RAM Hi-Po plug leads - at last

[Beachcomber]

Early Christmas prezzie.

just signed off on the K100 and K1100 lead sets after nearly 8 months of negotiation / tesing.

First sets will be 8mm Red and come complete with 4 x plug nipples [ JIC ], wire divider and full instructions. Due to the Christmas break we'll be looking at late Jan delivery - but ALL orders placed and paid for before the VAT increase will be honoured at the 15% rate - after Feb 1st. the vat will be 17.5%. US customers obviously NO VAT.

I've commissioned a run of Yellow lead wire and that will be available in early Feb.

Initially I was hoping for a price around £60 - now it will be sub £50 AND I will have final costings immediately after Christmas. naturally I have insisted on the traditional 10% discount for Club Members.

K75 leads in the pot for development.

Negotiations are in hand with a couple of UK retail outlets, one a speciality BMW parts supplier [ as with the RAM shox]. Several US sources have indicated an interest in becoming agents for RAM shox and other products - keep you posted.

Remember - these sets have been made by a speciality manufacturer with many decades of experience. They manufacture all of the parts IN HOUSE [ UK ]. The leads have been thoroughly tested in their labs and in the real World of road testing. They manufacture lead sets for Aston Martin and Jaguar amongst others.

[Technician]

I'm interested in the leads so let me know when and where and how much and i'll rob a bank.

[Beachcomber]

Technician - will keep you posted.

Since flagging this up on the 3 Euro forums at 3 pm GMT we've had pre-orders for 4 sets of Red and 3 sets of yellow !

The great thing about these leads is that they are very reasonably priced - not sure what the dollar rate is at the moment, but I think they will be VERY competitive. AND they have been developed especially for our bikes!

PM me with details of your bike and I'll give you the lowdown on ordering and payment etc. Other folk on the forum have already dealt with RAM [ Sjox ] and I'm pretty sure that all have been extremely satisfied.

have a great Christmas
TJ

[skdonlan]

Put me in for a red set Beach, just let me know how and when to pay. Bike details in my sig.

Thanks, looking forward to another quality RAM product (to go with my shock!)

Now if you only did brake lines.....

[jpberens1994K1100RS]

OK, I'm in for a set of red ones. 93 K1100RS.

I think I used a CC last time.

Let me know how much when your ready. I can mail money order, Pay Pal, what ever you need.

Thanks.

[Flying Duck]

Just get a set of Magnecors from Alamo Motorsports - $68 plus shipping for the red 8.5mm. They work great. I'm running the red 8.5mm on my RS and the 8mm blues for $54 on my LT. Couldn't be happier.

They don't list them on their site for K1100s but if you email customer service they can hook you up.

[Beachcomber]

Hi Duck,

that's the main problem - in Europe Magnecor won't supply K1100 lead sets as they're not happy with the spec.

I've been liaising with their techie guy [ nearly 3 months ], but in the end the UK company came up trumps with service and supply [ and price ].

Magnecor are FINE leads, I had a set on my K100 before I put the trial RAM set on, but came to a dead end when I wanted them for my K1100.

All my working life I've found solutions to problems rather than bemoan the facts - thus finding alternate suppliers was not a problem.

BTW - the RAM sets will come complete with 4 new screw on plug nipples - JIC.

Guess that's at least TWO quality alternates now to the OEM leads? Especially when Magnecor get their act together in Europe for the k1100 sets. By then, I expect to have K1200's developed as well!

WHICHEVER make of lead sets you choose, one thing's for certain, you won't be paying OEM premium prices.

A couple of previous US RAM customers are looking at bulk [ 20 sets ] imports, which will bring freight costs down dramatically.

BTW - what does £40 equate to in US dollars these days?

[Technician]

Beachcomer,
i'll be away from my pc until January 3rd but will try to access the site to check.
Bike details= K1100ltse 1995 Mystic Red
Not really fussed about colour as they can't be seen behind the heat deflector panels.

