well just rode my 480 powervalve cheeta w 38mm lectrons on it and alky i noticed that the plugs are brown in color. looks like chocolate brown maybe burnt oil? not clean the bike runs hard and has MONSTER bottom end and throttle response it never runs on or sounds lean at all. after the run it drops right down to a nice low rpm . i was running br9es plugs i forgot to switch them out to the evix's i usually run after tuning it a little..

just weird to me that they are brown there was a lot of oil in there from purge a few times... and i had some overrev/ clutch issue's i will look at the o'clock rings tonite...


is this a possible problem or is it ok? just got this motor back together and seeming to runn good and i just dont want to blow it up.. the motor "sounds" fine... ????

My alky. Plugs usually run a little lite to darker tan BR9EIX. Not dark tan. But engine might like it with a little more fuel.

Cam thats how the 350's plugs look, cardboard color.

my plugs look like cardboard to.

sand moutian nevada plug, i have light brown safe and perfect for a long azz hill
they are from a used box for notes and have sand one them,lol

that dark color must be a shadow,it all looks light brown, perfect

Man thats a big honkin ground strap. lol

oh WHEW i was just a little conserened... my big bikes plugs usually look just like a new plug nto really anything ont hem but that one has an egt on it so i cna set it rich to slow it down and then iff i need to squeze it a little leaner to get a few more out. and not hurt anything....


this one was just a first with no egt adn as far as i was concerened the motor wasn't showing any signs of being lean..

b8egv used and b8ev new, same size,
not sure what the dif is,

dont know if these help but thes are mine after a weekend of drag racing. I dont do by the color I go by the heat it making

i did it they way jade showed me in dumont, by the cylinder heat,
the color of them plugs is nothing to me, but i know that the bike was running clean ,cool and firm

That's the way I like to see my alky plugs.

what noises do you typically hear right before it goes sqeeeeeeeek griiiind cough seizzzze? at that point its too late but just wondering

Wow You need to know how to listen to your engine it will tell you volumes while you ride it. Noises? Mine makes all kinds of noises some good some not so good if I am messing with it. Get it running right listen to it and go from there.

By the way in the pics I posted the left plug has been run and the right one is new. just thought I would clarify that. got a few pms on that one

Are you serious?? Thats so funny. I'm sorry but thats to funny.

a few of them were actually good questions, about carbs not making the same heat on both sides but that could be a whole new post. A few were just people telling me my tune was wrong lol

thats how i read mine also,,by heat

heat on the cylinder by touch or what?

no i read the heat on the plug, like in titans post

oohh man, u got me there, care to elaborate?
or tell me how mine looks ...what am i looking for?

Burn rate at 3 and 9 o'clock on the base of plug.

here is the plug in my bike now ,that other on is junk, what am i looking for for heat?lol

This was an early run just after switching to alcohol. A single 1/8 mile wide open asphalt run. Shows very little heat. Just burned off the plating next to the ground strap. Wet and safe but to cold. From there we started closing down the power jet.

That is a great pic Tedder, that is were I like to see it start at. you can see the discoloring perfect at the base of the strap. the more heat it makes the further around it will go. half way around at 9:00 and 3:00 is good heat

have you purged on those plugs??

i see
how close is safe

yes i did..

That plug was pulled at the end of the run. It hadn't been used to purge - Is that what you ment??

it is hard for me to tell on purged plugs but I think I can see the burn marks and they look pretty good. I always start with a fresh set of plugs and tune for that day


tedder I was asking airbrusman because that plug look like it was purged with

any more than half way can cause problems ,deto,burnt o-rings, burnt plugs, and eventually lighter pistons

sweet ,
thanks i understand..

You mean problems like this

Ouch!!! By that read around 1300+ degree's. I think I see some pistola on that plug

Ouch!!!!!!!!!

Ya, Got greedy. It happens fast. Sorry about the lousy picture. I think there were tears on the lens! LOL

yep, inside 4 seconds and it is all over but the crying. Did you know it only takes 1 cycle of the engine to damage a piston in the right circustance?? kinda puts it in perspective.


sorry for the hijack Cam, just some good stuff

oh no keep it up now i absolutely understand the "heat in the plug" that has been talked about it is MUCH easier to see than to describe. would an unshrowded tip do different things to internal temp and burn rate? i mean it is the flame front thats causing the marks on the plug right? would a bosch +4 in the right heat range work better or worse? would the motor be able to build more heat( pressure) while staying cooler from more fuel? ( ability to actually burn the extra fuel instead of being "rich"?) could a head be made to carry the flame front to the edges of the bore better? could multiple flame fronts be created inside a motor instead of one big ole one? that farts out at a low burn rate and wastes blowing gas out the exhaust?

