plug doctors, please have a look at my sparkies. | GTAMotorcycle.com

plug doctors, please have a look at my sparkies.

djbordie

djbordie

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Pluugs 1 and 4
http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll123/djbordie/plugs 1 and 4/

So one mech told me she looks a touch lean, and that my +10 % adjuster to the rich side on the box should be perfect.

the box can do 10% + - low mid high, figure 10% more rich is all she needs?

my main concern is doing 4000km next week, i really want her "safe"

also, when testing, how long does it take a plug to change colour to the new settings? like 10 km ride or idle or what?

thank you
 
What bike are these from?
How old are they? (km)
What were you doing just before you removed them? RPM, load.

Often bikes run at different mixtures at various RPM. It's not uncommon to see very lean mixtures at idle to achieve a passing grade on emissions and to have a relatively rich mixture at red line.

These plugs do look like they might be a little lean, but, that might not mean anything.
 
wow, thanks for the response. That just made life more difficult.

Fairly new plugs, average riding, pretty heavy starts and shifts nothing too wild. city riding before I took em out.

2003 z1000
 
Those plugs are too new to tell anything from, additionally I would want to see 2&3 before providing an opinion. Typically 1&4 share two things in common the coil (on older two coil set ups) and they are the coolest cylinders. Because they run cooler they can run a little leaner than 2&3 before causing problems.

With the miles on those plugs it's tough to comment on them other than saying there doesn't appear to be a current mechanical failure in the cylinder. I don't see any melted aluminium (little balls) or physical damage, Plug diagnosis is much easier when the ceramic has developed a coating. Once the ceramic has a build up on it then it will change colour based on how it's running quickly and show more subtle turning issues.

If you want to diagnose mixture at cruise then you would do a plug chop. The procedure is to warm up the bike and cruise for a few minutes. The engine is shut down, clutch in and the plugs pulled immediately. Any idling, decel or other running will change the results. Looking at plugs that have come out of an engine without this procedure will tell you the overall condition of the engine and general mixture tuning.

Other then your pending trip, why are you concerned about how it's running?
 
I think once the engine is responsive there is nothing to worry about.
Most bikes come from the factory lean, to pass emissions.

It'll be interested to tell us what mods were done to the bike
 
Full zx9 headers with a slip on and juice box pro. Disabled secondaries and k&n filter

Custom map for the identical setup. But the elevation of the other map is around 650 feet. So about 100-150 off of Toronto

Runs like butter though. And quick as ****

just don't want any unforeseen engine problems on a trip. Should have waited till after but I got excited and had to do the exhaust. Parts were sitting waiting for me lol

Thanks again for the input


Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
 
I don't think you should have a problem. That's my amateur opinion
 
You cannot really go by plug colour on a fuel-injected engine using today's oxygenated fuels. By the time the spark plug starts showing signs of colour, it will be waaaaayyyy too rich.

Unless your 4000 km trip will be done at or near top speed, don't worry about it. At part throttle, as long as there is not stumbling or hesitation or surging indicating that you are nearing lean misfire, there is no problem. A lot of emission controlled engines run at stoichiometric - which a performance tuner would consider to be "too lean" - up to something like 70% of max load on the engine ... and they don't break.
 
The plugs looks like they have not been in the engine very long, they are very clean. Just from the small amount of buildup on the plugs, It looks like the bike is running nominally, maybe ever so slightly on the leans side, but that is normal at idle and lower RPM loads on most bikes these days.

Leave the plugs in, and let us see how they look after 5000 kms, at your next oil change.

For your future photos, take the pictures of all 4 plugs in the same shot, so there is no lighting difference between shots, and keep them in order of how they came out of the engine for reference.
 
im going to do a plug chop, would that not reveal the truth?

I did rich it up 10%, and didnt like the result on my low end, so i leaned that out a bit and it rides better.

I guess ill put it back to how it was before and do a plug chop and see.

yea, brand new ish plugs...

thanks again for all the valued input, very much appreciated.
 
djbordie said:
im going to do a plug chop, would that not reveal the truth?

I did rich it up 10%, and didnt like the result on my low end, so i leaned that out a bit and it rides better.

I guess ill put it back to how it was before and do a plug chop and see.

yea, brand new ish plugs...

thanks again for all the valued input, very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

How did you come to this conclusion?
 
the juice box pro has + and - 10 percent adjusters on the unit itself.

3 dials, low mid high

safer than toying with maps for minimal changed...not as much of a spread through rpm, but pretty neat still
 
djbordie said:
the juice box pro has + and - 10 percent adjusters on the unit itself.

3 dials, low mid high

safer than toying with maps for minimal changed...not as much of a spread through rpm, but pretty neat still
Click to expand...

so all this tuning is done by seat of the pants? no 02 sensor?
 
djbordie said:
Disabled secondaries and k&n filter
Click to expand...
My bike needed WAY more fuel down low when I disabled my secondaries (on my 09 R6S), I think it worked out to 18% after the dyno tune. Strange that you didn't like the way it ran with the +10% down low. Your bike is too different to compare against mine I guess ;)

I LOVE the way it runs after I disabled the secondaries (actually "slide stops") :D

-Jamie M.
 
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