Changing Spark Plugs in a 2003 Suzuki Bandit 1200S

Keep in mind that the following is written from a mechanically challenged point and I could miss some tips that experienced pros use.

What you might need from the store before starting...
Plugs
Socket and wrench set
Needle nose pliers
Shop rags


Things you may have around the house...
Towel or soft blanket
Tape
A person with small hands (trust me, you really need one of these)
The tool kit from under your seat

In the beginning...of changing spark plugs


Remove the seat, pretty much assuming everyone knows how.

Remove the bolts at the rear of the gas tank using a 10mm socket and wrench. Remove the little rubber washers and store them for safe keeping. The washers have a tendency to fall down under the bike when moving the tank around. Use the battery box cover for a convenient place to hold bolts and small tools while working on the Bandit.

Turn the fuel valve switch to On. Bandits have a vacuum activated fuel delivery system so you do not need to remove the gas from the tank. Remove the phillips head screw holding the fuel valve switch in place.

Working under the tank to remove the hoses represents a significant achievement for normal sized hands. The service manual shows some parts already moved out of the way to get to the hoses. In this case, I felt a blow to my trust in whomever makes service manuals. I expect service manual writers to remember that the people who likely need a service manual require large full detail photographs to go along with the horridly detailed instructions. A link to a full HD video would be nice as well. And a 1-800 number to call in case I get stuck.

Remove the vacuum hose. You may need to use some needle nose pliers for gently tugging on the hose. Wrap some tape around the front of the pliers to avoid the groves damaging the rubber hose.

Pliers taped with orange electrical tape. I like my tape colorful. I probably got it from one of Vintage Electric's shelves.

Use a gentle pulling with constant pressure to slowly remove the hose. You will avoid tearing the hose if you have a bit of patience in this step.

Vacuum hose next to the PRI position on the petcock

Remove the fuel line. The fuel line has a small retaining clip that is difficult to get to from the left side of the bike. I propped the rear of the tank up a little with a rubber handled screw driver. From the right side, I reached under the tank area using needle nose pliers to slide the clip back off the petcock valve. Using the same careful, steady pull, I removed the fuel line from the petcock. Note that the line will spill a little fuel when removed.

Fuel line with clamp under and to the rear of the petcock

On the right side, close to the rear of the tank, remove the water drain hose and fuel tank breather hose. Fuel tanks have snorkels, who knew? I digress...Use the same gently pulling with constant pressure that I mentioned about the other hoses. If your hands are small enough you may avoid using the pliers.

Breather and Water Drain hoses

Disconnect the fuel level gauge lead wire coupler. Otherwise known as that thingy that tells the ugly little digital fuel thingy on your gauge how much gas you might have. I stress the word might. I am not sure how accurate a blinking bar is so I use mileage to determine my next fill-up.

Fuel Level Gauge Lead Wire Coupler on the Right

Before removing the tank set a thick blanket or towel down to avoid scratching the finish. Remove the tank by sliding it back a bit, up and out. If possible, plan on doing the plug change towards the end of a gas fill-up. I just filled mine and all the sloshing around caused a little extra effort in lifting and setting it down carefully.

Tank chillaxin on the comforter and an empty oil container

Yay! Now you can remove the plugs.

Note that the above work seems like a lot, but it only took about thirty minutes on my first try. I've read that some people can remove the plugs without removing the tank. After seeing how tight the area is even after removing the tank, I am now in awe of those people who have the dexterity to get the plugs out without removing the tank. I am thinking either freakishly long fingers or some ability to manipulate physics of the known universe.

Pull the spark plug tool and the 17mm / 14mm wrench out of the stock tool kit that comes with the Bandit. The length of the plug tool and the rubber grommet helps a bunch when removing the plugs. The wrench is a little short but it works for pulling plugs from 2 and 4. My socket wrench would not fit.

17mm / 14mm wrench and spark plug socket

Remove the plug wires from 1, 2, 3, and 4. If the number labels fall off, just take note of which plug wire goes to each cylinder head. It's fairly hard to put them back in the wrong spots.

Insert the plug tool from the kit and remove the plugs. The plug tool can be a bit of a stubborn child when working in tight spaces. If you look under the frame towards the front of the bike, you will notice a little space above each plug hole. In the especially tight areas, put the tool in perpendicular to the ground, slide the top a little forward and up into the space, then down into the plug hole.

An area above the cylinder head that you can slip the spark plug tool up into

Push it down a bit until it's snug then remove the plug using either a socket / wrench combination, or the 17mm / 14mm wrench. I suggest loosening the plug then using your fingers to turn the plug removal tool. It's easy to cross thread the plug socket when using too much pressure on the wrench.