OH man my head hurts now! i need a twinky,,,

The best way I've seen it described is that it's like using a torch to heat the tip of a steel bar the heat will travel back down the electrode and wrap around the plug base.

so would a multipel ground strap plug allow more heat to be pulled away and maybe more fuel to be added ( increasing the heat?) and not bloww the motor to bits..?

good info you guys showing us and sharing, i can guarntee they being alot more plugs looked at and i think this will help explain thru pics bout heat and how to read it, thanks from me

i just put my bike on alke yesterday was its first day out and im having trouble clearing it out at the line my plugs look just like the one with the electrode turning and they are real wet is this good or bad.NO COLORING EXCEPT THE ELECTRODE.

Does it take a few passes for you to be able to see the marks?

So is it safe to just go by this 3 o'clock 9 o'clock heat reading and not worry about the color of the rest of it?

oh man see this is where listening to your motor is the clue. i would say that these rings are for the fine tuning. alky will run really rich and seem ok.. its not untill you get it really close that it comes to life and you realize why you switched from gas!.. the slow off the line is too much fuel..

i looked at the 2 plugs out of my 535 and the 480 both have this brown color to them so i am sure its the oils there are no "clean " spots but i can see a seperate shinyer area or brown to a darker sootier area of brown. they are perpendicular to the electrode. i took some pics i'll see if it will show. probably not.

the 480 plug seems rich or less heat in it accourding to the colorings of the last pictured plugs its at about. 7 and 5 ont he dial.. but this is a motor that is ran over and over and ove again i am sure thats why its harder to see from the differeent heat ranges from different times burning int he plug..

aww pictures suck

on some bikes i have rode the bottom end is SOOOO rich i have to unload the pipe of fuel i can actually see the raw alky( WOW) blowing out the pipe. it takes a few brrrrRRRRRRRIIIGN of the throttle to get it to act right. then they seem ok. i have seen a lot of bikes that were this way try to idle up to the line then hit the gas and take off. (( then they just go buuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrEEEEEEEEEEEE over) its kinda funny.. i just hope i can avoid a lean burn down on one.. as in never.

yes it took about 5or6 passes before they got like that at first it was shooting fuel out of the exhaust we lean the clip 2 wich is is all the way once the bike clears out it runs great.what i am running the br9es could it be the plugs.

well what carbs are you unloading on the line ( revving it a few times till it revs clean?) use the midle needle and try different slows. small changes down low and MAKE sure your not just sticking a needle valve inthe carb and its just dumping alky in..

im runing 35mm kein how ever you spell it i rev it all the way to the line as soon as you leave off the throttle it loads up to clear it you have to rev it toll its screaming to clear it im scared im going to blow it up im a fairly new commer.

did not intend to steal someone elses topic i sean that plug like mine thought id ask cant learn jack if you dont ask.

i`d say put clip back in middle and go down on pilot jet 1 size at a time till it clears up on bottumn and i always go by air screw, like if i have to turn it out more than 1 and half turn to 2 i start going down on pilot, the plugs should be fine on that range, just make sure they gapped at 18 and haven`t been purged too many times on, hope that helps you some

TTT

This thread is "sticky worthy" IMO....
This can be very helpful for newbies and pros alike...

, thats why partslist bumped it to the top for me , I'm an alky newbie and having some trouble at the moment.

once you are close on the pilot then use the air fuel screw to fine tune it. i always turn the a/f screw to where you smack the throttle from a idle and it is really crisp with no bog.i turn it to you get a little bog before it picks up then go back the other way.i run my pilot right on the edje but always checking it while the temp. changes.works good for me

i just use lectrons.. no screws to mess with.. and yea this thread turned out great!!!!

I believe this is what you dont want to do.... Besides the fact that I got too lean on the power jet, can anyone else tell me how these plugs look? These have about 3.5 gallons of alky ran on them, then I melted the strap on the right plug. I am trying to learn how to read alky plugs. Thanks for the help!

