So you don't gap the plugs?

[gloucesterman]

Howdy,
Got the 2014 DVD but no where can I find anything about spark plug gap. So you just put 'em in?
Thanks,
Norm

 

[lkchris]

I've NEVER checked a Bosch plug and found it out of spec. This being since the 1970s.

Moving from the USA automotive scene to the German is a positive move--the USA is a third world country in comparison.

 

[barryg]

I say check your plug gaps, it's an easy way to make you feel good about your own involvement in your bike maintenance. It's easy, quick and clean.

 

[pglaves]

I've NEVER checked a Bosch plug and found it out of spec. This being since the 1970s.

Moving from the USA automotive scene to the German is a positive move--the USA is a third world country in comparison.

Didja ever own a late model Volkswagen diesel?

 

[gloucesterman]

Uh!

Hi,
Just one more thought, BMW calls for NGKs

 

[henzilla]

Hi,
Just one more thought, BMW calls for NGKs

Yes they do, some models did not and some folks do not do their own maintenance so not aware they are not Bosch equipped.

I check them on some bikes more than others, and enough out of the box ones to be fine with provided gap on newer bikes.

 

[akbeemer]

I've NEVER checked a Bosch plug and found it out of spec. This being since the 1970s.

Moving from the USA automotive scene to the German is a positive move--the USA is a third world country in comparison.

That is funny stuff right there.

 

[36654]

That is funny stuff right there.

Did you know........Autolite/Fram is now owned by a New Zealand company?

But seriously, BOSCH builds stuff all over the world. It's what ever the customer specifies or the tastes of the local market. We often complain about US cars/trucks but, honestly, they are what the bulk of the market wants; big barges with soft suspensions that don't go around to many turns. We are the Crew Cab F150 nation

 

[chrismiii]

Better spark plugs for 2014 r1200rt-lc?

Has anyone got numbers for better plugs than just the stock ones?
On my 2011 camhead i did change over to the iridium
anyone tried this on the wet heads yet or maybe platinum ?
Thanks
chris

 

[akbeemer]

Has anyone got numbers for better plugs than just the stock ones?
On my 2011 camhead i did change over to the iridium
anyone tried this on the wet heads yet or maybe platinum ?
Thanks
chris

What problem are you wishing to correct?

 

[chrismiii]

Better spark plugs for 2014 r1200rt-lc?

Again just looking for longer lasting spark plugs say the platinum or iridium type in our water heads. Does anyone have a reference for such over the old stock plugs?

 

[azgman]

NGK irridium

The irridium is used to prolong electrode life and as far as I know does nothing to improve performance on its own. These are what I plan to use.

Discussion about these plugs can be found here

 

[rick601]

Didja ever own a late model Volkswagen diesel?

Yup, a 3.0 liter. I love it! And in some more advanced countries diesel fuel is actually cheaper than the inferior ethanol laced stuff. The engine is reliable, strong and efficient.

 

[Digtlartst]

Yup, a 3.0 liter. I love it! And in some more advanced countries diesel fuel is actually cheaper than the inferior ethanol laced stuff. The engine is reliable, strong and efficient.

Yup, VW (i.e., the German govt) strong-armed (defrauded) the "advanced" EU countries to slash taxes on diesel fuel 20% lower than unleaded gasoline taxes so they could sell their cheap diesel cars. VW pushed their dirty diesels for decades and had to be dragged kicking and screaming to develop a hybrid -- after the scandal broke. BMW and MB make actual clean(er) diesels that use urea injection, but they cost more and require more maintenance. Some VW/Audis later had urea but the motors were deliberately tuned not to use the urea (except during an emissions test) because the tanks they installed were deliberately small and they didn't want to "inconvenience" the customer having to get it refilled often -- at the customer's expense, of course.

Faster, Higher Farther is the history of VW from its inception by Ferdinand Porsche up to the diesel scandal (several VW people are now in jail or indicted), the biggest deliberate commercial fraud in history. "Efficient" VW "Clean Diesel" engines were spewing 40 times the legal US NOx limits. Particulate emissions from each VW/Audi diesel equalled those of 12 compliant diesel tractor-trailer trucks. BTW I've owned 7 VWs in my life, including a 1981 Jetta Diesel (before "Clean Diesel"), but never again.

 

[chrismiii]

spark plugs

Not a good picture but I am running Iridium Plugs in my 15 RT for the last 4K after I did my 12K. Runs fine no issues at all that I can see.

Thanks very much -I have them on their way!!

 

[lkchris]

Did you know........Autolite/Fram is now owned by a New Zealand company?

But seriously, BOSCH builds stuff all over the world. It's what ever the customer specifies or the tastes of the local market. We often complain about US cars/trucks but, honestly, they are what the bulk of the market wants; big barges with soft suspensions that don't go around to many turns. We are the Crew Cab F150 nation

Bosch of course invented the spark plug.