Spark plug removal tool

Once you have all the plugs removed, check them for a significant amount of gunk. A little carbon or soot on the ends, no big deal. If your plug looks like it has some mystery gunk that potentially could qualify for membership into the "new life-form of the month club," you need to look into some extensive service. It's possible that your cylinder walls, o-rings, pistons, or seals have damage. As a previous driver of a motorcycle that doubled as a mosquito fogger (Honda Hawk burned as much oil as gas), I am familiar with the massive pain damaged cylinders or pistons represent. If you are in town, take it by RPM Motorcycles. The owner drives a Bandit and is familiar with the quirks and tantrums that the Bandit's like to display.

Gap the new plugs to .024 - .028 inches.

Begin installing the new plugs, working from the inside out on each side of the Bandit. Use your fingers to tighten down the plugs initially. Avoid cross threading the plug holes, a major pain to fix and will require taking the cylinder heads off.

Getting the plug wires back into place takes some dexterity. I am beginning to wonder if engineers have extremely long fingers or tiny hands. My knuckles currently threaten striking if working conditions do not improve.

Time to put the tank back on...

You may want to do some cleaning under the tank area while you have the ability. As you can see from my pictures, my Bandit does not wash behind the ears very well.

It's time to get the small handed person tool out. In my case, I used my superhero wife. Actually she is the model that all superheroes aspire to but fail miserably. I digress...but I love bragging about my wife. Makes me smile...

My wife's hand, I probably should have given her the gloves

I held the tank while my wife reached her hands under and attached the vacuum line, fuel hose, fuel hose clamp, and fuel gauge lead wire. Check the fuel line to make sure it's not pinched or crimped.

Let the tank rest close to the frame, propping it up with a piece of rubber or rubber handled screw driver works. Getting the water drain and breather hose back on requires the tank sitting almost flush with the frame. Install the two hoses then replace the rubber washers, grommets, and bolts at the back of the tank.

I scratched my frame...Grrr.

Start up the Bandit. Mine was almost scary how fast it caught and started rumbling.

All done, clean up your mess before the neighbors or your wife start giving you looks. Or your one year old boy reaches for your greasy tools and tries to eat them.

Oil Change on a 2003 Suzuki Bandit 1200S

What you might need to get from the store before starting...


Gorilla Automotive TW605 Torque Wrench
End Cap Oil Filter Wrench
17mm Socket, Wrench, Extender
Oil Pan
Glass Cleaner
Oil
Filter
Gloves
Funnel

Some up front notes...

The frustrating part of the oil change occurs when trying to remove the oil filter. You WILL need a solid one piece end cap oil filter wrench. Autozone, Discount Auto parts, Pepboys, some Wal-Marts carry end cap oil filter wrenches. Just make sure you get the correct size.

Contrary to some claims, you do not need to remove the exhaust headers or radiator. The filter slips out on the lower left side of the bike where the frame starts to curve back under the engine.

Starting up...

Run the bike for about 5 minutes to heat up the oil. It helps when you get to the draining process.

Remove the oil fill cap on the right side of the engine.

Oil Cap

Place your oil pan under the engine towards the left side.

With the 17mm socket and wrench, remove the oil drain plug.

One stuck drain plug, Suzuki Bandit

This started my adventure of "When Jonathon works on an engine, he will invariably run into something that doesn't go right. Probably because he never works on engines..."

The drain plug sits in an awkward position for removal. I yanked, tapped and pulled on the wrench but could not break the bolt loose. So...super WD40 to the rescue!

Is it bad that my WD-40 has rust on it?

Spray, soak, tap with a framing hammer (it was close to hand).

Framing hammer re-purposed to loosen a bolt

Tried it again and presto, black sludge.

Drain plug, black sludge, and trusty oil drain pan

Let the oil drain for awhile. Now is a good time to rehydrate, turn on some music, perhaps do a little dance to limber up. Or just wait 10 minutes for the oil to drain...

Reinsert the plug and tighten to 16 ft-lbs. using that torque wrench I mentioned above. Note that I barely know what a torque wrench is and I have never used one before.

Now comes the fun part...

Slide your oil drain pan under the exhaust around where the oil filter rests. Some oil will likely spill onto the exhaust. You can use glass cleaner or some Simple Green to clean it off later.

Slide the oil cap wrench between the exhaust and place on the end of the oil filter. Using an extension and socket wrench, remove the oil filter.

Curse you tiny oil filter!

I attempted to use this cheap little adjustable end cap filter wrench and failed miserably.

Cheap Oil Filter Wrench

After some scrapped knuckles and much maligning of the parentage of my Bandit, I used a cringe-worthy trick to remove the filter. I stuck a screw into the side of the oil filter so that the wrench would tighten down on the filter.

I got it removed and pulled it out through the space between the frame and exhaust on the lower left side of the engine.

Oil filter being shy

Next, prepare your replacement oil filter. I used the K&N KN-138. To prep the filter, rub a little oil around the rubber seal on the bottom.

Notice the wrench in the box image!

 The K&N filter held a present surprise, a 17mm nut welded to the end. So much easier to install and remove. I slid the filter between the frame and the exhaust on the lower left side of the bike. It takes a bit of finger tip manual dexterity to get the filter on the threaded post. Once on, you can use a 17mm socket, wrench, and extension to gently tighten the filter down. A quarter past snug is fine.