This is very good info

ttt

Ive been reading and ive learned a lot, good info guys, but i have a few questions. How long do i need to run my bike b4 i can pull the plugs and read them? Im going to start with some fresh plugs this week and try and tune it. So if the whole plug is brown, does that indicate the motor is too RICH? So i should put clean plugs in and lean it out untill i get that browness at 3 and 9 o'clock? I have power jets and i asume that i just turn the power jets in a little at a time untill i get it lean enough? Ive never tuned with power jets before, so i dont know how they work.
thanks for the help!

TTT

i know someone knows???

After the 1st pass I would shut it down on the big end and check the plugs and see if they are lean or not. Dry = lean wet = fat because you wont start to develop color for several passes ( 300' ) passes.
As far as the Brown color is conderned it will take a while to develope color depending on how fat or how lean the Jetting is.
You do need to watch the Timming mark on you strap to see where it is.
As far as the Power jet is concerned it depends on the Power jet some are very sensitive and others are more of a broad range jet. Who set up the carbs?? The most sensitive Power Jet I know of is a DMR Power Jet. Start with the Power Jets turned out or open, and adjust in or close from there.

Idk who set the carbs, i bought the bike from a guy who didnt know much. SSR built the motor, but idk if they tuned it or not. For all i know its prolly never been tuned.

If you don't know I'd treat it as such and start out as a fresh tuning job. Be Cautious.

I like all of the plugs we pull at Sand Mountain,NV. A little sand seems to make the bikes run better!!!LOL

I sure hope not.

yeah thats how it is down here, you pull your carbs or something off at the track and someone always flys by with a hurricane of dust on their tail...

can someone explain why people use a #9 colder plug if alky burns colder to begin with? i figure you would need hotter plug? any one explain plz

i have been running a br8eix in my 500 with the 44 lectron i had to drill the petcock out to flow enough fuel..

hows that beast running man? how many powerjets you have in the carb? running a fuel pump? stock timing?

Methanol only goes in colder, it burns hotter and longer. If the plug holds to much heat it will cause deto for sure

i see. thnx for clearing that up. if it burns hotter why can you run all day up the hill and have low cylinder temps compared to gas?

it seems to be doing pretty good i love the tq it makes i can launch it almost at idle with NO bog. its nutz. i had to drill out the petcock to almost its full capacity reshaped where it goes through the shut off valve. it flows a LOT more fuel now. i have one powerjet. i havent really really ran it out agin yet before i'd say about 300ft it was starving the bowl. now after this fuel change its seems much stronger.. i would change things and lean knock it time after time i am not sure but i think it would run out of gas so bad it wouldnt run hot enought to burn it up never poped a plug or rattled porcelin it was weird? i am so happy it didnt nuke hoefully will get a chance to run it agin this weekend on a lnger strip. its faster than a nmotion stroker big bore 450 yfz from around here. but he' needs a swingarm.... and i need to lay off the burgers.

oh and stock ignition from 85 and stock timing. stock head,

right on bro sounds like its running strong. ya the big honda has some serious torque. gotta love it

Up

UP

^^^^

thanks partlist for bringing this to the top

No Problem

Ok I new around here and new to methanol. I have a 79' YZ400 w/426 kit on meth in a Blaster. I'm running an RDZ powerjetted 38mm AS.
Thanks for all this good info but I'm still ignorant. Where do I look for the discoloration? The ground strap or the electrode? Can someone dumb down the 3 and 9 o'clock thing anymore?
Have pity I'm new...PB

Look at a spark plug from the bottom. You want the open end of the ground strap facing up, or pointing towards 12 o clock.
Look at the bottom of the plug...or the flat spot facing you at the very end of the threads. You should see burn marks from 12 o clock to 3 and 9 on both sides. That's heat...or fuel/air mixture.

Look at the plug from a side view...as if you're looking across the spark plug gap. You should be able to tell the ground strap burning right about where it makes the bend...that's your timing burn.

These are pretty general statements. Obviously each motor/setup/tune is gonna vary a bit... Anyone will tell you.
Start pig fat, work down safe...then it's on you....

I almost posted my pic of my piston after going a little TOO low...that's the luckiest you're gonna get going too low, it only gets ugly and more $$ from there....

OK got it. That's the best explanation in the thread! Thanks for taking the time, your good peeps dajogejr

Does the 3-9 o'clock indicator work the same on a alky 4 stroke? Does it work the same with gas in a 4 stroke?

Ok....now I have my own question regarding the timing burn/ground strap.

