thanks for all the responses. i have only had the bike since the first of the month and i should mention that it has 24,000 miles on it and the inside of the pipes are real black with just a tiny bit of the chrome turning colors or blue as i have always called it. i have tried several different settings on the champion plugs between .35 and .40 with just a very slight difference in the way it ran with each setting. The air filter is a K & N washable and it wasn't very dirty with very little oil on it. i would like to change the plugs and get a recharge kit for the air filter this payday. can anybody recommend a good set of plugs as well as the gap? thanks

 

Somewhere between .038 and .043 for your gap. Champion RN12YC is what I run on my 98 FXDL.