Plugs might be that noticeable if they were truly shot. If it’s running well, ride it.

 

With no service history and spark plugs indicating it may not have been well cared for I would immediately change the oil and oil filter and the air filter.

 

I'm changing my spark plugs , oil and air filter on my 2017 in the next day or so. My bike has a little over 17,000 km on it. I have noticed that on occasion if you give it gas fast from idle it has a slight bobble. I'll report if it runs any different after.

 

Geez, the plus should be good for at least 3-4 times that many of kilometers.

Sent from my BV4900Pro using Tapatalk

 

The short change interval on motorcycle spark plugs always amazes me. Modern Iridium spark plugs will last a long, long time. As has been mentioned, to make the engine lose any performance they have to really have some wear on them. In an automotive application where they run under very demanding conditions they easily last 60,000 to 90,000 miles or even more. This is all based on the proper plug being installed. If the plug is an incorrect heat range or design it can experience accelerated wear and loss of performance.

 

Agree w/PeteW on fuel flow likely. If it sat for a while, it may have been a little gummed up and just needed to work it out.



A fairly high-revving bike like the 650 strom with only two spark plugs is going to wear them out more quickly. The stock (non-iridium) plugs might last 40k miles before they show significant wear. My own plugs went way longer than that and were straight up disgusting by the time I pulled them out, but I never noticed a performance hit.

 

The iridium plugs in my Camry were scheduled to be changed at 120,000 miles. Life got in the way and it’s a major PITA to do it in a transverse V-6. I got around to it at 140,000 and they were still pretty good.

 

Not revving is usually a plugged up fuel filter.

Problems near idle, plugs, plug caps. Pull one of the easy to reach caps off the plug, unscrew the innards and check that they are still innards with a 1k resistor, a spring etc, not a corroded lump.

Be careful when removing the guts, they do need to go back in the correct order.

 

'05 didn't come with Iridium plugs.

 

You need to measure the gap on the old plugs.

If the gap has grown they are old and due to be replaced.

The gap can play a big part in the motors performance.

Then there is the fact the manufactures recommended gap is more about pollution control than performance.

 

I've found fuel injector cleaner does work and surprisingly well.

I have a spare pump sitting in the garage (for the last 4 or 5 years) that I brought when my 650 started having problems, I also had some fuel injector cleaner sitting there, I dumped that in 'in case it helps' and repeating that every six months or so has kept the evil day at bay. It won't work for rust clogs but I suspect a lot of problems are similar to the issues diesels have with things growing in the fuel.

 

Thank you. I will clean the fuel filter next time I'm down there.
How would one do that?

I also look around for some injector cleaner. I'm guessing automotive shops...?

 

There is no way to clean the filter.

Do a search on here look for fuel flow test, that will tell you how good your pump is

Then there is the fuel pump filter bypass, the pump has a internal filter, that can be bypassed and a replaceable filter put in it's place.

I have had success clearing the internal filter by running the pump backwards, you could try that.

Fuel Pump Fix | StromTrooper

 

OK, today I changed my spark plugs. The old ones looked to be in truly excellent shape....but they were quite out of spec when it came to gap. They were at .39 vs .32 for the new ones. Also a couple were in super loose. Took no torque to get them out. These have 17,250 KM on them. Also put in new oil, air filter and swapped coolant . (2017 Bike has been in service since fall of 2018. It runs noticeably better now. Pretty sure it is the correct gap that is making the difference. Smoother throttle response, no surging at 5000 RPM in 3rd at part throttle. Also revs completely clean when I blip the throttle quickly at idle. DId not do this before. The air filter looked pretty good and I'd expect it to go quite a bit further before dropping off in flow. Final observation.....the plastics are very mickey Mouse on the DL650. Even being very careful one of the bolts at the front of my Beak snapped the corresponding plastic bit it fits into.

 

A gap that is too wide can impact performance as it stresses the coil under high load. (There is a lot of science and physics at work here, well beyond a simple comment here! When the magnetic field in the coil collapses it induces a high voltage surge that has to ionize the molecules between the electrodes converting the air that is normally an insulator into a conductor. Once this is done the spark can occur. The wider the gap the higher the voltage has to rise to make this happen. The spark arc can "run out" if the gap is too wide as all of this has to happen in a very short period of time. There is more to it, this is just the Cliff Notes version) In the "old days" we use to say it was average for plug gap to open up about one thousands of an inch per 1,000 miles. This was with old style plugs before modern platinum and iridium center electrodes (which last much, much longer). We use to do a "tune-up" on cars every 12,000 miles. Once we got powerful electronic ignition systems and better spark plugs that all changed for the better.

 

I guess my poor bike is majorly neglected, but I'm not changing plugs and air filter every 10k miles. They get changed every 25 to 30k miles whether they need it or not.
Must be ok, it's almost at 77k miles (123,000 kms) and still runs great.

 

With no service history available and 50K km. (31K miles) on the odometer It's due for a valve clearance check. I'd do that while changing the spark plugs. 'Have an '05 with 50K miles and original plugs, and it runs fine. Never had the valves adjusted, and I'm overdue for a second inspection.

 

I replaced mine recently. Original plugs around 65k miles. Day and night difference.