spark plug wires

  • oldkaws4ever
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  • Have no regrets...... You only live once.
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28 Mar 2007 21:44 #124506 by oldkaws4ever
spark plug wires was created by oldkaws4ever
is it possible to use spark plug wires for a car on a motorcycle? i was wanting to replace the plug wires on the 74 Z1, i was in the auto store the other day and seen accel 8mm plug wires and was wondering if i could use them on the 900. It still has the stock coils with screw in wires.

74 Z1a 900 (Apart and making it better than ever)
77 Kz 650b (Threw a rod, going to sandwich in a 900 or 1000 motor)
76 Kz 400d
05 ninja zx-636
81 Kz 750 Ltd
Darien, Illinois

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  • Grantl
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28 Mar 2007 22:37 #124510 by Grantl
Replied by Grantl on topic spark plug wires
I asked a similar question about 8 mm vs.7 mm plug wires. I got no reply here but when I was ordering my plug wires from Z1 Enterprises I asked the salesman what was the difference and which wires were correct for my KZ1000. He said (to poorly paraphrase)that the 7 mm wires would provide a better spark because the voltage is forced through a smaller aperture. Much like forcing water through a garden hose (smaller) as opposed to a fire hose (larger) A certain amount of voltage going through a smaller wire will have much more intensity than a larger one.
I got the 7mm wires and they work great.

1981 KZ1000 CSR
1983 KZ750 Project Bike
1990 550 Zephyr
1994 KZ1000 P

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29 Mar 2007 01:24 #124516 by AR15Ron
Replied by AR15Ron on topic spark plug wires
I use 8.8mm accel wires on my bike. Here's the thing though, they were made for KZ-1000's, they have NO resistor for noise suppression (radio noise). Car wires do to eliminate interference to the AM/FM radio etc. The parts store may sell racing wires that don't? I was wondering myself since you can buy 8 of the best accel wires for about the same price as 4 made for motorcycle wires. So I don't the answer to your question myself. I'd like to find out though. The other thing I noticed is that the wires on my bike are stainless steel braided. Most spark plug wires seem to be made of some weird material these days that you would not be able to solder (my coils do not have detachable wires and must be spliced).
In any case if you can find wires without supression they should be good.

as for the 7mm vs 8mm debate. Bigger is better, but supression would probably lose you a lot more spark than you would gain by increasing size. The reason bigger wires are better is due to the way electricity flows. It's called eddy currents IIRC. Electricity flows in a circular motion around the outside of the wire core so more surface area is better. I'm not an engineer but that's how it was explained to me. I'm also told that more thin strands are preferable to less thick strands or a solid wire. Course, I could have been fed a load of crap who knows :)

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