Got done running on the ice yesterday, backed the plugs out a few threads after some runs, opened the PJs wide open, never happened again. Plug had great color to them....pulled strong.

If the end of the ground strap over the insulator nose is say...a 1, and where it meets the plug threads is a 10...you want it to burn halfway into the curve, or roughly a 6 or so...correct?

Mine is burned at about a 4... That means take a degree or two of timing out? I'll post up pics of the plugs later today....just thought I'd throw that out there, and bump this thread up again.

I know...I should've stayed awake during art school...so please laugh at the crude drawing, but...I think you get the point.

What...no one can take a stab at this one?
Don't tell me you guys are all trying to come up with the correct words to express your wow and awe of my artwork...

Ok Ok Ok ..... Nice Art work. lol
I allways tried to keep my burn mark at the 5 o'clock mark to the 2 o'clock mark. Was I wrong?

PL...
are you talking about the base of the plug, or the actual ground strap itself?
I guess I should've pulled my plugs last night for pictures...just forgot.

I understood the 3 and 9 o clock was heat by fuel/air mixture, the ground strap was how to dial in your timing based on how far down it burned the strap...
Maybe my understanding is wrong, and that's pretty much what I'm asking....

Several people rode my bike, and they all said it was pretty strong, I'm just further educating myself is all....


...picaso.... LOL.

(The actual Ground Strap.) And I could be wrong about the way I run mine to. I allways thought the burn mark should be in the middle or towards the end or 1 o' clock position, just not off of the 1 o'clock mark or it would or could burn off the end of the ground strap. That was the way I understood it.

That is how I was taught to adjust my timing by reading the ground strap

yeah, I'm confused...LOL.

PL and TNT, thanks for trying to help....and trying to learn/understand with me.

I thought the base of the plug was fuel/air mixture/heat based on how close to the ground strap it burned. The strap itself was for timing....

I'll take a few pics of my plugs later, I'm not feeling the inspiration to craft another drawing up....

Come on picaso. You can Dooo it.

Ok...fine...

OK...once again...I didn't attempt to cut off my ear, but this is a view from the bottom of the plug. Ground strap open end facing up... Colored in where the burn mark should be, vs shiny new looking metal on the plug.
It's Partslist's fault for encouraging these drawings...blame him...

Where is the electrode?
I'm no artist by any means.... so cutting off my ear would not help on this end. Nice Drawing though. I see your point.
PS the burned area should be reversed if the Burned area is the dark area if I'm not mistaken. Was this a test??

yea the wrong side is black lol

Nice art work though Huh?

To be 100% honest, I must have misunderstood what someone posted about the burn marks, I figured the heat and burn had to be generated by the ground strap, then around the base.

That's why I kinda scratched my head when I read it... Either I read/misunderstood it as originally written...or it was written wrong. Either way...oke doke.

Tim...do you have any input on reading the base for a fuel/air burn, but reading the strap itself for timing?

Uhhh Isn't the Fuel / Air mixture read on the Porcelian? I could be wrong.

What if you're running race fuel...and some types of meth don't color the plugs...(Unless you count aluminium specs as color...)

Read Titan's 1st post in this thread, page 1, 12th or 13th post I think.

Doesn't read by color, but by the heat it's making....(so...going by the picture...it's around the base from the ground strap out, so...yeah, I misunderstood...)

That's my basis for the Da Vinci drawings and everything....

I can't find the evidence to back up what I am fixing to say. lol
But here goes, the porcelian color does have a factor in the reading of the plug fuel air mixture if I'm not badly mistaken. There was a link on here at one time to show it I can't seem to find it right now. The Alky I run does put color on my plug porcelian, I don't go by that for my heat reading though. I wish I could find the link I was looking for.It was about reading Alky Plugs also. Hmmm......... Anyone one know what I am talking about? I'll do some more looking later.

Ok I found the link. I think I was mistaken.

http://www.dragstuff.com/techarticles/reading-alcohol-spark-plugs.html

I'm gonna have to sit down for a while to read that one....LOL.
I'll post up my latest plug pics in a while....what do you mean your mistaken PL? I promise to read that later, can you give me the cliff notes version?

that is some good info right there!

what does it mean when the burn around the base of the plug is at say 2 o clock on the left side of the ground strap and around the 7 o clock position on the right side?? lean? rich??
tryin to learn. great info on this post.

lol That is the one I was lookin for you and I are on the same Page I think. We have been following the same stuff for a good while. There is a lot to read in that link, and there are also links inside that link as well to read. Lots to reading plugs. Reading them correctly. I'm tempted to link all this stuff togeather so it will be in one spot. lol

Here ya go...as taken out of the bike...no purge gas at all.
Second pic shows a little better about the burn on the ground strap not making it all the way to the start of the bend. These plugs have 30 to 50 passes on them in my estimation...

