The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: montmil on April 20, 2008, 03:49:06 PM
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Just received my new NGK 5k ohm spark plug caps, plug wire material and a couple BP7ES sparklers from Mike's XS. Fast service.
Peeking into the spark plug cap, where the plug lead attaches, it looks like there's a brass (or?) screw point. After slipping the rubber cap seal over the plug wire, does the new plug cable then simply thread itself onto the screw? That's what it looks like to me.
Also, there was an earlier comment about reusing the BMW soldered on plug wire terminals that slip into the coil. Mine are evidently original as they're soldered on. Is it correct that a small bit of the plug lead sheathing is to be trimmed back, the copper core wire inserted through the brass part, then folded over and soldered to the end of the brass coil terminal plug "thingy"?
Again, that's what it looks like to me. Please point me in the right direction if I'm missing something.
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You have it all correct!
Screw the wire into the spark plug cap.
Not too much wire on the soldered-on tip. Just try and duplicate what was there.
You will need to reuse the rubber covers at the coil end.
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Thanks, Rob. This little upgrade will be fun.
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You have it all correct!
Screw the wire into the spark plug cap. Not too much wire on the soldered-on tip. Just try and duplicate what was there. You will need to reuse the rubber covers at the coil end.
It's already Monday afternoon but I did complete the new plug wire & caps upgrade chore before lunchtime. It was cake.
The plug wires from MikesXS were long enough that I had to trim off a bit to match the R65's wire lengths. The NGK caps are very nice and look, in MHO, much better than the original BMW "tin buckets". This upgrade is quite inexpensive and Mike's service is tops. A Big Texas Star for him.
With the fuel tank removed, I could easily see where the tired, old, left-side plug wire was arcing to the cooling fin on top of the motor. This was keeping the left plug from firing until the bucking engine would bounce the plug wire away from the aluminum fin. Had an old Ford pickup that did the same thing. If I had not had the hood open one night while loudly cussing the stumbling engine, I'd never have seen the "lightning" under the hood - coil wire to engine block.
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Yeah, once I found out how critical plug wires and caps are to a well running bike (esp. in the rain), I began replacing mine every-other year, along with the fuel line, and tires.
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While you are in there it would be an easy thing to do a close visual inspection of the coil - especially a grey one!
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While you are in there it would be an easy thing to do a close visual inspection of the coil - especially a grey one!
Mine is gray and this I did, thanks to reading some prior posts here in the land of "Disorganized R65'ers".
Cleaned off what looked like several years of dust and used a minimag and mirror to check for cracks and/or other irregularities. Saw nothing that might be suspicious. So, is the "new style" coil unit a BMW part or aftermarket? Just in case...
Sanded off the rust, primed and repainted the horn, too. Woohoo.
Monte
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I'm not sure exactly what the "new and improved" Bosch coil looks like as I wasn't about to offer my left arm in sacrifice for one. I opted for a dual Dyna brand coil and haven't looked back - about half what the stocker costs...
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... I opted for a dual Dyna brand coil and haven't looked back - about half what the stocker costs...
You gotta a web address or where you got it. Just for future reference, as I'm sure my oldie but goodie will last until...? Thanks, Monte
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... I opted for a dual Dyna brand coil and haven't looked back - about half what the stocker costs...
You gotta a web address or where you got it. Just for future reference, as I'm sure my oldie but goodie will last until...? Thanks, Monte
Motorrad Electrik has them. http://www.motoelekt.com/ignition.htm
There may be places that are cheaper, but you cannot beat the customer service that Rick will give you.
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Sanded off the rust, primed and repainted the horn, too. Woohoo.
Monte
Dump that horn, if you want to live.
These are cheap and [size=18]LOUD[/size]
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Ftomfarr%2Fimage%2F65215976%2Fmedium.jpg&hash=8dbdfc0524f4c12312eb4df21651b78a7007a6f0)
You can get them at your local auto parts store. Use a relay!
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You can get just the bare coil cheaper but if you don't have any fabrication skills for making bracketry then Rob's pointed you in the right direction...