Spark plus change on a 04 cbr1000rr!

[2drStunner]

Wow what a pain in the a**! Absoultely insane. I ran into a few lil problems but 4 hours to change out plugs. Heres a idea of what I had to do. This is not showing that I had to take off side plastics and the tank!


1.remove the fuel drain tube and 2 front gas tank bolts
2.rotate the fuel tank back and support with a block of wood
3.remove the 6 phillips screws from the top of the airbox and disconnect the IAT sensor. now remove the top lid and remove the filters
4. disconnect all 4 injector connections and remove the 2 screws that hold down the harness. set outside of bike. unbolt the 6 bolts that held the injector rail to the airbox. they will have yellow paint on the tops. now lay the injector rail out of the way.
5. remove the other screws around the airbox. i think there were 7. now remove the middle section of the airbox.
6. remove the 6 screws around the velocity stacks, now remove the stacks. they can only go back on 1 way so dont wory if you got them mixed up. unscrew the 6 bolts around the airfilter holes (the screws are shiney/gold looking)
7. remove the lower section of the airbox
8. remove the 4 bolts that hold the radiator in place. 1 is by the radiator cap, 1 is by the overflow tank lid, and the last two are underneath inbetween the middle header pipes.(the radiator support bracket)
9. carefully slide the radiator to the left and down. dont damage any of the fins on the radiator.
10. there are 2 allen bolts that attatch the front of the airbox. remove these bolts
11. now remove the 2 air duct screws on the sides.
12. pull the airduct out twords the rad and front tire. its ok if you cant fully remove it1
13. back up top, remove the innner air duct. this exposes the top of the valve cover for easy access to the plugs. i also did the pair mod while i was here. that will be in another DIY.
14. remove the 4 coil pack connectors
15. remove the 4 coil packs. you might have to pull a bit hard as they dont just pop out easily.
15. i used the supplied (oem tool kit) spark plug wrench and removed all 4 plugs
16. install the new plugs finger tight, then a 1/4 turn with a wrench. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN!!!!!
17. now repeat the process in reverse order.


The only good thing is that the bike pulls like new!

[05OCsrt-4]

you say the only good thing is the bike pulls like new, what about the fact of "it barely cost you a dime to do?" but wow thats insane, i'd lose my patience and take it somewhere

[2drStunner]

Originally Posted by 05OCsrt-4

you say the only good thing is the bike pulls like new, what about the fact of "it barely cost you a dime to do?" but wow thats insane, i'd lose my patience and take it somewhere

You are 100% correct. Im glad I did it myself because Im even more farmilar with the bike. Plugs cost $11 a piece. That was actually shopping around. I got quoted prices of $25 a plug. Turns out my bike and the new zx-14 are the only bikes that take this style NGK iridium plug! OF COURSE!

[driftingrx5.7]

wow i hope mine isn't that bad on the r1 i know on the fzr its a cake! take the tank off and the coils and there goes the spark plugs! don't scare me!!..lol glad you got it done tho doing it yourself is so much more rewarding then bringing it to the shop!

[2drStunner]

Wow what a difference some new plugs and new front sprocket makes. It like a whole new bike!

[SvicksTc]

how much would a shop charge for changing spark plugs?

[2drStunner]

Originally Posted by SvicksTc

how much would a shop charge for changing spark plugs?

I guess it depends on what the say hour wise. Probably like $80 a hour and it would end up being like a 3 or 4 hour job.

[driftingrx5.7]

well i can tell you this back when my bike was running on 3 cylinder and we couldn't figure out the problem i took mine to the shop and it ended up being my plugs and cables and they charged me 123 to do all the work plug the diag.

[driftingrx5.7]

what size sproket did you put in the front? did you change your chain also? i am thinking about doing that to my r1 but not right now!

[frosti108]

wow that sucks. but i guess its all in the name of performance. they wouldnt have made it so hard to work on unless it helps the bike in some way or another

[2drStunner]

Originally Posted by driftingrx5.7

what size sproket did you put in the front? did you change your chain also? i am thinking about doing that to my r1 but not right now!

For now I just did one tooth down in the front! I cant do much more unless I stretch out the bike.

[driftingrx5.7]

wow really i didn't know you had to stretch out the swing arm. i thought you could do -1 in the front and +1 in the rear that seems to be the way people go on the r1's

[2drStunner]

Originally Posted by driftingrx5.7

wow really i didn't know you had to stretch out the swing arm. i thought you could do -1 in the front and +1 in the rear that seems to be the way people go on the r1's

Thats what the ydo on the CBR's as well but 1st gear is useless lol!

[driftingrx5.7]

lol i am going to leave mine stock! i think 81mph at 9k is good enough for me :D

[HiSpeed48]

i'm going to do this soon. bike has 25k miles and i doubt the previous owner ever changed them. from what i hear, its a similar process to yours.

to be honest i really enjoy working on my own bike. its a PITA but i like getting my hands dirty.

were you noticing any problems with the way the bike was running before you changed the plugs?

[2drStunner]

Originally Posted by HiSpeed48

i'm going to do this soon. bike has 25k miles and i doubt the previous owner ever changed them. from what i hear, its a similar process to yours.

to be honest i really enjoy working on my own bike. its a PITA but i like getting my hands dirty.

were you noticing any problems with the way the bike was running before you changed the plugs?

It didnt seem quite as responsive and sometimes almost sluggish!

Not anymore!