[Beachcomber]

Adrian at Realm has just given me the final price structuring for the plug leads. Much better than anticipated.

retail is £41.75 [ set including 4 x plug nipples ]
Club 10% d/c £37.57 [ " " " " " " " ]

Both prices are + carriage and + vat. Until Jan the vat is 15% - thereafter 17.5%. NO VAT ON US ORDERS.

Any Europhiles reading this forum - Orders placed and paid for before the cut off date will be supplied at the 15% rate - even if deliveies are quoted for Feb [ Yellow leads ].

Ooomigawd - a sample set of 10mm leads arrived by mail 30 minutes ago - I'm still in shock

Over to you lot

[Ernie-NH]

Good morning B/C...

Todays rate: $1.60 per 1 Brit.Pound.... brings wire set to appx $63 USD

For a K1100LT... what is the total resistance per lead in Ohms ? is that identical to the OEM spec ? To whom,and by what means will they ship to the USA ? Appx; Shipping costs ?

Best regards and Merry Christmas.........// Ernie-NH

[Flying Duck]

BC: I've been following your project. I just posted the Magnecor info for the stateside members.

Given the prices you guys pay for a lot of stuff over there that 40 poundish price sounds like a sweet deal. Good persistence on your part.

[Technician]

BC,
I'm back now and want to sort this out. Do you do the ordering?
If not let me know who to contact and i'll place my order.
Thanks for organising this.

[tmoons]

Hey BC, best wishes!

One question, are these leads sold to you by Phil Dewit?

[Beachcomber]

Hi technician - contacty me with the details so I can confirm to Realm that you are a club member and the final order / payment is direct with them via the website. Secure payment via card.

Hi Ernie,

I'm the original electro dummy. I simply sent several sets of OEM leads with instructions to duplicate the electrical values. The leads [OEM] that they tested all gave different values around 5.9 - 6.6 ohms [ used leads ].
Carriage is door to door and prices for USA will be announced soon.
ERNIE - FORGOT TO RESPOND TO YOUR ORIGINAL QUERY !!! THE LEAD SETS AS SUPPLIED ARE 5OHMS -AS THE ORIGINAL SPEC.

Hi Moons,

NO - these leads are manufactured by an independant UK company who normally only supply direct to the OEM end user or speciality trade.

We came accross them as they supply Aston Martin and Jaguar lead sets.

The guys there have been extremely helpful, and whereas the Magnecor guy was interested, they were too long winded about it. My UK guy took the OEM leads and turned round a set for evaluation within a week !

Just received a set of K75 leads - they're next.

Now then.......................... brake discs, they seem WAY too expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Technician]

pm sent.

[Rafal]

ERNIE - FORGOT TO RESPOND TO YOUR ORIGINAL QUERY !!! THE LEAD SETS AS SUPPLIED ARE 5OHMS -AS THE ORIGINAL SPEC.

Hello !
Very not as originals - the originals are 5000 Ohms (5 KOhm) - I can bet on it as I have genuine set on the bench.
In Europe there is no problem with making replacement of HT set. For good car suplier you can buy:

- 4x BERU VESO 116 (VESO 105 for K100) ignition coil connector (1KOhm),
- 2 meters of BERU silicon, copper core, low resistance ignition wire,
- 4x NGK 102 Degree XD05 spark plugs(4KOhm).

All together with saw tooth connector for VESO 116 cost me ~$40 + 2 hours of fun work with the bike. AFAIK one can order BERU and NGK components in USA on internet shops.
BTW genuine HT set is made for BMW by BERU. VESO 116 plug can be found on following BMW cars list.

[Beachcomber]

Rafal and others - yes you spotted the deliberate error -

OF COURSE they are the same as originals, what would be the point otherwise????????

I would have thought that an error of x 1000 would have been the clue, or maybe thinking - "I bet the idiot forgot to press the "K" key"?

I apologise for MY error, but I was brought up in feet and inches and maths [ especially electrical thingies ] was never my strong point - that's why I ditched Electrics and went for an Engineering degree.

