Just pulled the plugs on my '06 SB tonight because I was curious what they were looking like at almost 10k miles.... the manual's B&W photos of the four different plug conditions suck, but from what I can tell from READING on the four different conditions, the color is telling me the engine is perhaps running too lean and on the hot side. There isn't any erosion on the electrodes and the insulators aren't cracked, plus the bike runs like a raped-ape and can snap my head back easily when I punch it.

Any other input on this? Am I correct in my "diagnosis"? What are the best options to correct this... i.e. buy a programmable SERT, PC, etc., or should I call this "EPA good" being an EFI TC-88 engine?

Thanks!


The hex-flats and threads half-way up are NOT blackened like you see in the photo... that's just the lighting effect in the room with the camera flash, but the electrode end and threads half-way down is an acurate image.

 

Got this from here http://www.theultralightplace.com/sparkplugs.htm From whay i can tell from your pic your plug looks fine

A tan colored plug means that the engine is running normal and the air/fuel mixture is correct. This is the correct color a spark plug should be and it tells you everything is fine with the engine. You would install a new properly gapped plug. When installing a new plug, replace the old one with the same heat range. This plug shows normal wear in the center electrode. A new plug would have square edges that helps the plug fire better.

 

Excellent, then it looks like all the "inside doin's" are perking along just fine!

Thanks!

 

http://www.dansmc.com/Spark_Plugs/Sp...s_catalog.html

 

Thanks for that link, I added that to my favorites for future reference... looks like my plugs are in "The Best" to "Best" range. At least my scoot is doing better than my Suburban ATM... needs new F/R U-joint and a brake job.


Thanks again!

 

Your photo is too out of focus to tell much of anything except color. But it appears to be running a little bit rich.

 

Looks good to me....I'd change them though....JMO!!
The center electrode looks rounded to me....
http://www.theultralightplace.com/sparkplugs.htm

 

they look fine

 

A couple of people posted links to an ultralight page. The engines in ultralights are 2 stroke engines. Plugs will look different between a 2 stroke and 4 stroke engine. The best color you can have on a plug is a tanish cardboard color.

 

I was going to respond to the OP, but I can't stop staring at ghostrider69's avatar