reading alky plugs

[jrmarquez.702]

i need help on reading my alky plugs, im pretty new to it. ive ran my bikes on alky twice and just want to make sure that im getting the max power out of the methanol. I am using castor 927 with b9es plugs. any pics would be great aswell..thanks

[blanco25]

I was told to run b9egv plugs.

[jrmarquez.702]

ill give them a try as well. i just want to see how far i can lean out the powerjets, and what to look for on the plugs.

[dajogejr]

I run only ES plugs. If you lean out, it'll burn the strap off most of the time and do no damage to the motor.

i've seen the EGV, EG, etc. lean out and break a motor instead of smoking the strap.

 

You need to make a few passes to get a heat reading on the plug. Start pig fat...and slowly lean down until it pull strong.

 

It's too cold to hit my garage to show you what a good alky burning plug should look like.

This is not my picture....but this is roughly how you want the plugs to look after a few passes.

You can see the plating burning off from the ground strap. 3 o clock and 9 o clock are optimal.

You also want the ground strap burnt right about to the bend. That's how you judge timing.

The plug on the right is a new plug for reference...btw.

 

[sheefreak]

Here is another look at one. The black you see on the plug should basically go from 3 to 9 o'clock like Dave mentioned. I am not exactly sure why this burnt the way it did but you can get the idea from the picture. You can actually lean it to where the whole ring turns black but there will be no power gain and will only be approaching the danger point. If you are real rich(and you should be to start), your plugs will look brand new and wet looking when you pull them out.

 

[VegasJeff]

thanks fella's.I too was wondering this same question,just waiting for james to post it.

[jrmarquez.702]

wow, that is some really great info.....thanks guys...thats going to make tuning much easyer.....

[jrmarquez.702]

thanks fella's.I too was wondering this same question,just waiting for james to post it.

hey jeff, i might need a helping hand out there. last time i forgot to turn my fuel on and almost melted the top end!!!!!!!!

[VegasJeff]

hey jeff, i might need a helping hand out there. last time i forgot to turn my fuel on and almost melted the top end!!!!!!!!

i got your back.

[Bansh-eman]

http://www.dragstuff.com/techarticles/reading-alcohol-spark-plugs.html

[Gman-7m]

Here goes my few cents, will it make a difference if the ground electrode is facing towards the intake or exhaust?..

[Bansh-eman]

it can make a differance if you dont do a long enough run on it and try to read it becasue the side more facing the exhaust will be htter and show the burnt metal sooner.

[dajogejr]

Here goes my few cents, will it make a difference if the ground electrode is facing towards the intake or exhaust?..

 

No.

Indexing plugs is old school on cars...

 

It doesn't make a difference on your motor.

[jlevasseur]

No.

Indexing plugs is old school on cars...

 

It doesn't make a difference on your motor.

any of you guys feeling the cylinder heat to check how lean the motor is running?

[dajogejr]

"feeling" the cylinder probably won't do much good...

You can infared gun the cylinders, just like an EGT gauge in the exhaust, you have to know the proper temp and tune of your bike to begin with.

You can't just say, well...the exhaust temp is 1400 degrees, I'm good.

 

Placement of the EGT, fuel type, etc. all have a place in the measurement, just like cylinder temps do.

 

Reading temps is fine, but you absolutely must figure out the baseline of where it should be at in proper tune for your particular setup, you can't just look at a single number and say it's good.

 

It would be like saying...ok, my bike has 175PSI cranking compression...that's good.

There's way more to it than that.