So you've all heard that the supplied spark plug wire and boot are doo doo. Here's an interesting find that may ruffle some feathers!
I was cleaning out my garage this weekend when I found some leftover spark plug wires and boots. They are new parts that were going to go on a friend's Honda Shadow, but he sold the bike. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed was that these are resistor boots. 5000 ohm boots are popular for reducing EMI noise. Not so good for weak little ignition systems like on the china bike kits.
But wait! What's this?
Does that flat head mean it comes apart? Why yes! Yes it does!
See the fuse-like thing between the spring and electrode? That's a ceramic 5k ohm resistor. A piece of metal the same size and shape should replace it just fine. In my case, it was a small bolt, cut down and filed appropriately. So I put it all back together and check resistance of the whole wire and get about 0.02 ohms. (The meter reads about that when you short the leads together anyway) So awesome! A free upgrade!!
Or, so I thought...
I was cleaning out my garage this weekend when I found some leftover spark plug wires and boots. They are new parts that were going to go on a friend's Honda Shadow, but he sold the bike. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed was that these are resistor boots. 5000 ohm boots are popular for reducing EMI noise. Not so good for weak little ignition systems like on the china bike kits.
But wait! What's this?
Does that flat head mean it comes apart? Why yes! Yes it does!
See the fuse-like thing between the spring and electrode? That's a ceramic 5k ohm resistor. A piece of metal the same size and shape should replace it just fine. In my case, it was a small bolt, cut down and filed appropriately. So I put it all back together and check resistance of the whole wire and get about 0.02 ohms. (The meter reads about that when you short the leads together anyway) So awesome! A free upgrade!!
Or, so I thought...