I really, really wanted to change the spark plugs--mostly to know if I'm running lean, rich or what--but also to see if the little hesitation around 4000 might go away with new ones. So I figure out right away that my 18mm socket isn't going to work in that tiny space. I go to the discount car parts place, and their computer tells me that Champion RA6HC is the way to go for this bike. Okay, fair enough. And I get a 16mm socket at the same time just for good measure, because I don't remember that I already have two of them at home in my tool box. Wait for the engine to cool down--not quite enough (ouch). Nothing doing on the 16mm. Okay, now to the hardware store for another socket, this time a 17mm which, like Mama Bear's bed, is guaranteed to be just right. Wait for the engine to cool down. (Ouch.) Nope.

Lemme guess: I have to buy a special 17.65 mm thin-sided plug extractor from the Triumph dealer, right? And this indispensable gadget can be mine for a mere twenty-nine dollars, right?

Okay, the Haynes manual is due in the mail any day, but I'm too impatient to wait. What gives here?

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Well, I don't know how it is with the '01, but on the '96, that's exactly the case. I was warned several times to make sure I got the plug wrench with my bike. Sorry... (no clue how much it costs to buy one).

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Here is one of many threads on the subject that might give you some guidance. At the bottom of this section you will see the advanced search button, go there, type in "spark plugs", select Hinckley Classics and "all terms". Lots and lots of spark plug talk.

HTH and good luck.



Sparkys

[ This message was edited by: bobshields55 on 2005-10-23 18:55 ]

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Bob
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Several motorcycle plug wrenches made for motorcycle tool kits will fit. If you have ever owned another bike, you probably have one kicking around. If not, go down to your local bike salvage yard - they should have a few.

Someone has also mentioned here before, I think, that Sears has some thin-walled sockets that work?

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dale... i went to my local ace hardware and picked up an 18mm....works just fine...just the right size for the plugs and thin enough to fit down that hole ......tom

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Ward...dontcha think you were a little hard on "the beaver "last night!!!

Thanks everybody. After my third trip to the hardware store, I've got what I need, more or less, to face that middle cylinder. And TNSEN, you were right: Ace is the place with the helpful cheaply-made 18mm sockets.

As for getting the plug out, I tried the pinky approach, the tape on the socket approach, and the fuel line approach. No luck. But I may have blazed a new trail: you know those annoying little thread protectors that you have to take off of new spark plugs? Well, one of those things fits snugly into a piece of rubber fuel line hose, and then can be screwed down on the reluctant spark plug to draw it out. It's even a better way to put them back in.

Just to be sure (that confounded #*@%!!! manual still hasn't arrived), I should probably use NGK DPR 8EA-9, right?

Thanks again.

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"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

Quote:

As for getting the plug out, I tried the pinky approach, the tape on the socket approach, and the fuel line approach. No luck.

I use the 'magnetic pickup' approach. I've found that to be the easiest for removing both the spark plug and the socket.

Jim

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