I will repeat for the hard of hearing - I simply sent all the OEM leads, coils etc. together with the OE data from the manual to a specialist lead manufacturer [ that is they make ALL the parts - not just assemble ] and asked them to produce a compatible set of leads.

Sit there and knit your own sets up - I could care less, but if you don't have the skill or inclination [ like me ] there is a reasonably priced alternative available which is approximately 50% less than OEM. Oh yes, these leads also come with a guarantee - something your home knitted sets won't have [ and have 4 x plug nipples, lead seperators and be marked at each end with lead # ].

BTW - all the OEM leads tested in the lab read between 5.9 and 6.6 KILO Ohms - so wherefore the magic 5 KOhms?

[Rafal]

BTW - all the OEM leads tested in the lab read between 5.9 and 6.6 KILO Ohms - so wherefore the magic 5 KOhms?

Mea culpa !
5KOhms is the spark plug +1Kohms coil plug - I have posted that info on Flying Brick in August - yet my memory is getting worst due to winter season .

[tmoons]

Some more questions:
What is the core material of these leads?
What is the mantle (insulation) material?
What is the material of the caps on either end?
Is there a "hook" option on the sparkplug end of the lead?

[Rafal]

tmoons if you asking about BERU + NGK set, then:

*What is the core material of these leads?
Coper wire

*What is the mantle (insulation) material?
High temperature resistant silicone 8mm in diameter.

*What is the material of the caps on either end?
Isolation caps on wires are made from kind of silicone (BERU and NGK). Actually whole external of coil Veso plugs is made of silicone. Other parts - a kind of plastic - I don't know what exactly.

*Is there a "hook" option on the sparkplug end of the lead?
The VESO 116 plug has a saw tooth connector - crimped with special tool to wire and inserted into the plug. Some pictures:

I have found it on: http://www.beruparts.com/category.sc?categoryId=12

The NGK has a wood screw connector - just screw it into wire core.


Ready made set has this advantage that you don't have to look for crimping tool (the shop where I have bought the BERU parts has it, and let me do the crimping). Also you have guarantee that no moisture will get inside plugs (or at lest better chance).
IMHO Beachcomber does a lot of good job trying to manufacture high quality parts for beemers.
My previous two bikes: Polish Junak (350ccm trumper) 1961 and 1990 MZ (ETZ 251 two stork fun bike from East Germany) has suffered a lot of problems caused by bad quality after market parts :/

Best regards

[tmoons]

Ah, clear.
I have these on my bike now. I am not pleased with them.

are TJ's cables the copper core ones?

[Beachcomber]

Hi Theo,

The outer material is 8mm Silicone with a 10mm option for competition applications. NOT copper core.

I'll get some photos and full spec up shortly. the pre-production set is currently on a K1100RS having an independant road test. That has been delayed due to the heavy snow we currently have.

BTW - the caps are rubber material and the plug cap has a rubber shoulder to use for removal so as not to pull on the lead itself.

Everyone - please be clear - these are not MY products. They are simply items that I have got reputable manufacturers to make so as to get a quality product at a reasonable price - I MAKE NO FINANCIAL GAIN FROM THIS AT ALL. OK - I get a very cheap set of whatever for my trouble, but that's it. Then I negotiate a 10% discount for club members.

It started with shox, as I couldn't believe the price difference between high performance car and bike shox. I come from 45 years in the specialty car industry and I am used to looking for the best price for quality products in low volume. I am good at it. Hence the plug leads. I'm also looking at stainless steel exhaust sytems in conjunction with Keihan - AND I've just decided that brake disc prices are ridiculous when compared to performance car units - guess what's next on the list!

Rafal, thanx for your kind words - see explanation above re: my motives.

[skdonlan]

Hey Beach, your efforts are appreciated!

[Ernie-NH]

Hi B/C...

Ditto on Skdonian's comment !!
Good job,,,hope you keep on keeping on !

Best regards............// Ernie-NH

[tmoons]

TJ,
Thanks for the reply!

I DO think you are doing a great job!
And am still interested in a set!