Bad plugs or too lean?

[Guest]

Just getting the bike ready for the Yosemite rally and needed a valve cover gasket. Pulled the tank and then the plugs. What happened? #2 and #4 plugs electrode almost disappeared into the ceramic. I've seen lean conditions where the electrode looked melted and pitted. This is perfectly flat and was still firing. (even though the gap was WAY off) The color on the plugs is perfect. Could I have gotten some bad plugs?

[Guest]

The first two pics show the good plugs and the second two the bad.
Weird!

[TheCafeKid]

Honestly the plugs dont look horrid at all. Maybe a touch on the ashy side, but bad enough to cause any damage at all. Prolly bad plugs, but check that maybe those two pipes hotter than the other?
Might need to richen up on two cylinders.

[Guest]

Look at the electrode on the second two pics.

[Nessism]

Wow! Pretty scary looking. Was the engine running hot? Side electrode looks pretty normal; not melted. Usually if the engine is running lean there are some symptoms. Maybe put in some new plugs and go do some plug chops?

[Guest]

The color on the plugs is perfect. Even the bad plugs. I didn't even know something was wrong. Instant start and plenty of power. Can't wait till good plugs are installed.
Bought them all together. Maybe bad? Never had a bad NGK before.

[almarconi]

How old are the plugs? Where they all replaced at the same time?? Since you are getting ready to take a trip, I'd replace all four of them with some fresh ones. If the problem returns, epecially on the same cylinders I would think that it's not the plugs and something else must be going on.

[Guest]

They might have a couple of thousand miles on them. All bought and installed at the same time and two are still good.

[tkent02]

That's not a B8ES, but can't read the whole thing.
Is it the right heat range?

Must have gotten too hot, very strange.

Got a good close up?

Chances of defective plugs seems slight, especially two of them in adjacent cylinders. One in a million.
It's something else.

My guess would be too lean at full throttle.
Just a guess though.

[Guest]

D8EA.
Been running these plugs for years.

[Guest]

That's not a B8ES, but can't read the whole thing.
Is it the right heat range?

Must have gotten too hot, very strange.

Got a good close up?

Chances of defective plugs seems slight, especially two of them in adjacent cylinders. One in a million.
It's something else.

My guess would be too lean at full throttle.
Just a guess though.

I noticed when it got hot here in Bako that it ran better when cold than fully warmed up so I threw some 137.5s in. I was running with 140s. I should just toss those back in to be safe.

[Guest]

1150s run a D9EA. Think I should run these with my mods?

[SqDancerLynn1]

Maybe check & verify ign timing, too lean

[Guest]

I put a light on it earlier and it was a tad retarded.

[lecroy]

I really can't tell much from your signature. What's the compression ratio of the engine? What sort of fuel are you using? What sort of ignition are you using. Where is the timing set? What sort of cranking pressure are you running?

I have wrote about this at least 5 times now on this site but will repeat it once more. I use the heat line. I could care less what the color of a plug looks like. Many reasons, search..

I can't tell anything from your pictures. Sure they melted, seen it, done it, don't want to do it again. Friends nitous solenoid (fuel side) failed about a month ago and we got to see some that looked worse than yours. I have done all sorts of damage in these conditions including melting pistons, fuseing the wrist pins into the rods and even pushing out a copper gasket last year like it was putty. That was a sad day....

Five simple rules.

1. I use D9EA set at 0.024" but I have that flame throwing ignition.
2. I use high grade fuels except for those long idle engine break-ins.
3. I use lots and lots of fuel. I keep the heat line to less than 1 1/2 threads. Sometimes under a thread. I would rather give up power than melt.
4. I never add more timing than the motor can handle. I would rather give up power than melt.
5. Maybe most important, I never crank up a motor all it once. I take small steps, checking the plugs, etc as I go. This is the cheapest way to adjust things...

Hope this gives you something to ponder anyway.

Good luck.