spark plugs

[DJS]

How often do your replace spark plugs on a goldwing??

[Mick]

Which year and model wing are we talking about?

[TomKat]

I replaced the plugs on my 96 wing at 70K and really did not notice any difference. The old ones still looked good.

[DJS]

1999 GW 1500

[Shimpy]

I've always done mine on Gl1800s once a year or 15,000 miles for me. They always looked ok, but plugs are cheap and easy to change so I feel better doing it.

[mhgoldwing]

Not sure about the 1500's but Honda says change the 1800 every 16k miles. Cheap maintenance to insure best performance.

[hisst]

Every 100,000 if they need it or not
Hisst

[Shimpy]

Every 100,000 if they need it or not
Hisst

I actually have a friend who has a 2001 gl1800 with 340,000 miles on it and another one that he keeps here in central Florida with about 140,000 miles and claims that in 100,000 miles with the original air filter and plugs gets the same gas mileage as new and isn't changing them.

[Scott1]

How often do your replace spark plugs on a goldwing??

If you follow the directions in the service manual under maintenance you will be just fine.

[DJS]

the reason i had asked was i had my trike in shop to adjust my rear brakes and asked about the plugs,mechanic said every 12k miles,so he pulled one plug out and told me they looked great,and don't worry about them for the present,didn;t have the heart to tell them they had over 50k on them , on the 1500,bye the time you take off all the safety chrome,air horns,lowers,air deflectors,its gonna be in the shop some serious time lol

[Scott1]

the reason i had asked was i had my trike in shop to adjust my rear brakes and asked about the plugs,mechanic said every 12k miles,so he pulled one plug out and told me they looked great,and don't worry about them for the present,didn;t have the heart to tell them they had over 50k on them , on the 1500,bye the time you take off all the safety chrome,air horns,lowers,air deflectors,its gonna be in the shop some serious time lol

That's the problem with a heavily farkled bike. I hope whoever installed the accessories they used quick disconnects for each farkle so you can do maintenance without disturbing the wiring and farkle. Simple maintenance can get real expensive do to farkles.

I would change the spark plugs with that many miles on them and also do a valve clearance check. JMO. Greg

[Gold Rush]

My how time flies by when we are having fun!!! The OP got me wondering when I last changed plugs. Consulted my maintenance record and was surprised to see 40,000 miles ago. Hummm.. Guess I'm a bit late.

Today I pulled the driveshaft and inspected/lubed it. While the trike was on the lift table and easy to get to everything I pulled the highway pegs off and swapped out the plugs. Gee, the old ones were only burned open 15 thousandths of an inch. Never suffered any power loss, gas mileage change, or rough running.

These GL1800s are almost bullet proof!!!!

[John Luciano]

Wow .015 is a lot . They gap at what? Around .032 ? I don't have the manual in front of me. That is huge!

[Gold Rush]

Normal gap is .039 to .042. I always start out at .040. I say it was .015 over but don't know for sure. .050 went in easy and .060 was way tight.

I think with the modern engines and sensors the gap is not as critical as it was 40 years ago. I remember back in the days of breaker points and condensers we had to re-gap plugs real often or the engine would run like doo doo....

As I said earlier there was zero indication of any issued this time... GO Figure.

[John Luciano]

Ignition systems run 10x the spark power and have the ability to adjust, un like back in the day. If you did that on the 60 s you would ruin the condenser and pit your points. Not saying you are doing the electronics a lot of good either by making it work harder to jump the gap.

[Gold Rush]

My how time flies by when we are having fun!!! The OP got me wondering when I last changed plugs. Consulted my maintenance record and was surprised to see 40,000 miles ago. Hummm.. Guess I'm a bit late.

Today I pulled the driveshaft and inspected/lubed it. While the trike was on the lift table and easy to get to everything I pulled the highway pegs off and swapped out the plugs. Gee, the old ones were only burned open 15 thousandths of an inch. Never suffered any power loss, gas mileage change, or rough running.

These GL1800s are almost bullet proof!!!!

Well, I have to eat some of those words now....

Yesterday I rode about 200 miles and thought I felt more power but we all know that sort of thing can easily be imagined so today we rode another 250 miles and this time I paid attention to how the trike pulled steep hills with cruise control engaged.

The trike pulled hills that I previously lugged back to 65 mph from 70 mph without loosing any speed. The only change was the plugs so I guess I had lost power and just got use to it little by little.

Guess who will be tending to spark plugs more frequently in the future.