So do you think they could be leaner to get a better heat mark? Or what do you think about them?

I dont see a 3 and 9 o clock mark on those bad boys.

all the way around, does that mean it is lean?
dave, do you think the bike coming to a sudden stop half way threw its last pass had anything to do with the way the plugs look?

This is pulled out of the link;

Blown Alcohol Motor Spark Plug Reading 101
by Mike Canter
Reading a blown alcohol tune-up using spark plugs is a very different than reading a gasoline tune-up on spark plugs. First major difference for alcohol is that you do not read the color off the porcelain around the center electrode. Air to fuel ratios within the combustion chamber are going to be read by the appearance of the metal base ring at the end of the threaded area of the plugs and the color of the first three threads of the spark plugs. The amount of ignition advance is still read as with gasoline plugs by the blue line on the plugs ground strap or sometimes referred to as the ground electrode.

An important note is that the spark plugs only reflect the tune-up that was in the motor just prior to finish line engine shutdown. In a ¼ mile this is normally just the last 300 feet in high gear but it takes 1000 feet to develop the correct appearance. It is possible for the plugs to indicate a good tune-up at this point but to have run too rich or too lean in first or second gear or at a lower rpm. This makes it possible to damage the engine due to incorrect fuel mixture in the first part of the run and actually be correct at the finish line. It is highly recommended that the initial tune-up runs be limited to 1/8th mile plug readings before proceeding on to the ¼ mile run. Most the damage to an engine is done in the last 300 feet.

The fuel mixture and the ignition timing are totally intertwined as to the effecting the appearance of the spark plug ring at the of the threads and the EGT values. Changing the fuel to air ratio and changing the ignition will both change the combustion chamber temperature. The leaner the mixture or the more advanced the ignition the higher the combustion chamber temperature and the richer the mixture or the more retarded the ignition the lower the combustion chamber temperature. Remember the EGT sensor is outside the combustion chamber so it is only reading the exhaust gas/flame temperature. The more the ignition advance the lower the EGT and more the ignition is retarded the higher the EGT. This opposite effect is caused moving the heat or the flame out of the chamber into the exhaust with a retarded ignition and raising the temperature of the EGT. So having a high EGT because of retarded ignition can and will show less heat in the spark plugs.

It is highly recommended to pick a maximum ignition timing point that is known to be good for your particular engine setup and tune the mixture for that point. This way the tune-up is safe and you can retard the ignition to pull out power without drastically changing your fuel tune-up. You can always go back to the maximum power ignition point without damaging the engine.

Reading For Air Fuel Mixture

An important step first is to degrease the plugs by spraying the threaded end with brake cleaner to remove any deposits of oil that may have been put on the plug during shutdown or when the plug was removed from the head. Most of the spark plug manufactures that make plugs used for racing plate the spark plug shell with cadmium or zinc which oxidizes at a temperatures that corresponds to the correct operating range of the temperatures within the combustion chamber of a racing engine.

As one is tuning the motor and leaning the fuel system out the first part of the plating to start oxidizing will be the ground strap. This oxidation (burning) is uneven in progression around the ring at the end of the threaded part of the plug because the side of the plug ring that was closest to the exhaust valve seat gets hotter faster than the side of the plug ring that is closest to the intake valve seat. The result is a crescent of unburned cadmium that gets smaller as the engine is leaned out. When the cadmium is oxidized and has turned white across the entire face of the plug ring or countersink area just inside the ring the increased temperature then progresses down the side of the plug into the threaded area.

The peak performance is at the point where the cadmium or zinc plating oxidizes and turns white over about 90% of the plug ring and a small crescent of unburned plating is left on the ring. Burning 100% of the plating off the ring all the way down to the first thread will not result in any damage but will also not result in any increase in engine performance. There is a fairly large tuning range between the burned area being at 90% and being burned all the way down to the first thread. Using this large area will ensure that no damage is done to the engine. The next stage from this safe appearance is when the cadmium is burned down to the second thread and the ring loses its white appearance and picks up a greenish tint with small visible bubbles and the ground strap picks up rainbow colors (blues and green when held in the bright sunlight). The strap getting hot enough to exhibit rainbow colors is hot enough to start igniting the fuel mixture too soon and causes pre-ignition/detonation. As the plug gets hotter then sooner the mixture will ignite and this will result in the melting of the ground strap and possible breaking of the plugs porcelain and damage to the upper rod bearings.

