.  Trying to retrieve the terminal from the plug cap could be tricky at the side of the road unless I had some long-nosed pliers to hand.  I also have a 'thing' about stuff coming loose whilst I'm riding/driving, and I enjoy finding different ways to fix things that shouldn't ordinarily need fixing.  I have about 4 pairs of loose terminal plugs which I want to use with confidence.  If you put all these things together, then my purpose becomes a bit clearer.  I also see this as a fix rather than a patch up.

Chances are, I'll never really have a problem, but the terminal was half off after a 110m ride.  The bike did vibrate a lot more when the condenser was on its way out and I had a lot of misfiring, but it's much smoother now.

One of the best things about the forum is picking people's brains about stuff that is important to them, but may seem a bit insignificant to others.  In the grander scheme of things, you're right in saying that fixing loose terminal caps on spark plugs is not something to worry about.  Having said that, the guys on the 'petrol head' forum I mentioned have had a lot of issues with this problem.  I think it was a dirt bike/off road type of forum. 

[BagONails]

Is that GB - you know, they guy with the grey beard?

Tis me 😁

Which makes the other guy BigJim but he didn't look all that big so I wasn't too sure meself!

[Greybeard]

.... Which makes the other guy BigJim but he didn't look all that big so I wasn't too sure meself!

Yup, that's BigJim. His forum name is a mystery that he explained but I still didn't understand.