The only thing left is to add the oil back. I used the Kendall GT-1 20w-50 oil recommended by holeshot.com. Doing research on the different weights and brands will show a lot of strong opinions about what to use. In some cases, I felt like I was reading an argument on politics or religion. Ultimately, I cannot say why the 20w-50 represents a good brand to use but anecdotal research supports people using in bikes that have 130k plus miles.

Kendall GT-1 Motorcycle oil

The bandit takes 3.7 quarts to fill. Replace the oil cap and you should be good to go.

Kendal GT-1 empties with the old filter and my yellow funnel. I like my yellow funnel.

As a brief addendum, a few individuals recommend adding some Marvel Mystery Oil to the oil change. I did not, but have some Mystery Oil and noticed the packaging recommends replacing 20% of the regular engine oil with Mystery Oil. The math works out to about .74 quarts. Might help engine longevity, keep seals fresh, etc.

A link to the Suzuki Service Manual  I found after a few Google searches.

Cruise Control for the Motorcycle

The last longish trip I took was from Davie to Tampa to Gainesville. Besides the rain, I found that keeping my right hand locked into the same position caused a bit of discomfort.

I am still unsure about the safety of using a cruise control device but decided to look at the prices and ease of installation. I checked out two devices, the BrakeAway Cruise control and the Throttlemeister device.

Operating the BrakeAway cruise control.

Operating the Throttlemeister cruise control.

One major difference between the operation of both, you need to perform a bit more manual dexterity to set the Throttlemeister. I am not sure I want to try to sliding my hand around while holding the throttle in place. The BrakeAway sets by pushing a button close to your thumb.

The Throttlemeister runs a bit cheaper at around $140, while the BrakeAway runs around $200. Both work by applying friction to the throttle to prevent it returning back to idle. Both devices allow you to adjust the cruising speed up or down while engaged. BrakeAway disengages with a push button close to your thumb or by pulling the front brake. Throttlemeister disengages by turning the bar end.

Between the two, the Throttlemeister looks nicer once the installation finishes. Essentially, the Throttlemeister looks like an upgraded bar end. The BrakeAway installs over the throttle grip with a clamp and seems a bit more clunky.

Throttlemeister

BrakeAway

In the end, the BrakeAway appears the better choice but not by much. I like the multiple options for disengaging the BrakeAway and the simplicity of the setting the cruise control.

Keep the Change - A game for kids

Keep the Change - Credit goes to Andrea for the idea. She came up with the game and I expanded it a bit.

We play Keep the Change by allowing the opportunity for our six-year-old to keep any change she finds by telling us the amount.



Level 1

We started by allowing her to tell us the name and denomination. Each coin she has correct, she gets to keep.




Level 2
After a bit of time the game gets fairly easy. Start asking for kids to add them together. Arrange the coins randomly on a counter or table. As the kids add, they put the coins in their pile. For example, the kids find  a couple of nickels and three pennies. Put the change on the counter and let the kids start pulling from the pile, adding as they go. The counting lasts until the kids make a mistake. If the kids happen to get all of counting correct, add an extra coin as a bonus.

Any coins you have left over, take and hide in somewhat obvious places to let the kids start again. Might also be fun to keep placing coins randomly in toys or pockets.




If you have any ideas on how to add to the game, shoot me a reply.

BioLite Stove Recharges Mobile Devices

A product that combines a few of my favorite activities. The BioLite combines, tech, community, and camping. The device charges your cell phone or iPod device while cooking by burning available biomass (leaves, sticks, corn husks, etc) and comes in a backpacking or campsite stove size. The people at BioLite currently work towards providing a home stove version of the product.

The device takes approximately 1% of the energy available from the heat, converts it to electricity, and uses the power for a fan which increases the efficiency of the biomass fuel burning. The left over power can be used to charge an small device like my iPod touch.

Suzuki Bandit 1200S Road Trip

A bit of an exaggeration

Thinking about taking my Bandit on a trip in a couple of weeks. I decided I better do a tune up and look into a few tech tools to make the ride more enjoyable. Owning a 2003 Bandit 1200s, holeshot.com represents my site of choice for most recommendations. The site design could use some work but the info and suggestions hold a lot of popularity.

I put together a wishlist from Amazon and a couple of other places.

Oil Change
Filter Change
Accessories Plug (for cell phone, ipod)
Bags
First Aid Kit
Sunscreen
Blistex

The oil and filter products are recommendations from holeshot.com, the Accessory plug from a Google search, and the bags came from reading a bunch of reviews.

You could use the Nelson Rigg set as a good alternative to the bags I recommend. I looked into the Nelson-Rigg CL-950 and the solar products that Nelson-Rigg offers. The solar products were especially interesting due to me being a gadget geek. Nelson-Rigg also offers a solar kit to use without a bag.