By keeping good records of actual performance this peak performance point should be readily seen and matched to the indication on the spark plug ring. When the 90% white ring is obtained with the fastest MPH noted you are now ready to move on to adjusting the ignition timing.

Reading for Ignition Timing

Once the fuel mixture has been adjusted so that 90% of the plug ring is white and all the cylinders have been adjusted so that the white area are the same on all plugs the ignition timing can be now checked by reading the blue line on the ground strap of the plug.

Ignition timing is also directly responsible for the heat in the combustion chamber and therefore the color of the plug's ground strap is a tattletale sign of this temperature because it is thinner than anything else on the plugs and sits right out in the combustion chamber. The ignition timing can be checked by looking at the color of the plug's ground strap and the position of the "blue line" on the strap. The blue line really indicates the point at which the strap has reached annealing temperature of the metal. To help to understand this think of a bar of steel (ground strap) on a table that is being super heated with an acetylene torch at one of the tip ends. As the end heats up and the heat starts moving down the bar you will see a blue line across the bar at some point down the bar away from tip with the torch. This blue line reflects the temperature that is the annealing point of the metal. As the temperature increases the blue line moves further down the bar away from the torch. Similarly, the blue line moves down the spark plug ground strap as you put more heat in the engine.

Assuming that you have adjusted the alcohol fuel mixture correctly and if you are using gold colored ground strap like with an NGK spark plug then not enough timing will show the ground strap as still gold or going light gray maybe with a few bubbles on it after a run. As you advance the ignition and put heat in the engine the plug ground strap will turn darker gray. As the metal turns medium to dark gray you should start looking for the blue line (band) around the ground strap. Ideally, you want this blue line to be just above where the ground strap makes the sharp bend and above the weld. If you advance the ignition too far the blue will disappear off the strap and the strap will pick up rainbow colors (blues and greens). The next step beyond that is to start melting the strap from the tip end and detonation. When you are close to the correct timing then only change the timing by half a degree at a time. If you ignition system has the capability of adjusting the timing of each cylinder independently (ICT) then you can use that feature to have the blue line in the same position on all the plugs. First, adjust the basic timing to get as many of the plugs to have the blue line just at the sharp bend in the strap. Now adjust the ICT to move the blue line to the same point on the remaining plugs. Once all the plugs read the same you can advance the ignition a little at a time to put the blue line just above the weld on the strap or whatever point gives you the best performance.

If your timing is too far retarded then it maybe necessary as you adjust the timing to add a little more fuel to keep the crescent on the end of the plugs white for 90% of the area. Be very careful on adjusting timing because it does not take much change to make a lot of difference. I recommend limiting the changes to half a degree at a time. It is easier to set the timing at a known good degree for the type of engine and adjust and individual cylinder timing (MSD ICT) to balance out all the cylinders and then adjust the mixture to show the correct amount of white area on the metal ring of the plugs as explained above.

Wow, that was great!

Thanks!

Nope...no marks. After 5 or 6 runs, it backed the plugs out. I went from 5 turns out to all the way ( I think I counted 8.5).
Now, it could've backed them out cause I held it WOT a little too long, I was running out of gear at 350 feet or so on a 600 foot track (normally, just ran out 5th and pulled the clutch...) but I could've easily gotten distracted by the bike next to me...didn't let out soon enough. But...they looked white after I pulled 'em on the backout pass. I opened 'em all the way, checked 'em twice after everyone hot lapped my bike, they looked the same after both checks once I opened my PJs.

To be honest, I don't think I have much to gain by going a hair leaner. Bike ran strong, cleaned out well...and pulled nice all the way to the end of 5th.

My whole thing is the ground strap...not being burned to the bend...maybe I take a degree out? I'm running 9 on the plate now... Funny, my plugs never got this much color in warm weather in 300 foot. I had to take it to 600 foot and ice to get color...LOL...
Tells me I can probably go a little leaner once it's sand time.

