Spark Plugs

Most of us will bring the bike to the stealership, pay about anywhere between $20 to $40 for the plugs.
We ask no questions and assumed they are the same.

Did you know that rampant fake plugs are all around the market?

Denso are very rare in the market.

Ngk have copper, platinum, iridium.

The difference?

Copper is the most conductive and have to be changed out at 12 000 km

Platinum has a fine tip of 0.6mm but iridium, is 6 x harder than platinum.

I could not find any information for motorcycles but iridium plugs on cars goes from 36 000km to 100 000 km.

Do take note that shadows plugs have a 18mm hex nut and the front cylinder needs a long extender to reach it.

Left is a fine tip while right is a copper plug.

Additives

Taking the bore out of fuel refllings, at some point, fuel additives makes me excited. Getting better fuel mileage or a smoother ride makes me feel like a winner for some reason.

Ill be sharing these few additives that I have been using

No #1 Marvel Mystery Oil

I know it sounds stupid but these stuff works well. Its more of a fantastic lightweight lubricant. I once added it to an engine oil of an engine oil consuming motor(EST repair cost $400) and it stopped leaking. I added it to my fuel and it gave me a much smoother ride.

These are the components. 

The secret is the blend.

70% Light Aromatic Oil (Pale Oil)
- It is a Naphthenic Oil, so while it oxidizes faster than a Paraffinic oil, it does clean and dissolve sludge and carbon well and cleans up after itself from any oxidation. serves as base oil as well. [Naphthenic oils have more solvency and are more polar (they are attracted to metal more), but oxidize faster.

29% Mineral Spirits
- Cleans Varnish very well. General cleaner. Also acts as an antioxidant.

38 parts per million (ppm) Boron
- AW/EP agent, friction reducer, antioxidant

900 ppm Phosporous
- AW/EP agent

1/2% 1, 2 ortho-Dichlorobenzene
- EP agent as it interacts with Iron to form an Iron chloride barrier under any ZDDP or other AW additives. Also very good cleaner/solvent, and friction reducer

1/4% 1, 4 para-Dichlorobenzene
- EP agent as it interacts with Iron to form an Iron chloride barrier under any ZDDP or other AW additives. Also very good cleaner/solvent, and friction reducer

Oil of wintergreen - for the scent
- Not just for the cent, is also a cleaner. may aid lubricity.

Red Dye - for the color
- well this one just colors the stuff

No #2

Yes you're not seeing it wrong. Its mothballs! Used originally as an old school octane booster. However, they are toxic so handle with care and avoid breathing them in. In some countries, they replace the napthalene with dicro so be careful and know what you are buying. Buy those 99.9% purity and avoid the coloured ones. Used them in fuel at a ratio of 1 balls to 3L of gasoline.

No #3 2 Stroke oil

Two stroke oil in a four stroke engine?! Hehehe yes yes. Better mileage and a smoother ride. Used to do it at 2ml per L of gas. A two stroke engine calls for 20ml/L.

Engine Oil

This is a topic really close to my heart.

I get overly excited prior to on oil change because I expect changes in my vehicle performance after the change.

Not trying to overly explain but here are are some tips.

Thinner oil would give you better fuel consumption,starts better and more better acceleration.

Synthetic oil will last longer, starts better and shears less.

Oil cooled honda shadows manual calls for 10w40 oil. I love running the 5w40.

The honda manual calls for a 12 000km oil change with the oil filter. However, 5000km is the local practice.

Always check the dipstick level and never overfill! Manual says 2.2L and 2.4L with the oil filter.

Start with 2L as sometimes, somehow, thats enough.

The bigger the spread between the two numbers, the faster they sheer.

Between Synthetic oils, they have different classes. Ester based are the best.

Do not confuse colour of oil with its state.

Never over tighten the 17mm drain nut.

Hand tight is good enough for the oil filter.

Go for the longer oil filters if you have enough clearance.

Most honda car and bikes share the same oil filter mount just longer or shorter.

Always dispose of oil properly as with every Litre of oil, it contaminates a Million Litres of water.

I've had tried many off the shelves brands. I generally stay away from the overly expensive ones.

Here are some of which I have tried.

Pennzoil Platinum

Great

Nasa (On my TA200)

For cheapos

Belray Thumper

Just Great

Royal Purple

Rather thin and sheers quick

Schnell UltimateII

Not motorcycle compatible!

Mobil 1 15w50

Stout Thick Oil

Schaeffers 5w40

Fantastic

But sheers at about 3500km

Schaeffers 7000

Just normal

Castrol Go (On my scooter)

For the cheapos

Castrol Power 1(On my scooter)

For the cheapos

Bardahl SYN MOTO

Plain Terrible

Maxima Synblend

Just Normal

Really cant wait to try out the Shell Rotella T6

Its JasoMa certified!

Dunlops D404 to Shinko 230 tourmasters

The long awaited wait for my tire change is finally here! YAY!

From these (Dunlop D404) 2009

Indonesia made

The dunlops came with the bike and served me extremely well. No skidding and stopped right. They were from 2010 with unknown mileage but I had at least 15 000 km on them when I took over the bike. Its about 2014 and  I believe that they were on since 35 000km ago. Although there was a still threads left for water to run off, the middle of the tire had a split.

A new pair was in the range of $330 so I decided to go with the Shinko's at just $190 

 To these!(Shinko 230 Tourmasters)

Korea Made

I had the front tire swapped out about 2000km ago and it was great and reviews from buddies was the rear was great too.

After mounting the tire I noticed a few things ;

The finishing on the sidewalls seems layered and it was peeling out which seemed dodgy.

It wrote tubeless tire but I am using a tube.(Its fine after some research and advise from buddies)

Getting on the bike, it felt taller. I like that as the shadow was really low.

After wearing out the wax, I leaned on the corners and it responded better. I felt that the steering is lighter too.

I love the threads and softer rubber.

Having more contact with the road is an important feature. With the great roads in Singapore, its an added bonus. The dunlops looks great for all terrain though.

However, which the shinko bigger portion of flat surface, sharp particles.. even stones and damage the flat threads so check it often! The dunlops rear tyre had fine threads which were just weird that gets minimal in depth after minor use.

All in all, unlike sportbike tires, these shinko's are worth getting only if the price difference is significantly different.

Do take note, these will wear out faster than dunlops and bridgestones.

Here was the bridgestones 

Front L309

Rear G546

The brigges looks rather flowery dont you think?