Much as the Germans invented the car, the motorcycle, and the truck. The diesel engine.

But yes, spark plugs by Bosch for sure come out of the box correctly gapped. Gapping spark plugs is 1950s iron engine stuff, ancient history, not applicable to current BMW motorcycles.

 

[lkchris]

Yup, VW (i.e., the German govt) strong-armed (defrauded) the "advanced" EU countries to slash taxes on diesel fuel 20% lower than unleaded gasoline taxes so they could sell their cheap diesel cars. VW pushed their dirty diesels for decades and had to be dragged kicking and screaming to develop a hybrid -- after the scandal broke. BMW and MB make actual clean(er) diesels that use urea injection, but they cost more and require more maintenance. Some VW/Audis later had urea but the motors were deliberately tuned not to use the urea (except during an emissions test) because the tanks they installed were deliberately small and they didn't want to "inconvenience" the customer having to get it refilled often -- at the customer's expense, of course.

Faster, Higher Farther is the history of VW from its inception by Ferdinand Porsche up to the diesel scandal (several VW people are now in jail or indicted), the biggest deliberate commercial fraud in history. "Efficient" VW "Clean Diesel" engines were spewing 40 times the legal US NOx limits. Particulate emissions from each VW/Audi diesel equalled those of 12 compliant diesel tractor-trailer trucks. BTW I've owned 7 VWs in my life, including a 1981 Jetta Diesel (before "Clean Diesel"), but never again.

Wow, "grassy knoll" stuff for sure.

The basic thing to remember is that in the USA the emissions requirements for diesel-powered automobiles are 100 times more strict than for gasoline-powered pickup trucks ... the latter being the highest selling vehicles here, the former representing a miniscule portion of the market. Politics, that is. Very little to do with clean air.

"Decades" is stretching it a bit, as VW didn't produce diesel cars until the late 1970s, decades (yes decades) after Mercedes and the French were selling them. VW has never been the leader of the diesel automotive market. Close to the majority of BMW cars sold in Germany have been diesels in recent years. Europe has traditionally lagged behind the USA in coming up with pollution regulations, although they may have recently accelerated to catch up. It's not clear to me they've even widely adopted diesel particulate filters (DPF) in addition to SCR. My 2007 Mercedes has DPF, and SCR arrived here in 2009.

Yes, the deception did center on resistance to SCR, selective catalytic reduction, which is the official term for diesel fluid injection. Yes, it's been VW's mission to do more with less, usually by adopting new technology a number of years after the industry leaders Daimler and BMW. VW was last, for example with common-rail diesel injection with electronic injectors. They clearly couldn't make SCR work at their price point, hence the deception ... unfortunately with Bosch help. Bosch for many decades has been owned by a charitable trust and it's sad to see their reputation besmirched. They remain, of course, the world leader in automotive technology and just about everything new and wonderful comes from them ... including recently motorcycle traction control sensitive to lean angles. Germans in general I think, and I think for sure Bosch are sensitive to price pressure for their products, and German auto maker in recent years have indeed pressured them and sometimes actually gone elsewhere for components, unheard of in earlier times. My Mercedes diesel has Delphi components.

 

[Digtlartst]

Not sure where's the "stretch" calling the late 1970s "decades" ago?

MB and BMW had/have the technology that VW passed on because VW was too cheap to do it right. Other manufacturers were mystified for years as to how VW was able to engineer their "Clean Diesel" so cheaply even to pass CARB specs. Turns out VW/Audi/Porsche systematically lied and cheated for years, with Bosch's help. Even when they went to urea they programmed it to inject consistently only during emissions testing -- and they wouldn't even put in an idiot light to tell the driver when the urea tank ran dry.

Bosch besmirched themselves by knowingly going along with VW's spec demand. They settled for $327M aside from the $15+B VW settlement -- and that's just the beginning.

Read the book then get back to us about "grassy knoll" stuff you want to refute, maybe as a new topic.

 

[morfic]

The diesel scandal aside, has anyone tried the Bosch Tri-electrode plugs (copper)?
I'm still in "I better not touch the bike or I could void my warranty" mode and haven't looked too closely.
Be it placebo or real, I always liked the "uncovered spark" idea.
But I'm talking from decade old memory.
And yes this is the second post today I'm mentioning them in.
I want to say the gap was right and bike ran miles better than with the Platinum +4
My fuel economy seemed best once I ran tri-electrode plugs, I was anal about checking that back then.
It might have the "ew, copper" effect in some though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kinterridge]

Bosch of course invented the spark plug.


Etienne Lenoir as part of his US Patent #345596 is generally credited with spark ignition, not a modern plug by any means, as I recalled from teaching some automotive history courses. Bosch's firm is credited with really getting the modern higher voltage spark ignition going through his employee Honolds work. I will confess my favorite plug guy has to be Albert Champion, of course, he was a true motorcyclist (Champion and AC).