After quickly reading that...I think it could be a little leaner to get more heat, I also think I could add more timing to get it to burn further down the strap.
The real question is how much of either...and how close to the ragged edge do I want to get. I'm pulling the head soon to fix a small coolant leak (outside the water jackets, NOT in the cylinder) and I'm going to see how the tops of the pistons look.

My thoughts are...it's ice season. I'll have some fun, keep it fat and happy, but do some more tuning when it's sand season...and we run 300 foot more consistently....

Yes if your just fooling around right now I wouldn't be to concerned with it right now. Keep it fat and happy, till its racing season.

I was taught the ground strap is the indicator of your plug being to hot or to cold. The bend is ideal. If your burn is closer to the electrode then your plug is to hot. Vice versa, if its to close to the threads its too cold. Don't know if that's right or not, just throwing it out there.

The dragstuff article is the correct way of reading the plug. The proper way to do the plug chop is to warm your quad up with used plugs. Then, install brand new plugs and run your set distance 330', 500', 1/8 mile or 1/4 mile. For the last two distances I recommend doing your plug chop at a shorter distance 1st. Anyway, you must cutoff the motor and pull in the clutch at the same time. That's the most accurate way to read the plugs on alky for full throttle runs. When you make another jetting or timing change it's time to do the drill over again. Bryan

Yep....hard to build heat/color in a 300foot run!!

Take a look at the top runners plugs in the 300'. I guarantee they have heat showing on the plug!!

Yes they do and they are on the raged edge to

neato looking at those pics of your plugs it was fine are you SURE your not pulling in coolant OR that you ran the bows dry for just s sec and leaned it at the very end and caused a lil deto and shook the plugs out.. i have never choped plugs for alky and wont after reading that article and this thread.. i run mine a lil rich and the plugs show that the burn is almost all the way around the plug its hared to hear the alky ghetting lean i can tell if it leaned after a full throttle run by the way the motor sounds.. on my first alky bike i ran an egt for reference.. this is a great thread.!!!

And, with that....the reason i like my plugs to look new after a pass....if you build enough heat to show bluing in 300 through 4 gears your too hot for sure.

if you really lookl hard you can see the oxidization on the base ring.....whilst the plug is still looking new, but right(to me)...doesnt need color to show you heat.

dont take the grnd past the bend...normally.....torch the end of a new plug and youll see why. stop as soon as you see it start to glow at the corners...clean and check it.....it will be at or just before the bend.

then do one and let it glow till 1/8 in. is glowing then stop and clean...check it out....past the bend.

if its glowing in the cyl then preignition will have to happen.

there are other interesting things to see too....i wasted, well , used 50 - 60 dollars worth of plugs of all types, doing this, and it payed off.

raged edge = fast bike!! if its a track bike BURN IT DOWN!

I'm not that competitive. I have melted a few though.

What I mean about showing heat is the different appearance in the plating on the ground strap and on the flat portion of the plug.

I agree....I've always run my bike very fat, only leaned on it once too much, and I paid a very cheap price considering....

It took me running 600 feet plus to get this color...
Really what it means to me is the bike is getting plenty of fuel for 300 feet, our normal race. I have quite a bit of leaning to do, SLOWLY....if I want to.

you are right there is a different way to read them, when the motor is running it leaves a "smoke ring" on the porcelain it is about 3/4's of the way down the cone of porcelain and it is a thin ring around the porcelain.. the color of that ring does give you a indicator of mixture but it is harder to see at the track than the heat that I look at.

you kinda get a feel of the heat at the track. lets say on my first pass my plug burns at 3 and 9, I will add fuel to cool it down. you want the plug to burn 3 and 9 at full operating temp not first pass

this is tedders pic but this is how I want my 1 pass to look like and look down the porcelain and you can see the dark ring near the base, the darker that ring the richer it is but like I said, 99% of the time I go by the burn marks at the end

one thing for sure all bikes are different....and E.T. should be a determining factor too.

thats about the same i was talking about....but a lil less timing on the strap and less fuel....is what i shoot for...the base ring will oxidize before it gets hot enough to blue,

oxidization of the coating relating with the cyl temp is we are looking for, and show a white chalky looking ring that extends aroung from the grnd strap. if i tune it to have the bluing color from 3-9 that is too much heat for mine...it will pop and crackle during a pass, plugs like to back out and my times slow down....but thats just me.

the porcelian is def a factor...that black ring youll see is carbon from unburned fuel and shows that the cyl is not burning all the fuel.