I guess this is lean?

 

I installed rush slip-ons, MrReed A/C mod, and X14IED about 500 miles ago. Bike has 6300 miles on it.

 

Looks like it has a stock tune that tends to go to the lean side. Doesn't look bad for an FI bike. But keep in mind, I saw the photos on my phone.

 

they look about perfect for plugs these days..with fuel injected bikes it is pretty much useless to look at the plugs.. but if you have a carb. and you do the test correctly you can get a good reading on what is going on with the mix...

 

??

On my computer screen, they look a tad on the white side... especially the left one! Unless it's the lighting when the pic was taken...

 

The one on the left was most likely the plug from the rear cylinder. They tend to run hotter. Reading the plugs is one of the best and true ways to see how your engine is running. It's undeniable physical evidence.

 

at one time, in the land before fuel injection you would be correct, but even then only when you did the "run test" correctly. With fuel injection and all the setting variables (being able to change the fuel/air ratios all through the power band, along with managing timing changes to cope with these different mix setting), looking at the spark plugs only tells you how the bike was running in a short time before you pulled them, so the bike may be running great with a perfect mix from say, 1000 to 3000 rpms under mid load and running very lean at the same rpms on heavy load, or any of another multitude of variables...Even in the days of carbs the plugs mostly (as far as fuel mix is concerned) only would tell you if you were running rich/ lean across the rpm band, unless of course you did the run test where you installed clean plugs in warm motor started the bike and did a constant run for a set distance and immediately shut the motor off, coasted to a stop and removed the plugs and looked at them...

 

So looking at the plugs doesn't tell me if my set up is good or not? I've always thought you could tell if your fuel was rich or lean by looking at them. I'm not expert so that's why I was asking.

 

Yes I agree, you need to know how to do the run and how and when to shut down. You also need to learn from experience how to read the plug and see where the color changes/transitions are. That will give you sufficient information to know where you are at, within the ranges. I recently went through that process while I was tuning my Ultra Limited and I didn't stop until I had the reading I was looking for. I used several maps and did the same run. Went for a long weekend ride last week and checked the plugs and they were right on. The performance greatly improved also.

It's old school but the method still works for me and you just need to factor in that with EFI systems you will have leaner spark plug readings. I will say that I learned how to read plugs from a very respectable tuner when my son raced and without the knowledge I gained from him, I would be a fish out of the water in the fine tuning department.

 

For your purposes, yes it does. Because once your plugs foul up (for example), no amount of varying setting will "unfoul" them. So if you see that, you know you're running too rich. And maybe too cold as well...