Plugs 6000mi after can off and alternator belt change

[Dr. Strangelove]

Doing the 30 k service today and I pulled the plugs to see their condition after the muffler has been off 6k miles; to see if there was any evidence of overheating from a lean mixture.
Maybe this wouldn't show up in the plugs, but this is how they appeared--they are autolite P3923 and both looked like this

the threads were clean and the electrode was still gapped properly and was a whitish tan color. This would seem to be ok, correct?

also found this slight raveling of the alternator belt



The valves were still spot on.

John

[jm1515]

Looks good from here....
What did your secondary plug look like?

[Dr. Strangelove]

haven't seen the secondary yet; will pull it in the next couple of days--oh, hell, I'll go pull it.

The secondary is a funny size; narrower than the primary. I want a replacemnt ready to go, but I can pull it.
I re-used the primary

I'll post later this pm.

John

[Dr. Strangelove]

The secondaries

these are 18k old and will be replaced. The one on the left is from the L cylinder and the bike is on the side stand often. Yuo can see a little oil on the threads on the L, but not on the R. They are NOT oil fouled or carbon fouled, but are darker tan/brown, though some whitish areas appear, than the primaries. The insulator for the center electrode is partially white--you can see it medially on the one on the L.




how concerned should I be about the belt? I will have it replaced within a couple of weeks, or if I can find the instructions or a video online, I will do it myself??? Is this a job that can be easily done? I have seen some mention that a special tool is required? Mine is a 2004, abs.

John

[Airman]

Doc,
See if this link will work for you.

[digga]

Those plugs look fine to me

and the ply belt looks very 'do-able' even without the special tool

[Dr. Strangelove]

Thanks, Airman.
Yes it looks doable.
What is the "special tool?' A nut that fits?

Have you done this? On an exposed engine the torque wrench is fine, but those are pretty close quarters in there and I don't know if my torq wrench would be able to travel enough???

Thanks

John

[Airman]

Thanks, Airman.
Yes it looks doable.
What is the "special tool?' A nut that fits?

Have you done this? On an exposed engine the torque wrench is fine, but those are pretty close quarters in there and I don't know if my torq wrench would be able to travel enough???

Thanks

John

I haven't done it yet. The new belt is in the to-do box. I got tied up doing the handle bar change and the fuel disconnect/hose/AP-2 installs and haven't got the front cover off yet. I ended up ty-wrapping the AP-2's relay and power fuse to the battery cables, by the way. The positive cable was only about 6" long anf that reduced my mounting choices after the side mount proved to have clearance problems.

Bob

[taosports]

John,

I replaced my belt last year. The only difficulty I encountered was that I swore I got the wrong belt because it looked like it was way too small. But with a little force and a turn of the pulley, I was able to get it on. No special tool needed. Just used a lever under the top pulley to pull the whole assembly up to put the correct tension on the belt, then tightened the 3 bolts. It's a very simple procedure. The only thing you need to be aware of is that when you use the lever, you should be careful that you not damage the halls sensor which is on the back side of the pulley.

Again...it's a very simple procedure.

[Croc]

Here is a good link with pictures of the alternator belt job.
http://www.bmbikes.org.uk/Forum/viewtop ... d9eaff73c0

Croc

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey, Croc,

thanks for the link; that coupled with the video is all you need to know; EXCEPT:

the shock/spring apparatus on the telelever makes use of a torque wrench impossible on the top nut.

on the adjusting nut I was able to use a torque wrench with a 10" extension and then I just tightend the top and R side nut with a 13 mm box wrench.

I used this link for the formula for conversion to correct the torque setting because of the extension
http://www.belknaptools.com/extcalc.asp

I don't know if it is just a proportional thing or if metric vs English matters, but I just plugged in the numbers and it seemed to work.

The new belt-as Michael says_ is much tighter. The adjusting slots of the 2 adj bolts are full bottom; with the old belt they were full top.
I saved the old belt to carry as a spare.
No pictures because the picturs on Croc's site are very adequate.

So, thanks to everyone for the help. This is an easy job to do.

John