2000 ZX-6R Servicing Spark Plugs

Warning

I am not a mechanic or a representative of Kawasaki or anything else official. This page is only my notes on doing this procedure myself. Although I believe what I have documented here is correct, I make no promises and you do this at your own risk.

Objective

Servicing your spark plugs is part of the regular service schedule for your bike. At the specified intervals, you should clean or replace them, and check the spark gap size.

Required

Tools Required

• Rear stand (recommended)
• Phillips screwdrivers
• Hex wrenches
• Metric sockets.
• Spark plug socket (the one from the bike tool kit will do)
• Torque wrench
• Spark plug gap gauge or feeler gauge

Supplies Required

• New spark plugs or cleaning equipment

Difficulties & Warnings

Some difficulties could be:

• Over-tightening when re-installing the plugs. Use a torque wrench.
• Cross-threading when re-installing the plugs.
• Breaking a plug by trying to use a regular (non-spark-plug) socket.

Procedure

Putting the bike on a rear stand makes this job much easier by levelling the bike and holding it steady.

First you must

1. Remove the seats
2. Remove the gas tank
3. Remove the air filter assembly
4. Remove the carburetor assembly

Then:

After removing the carburetor unit, the engine cover is exposed.
Each spark plug has a coil over it, with an electrical harness connected. Disconnect the electrical harnesses to all 4 plugs.
Pull out the various vacuum hoses that are cluttering up the space on top of the engine head (label them so you can put them back properly later).
Pull out each of the 4 coil assemblies over the spark plugs. You just wiggle them and pull up firmly and they will let go.
Insert a long spark plug socket, like the one in the bike tool kit, into one of the holes,
and unscrew and remove the spark plug.
Replace the old fouled plug (left) with a new one; or clean the old one with a suitable cleaning tool. (For the few dollars, I replace them.) Check the gap against the manual's specs (mine specified 0.7 - 0.8 mm).
Re-install the new plug, being careful it goes in the hole straight, without cross-threading. Use a torque wrench to avoid over-tightening. My manual specifies 13 Nm (113 in-lb) torque for the spark plugs.