? Gap for NGK iridium ix spark plug (2006)

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Just posting what the manufacturer recommends, clarifying "what I've heard".

Check em, don't check em, its your bike!

BTW, do we put the recommended PSI in the tires Yamaha recommends OR what the tire manufacturer has on the sidewall ???

Pass the popcorn please!

 

[Fred W]

Please show anywhere in a Yamaha manual or document that suggests using iridium plugs in any FJR from it's conception to 2012.

CR8E plugs can be bought for any 1st or 2nd Gen for $3.50 ea. all over, and will work fine for the ~25k miles between valve checks, (where you need to take them out anyway). How much longer would you want to leave the plugs in there?

note: 3rd Gens (2013 on) all use a special, standard (non-iridium) plug CPR8EA-9 for the new Coil Over Plug ignition, for which there is NO NGK iridium equivalent. Some retailers will try to sell you the old CR8EIX plugs, but that is not the correct plug. YMMV

 

[HelzBelz]

I just changed my plugs in my 09 for the first time in 34k miles.. I used iridiums that I bought a little over a year ago on amazon for a very good price. I swear my bike revs faster now. Pretty sure the only way to notice new plugs is to go 34k on a set before changing them.

 

[mcatrophy]

If you notice the difference with new plugs then you should have changed them earlier.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I changed out the oem plugs out at about 12,000 miles with iridiums on my FZ.

They had a nice color to them, no issues and replaced with iridiums.

I really didn't feel any change between the two (even with 12K on the old ones), but the engine always ran great.

 

[Fred W]

I just changed my plugs in my 09 for the first time in 34k miles.. I used iridiums that I bought a little over a year ago on amazon for a very good price. I swear my bike revs faster now. Pretty sure the only way to notice new plugs is to go 34k on a set before changing them.

Assuming that you never "rotated" the plugs, yours would be a good data point for how iridium plugs work in a 1st or 2nd Gen ignition after extended mileage. Any way we could get a close-up look at the electrode condition of those plugs? I would be interested to see if there is a difference after 34k miles between the two that fire from the center vs the two that fire from the side.

I know what a set of regular (non-iridiums) looks like after half of that mileage. They still looked fine.

 

[ionbeam]

... Any way we could get a close-up look at the electrode condition...

When looking at plugs by eye they will look fine, looking at plugs under magnification like a microscope it is easy to see that the sharp edges that promote a strong spark are quite eroded and rounded. The spark will automatically 'walk around' the center and side electrode following the sharpest edges and closest gap.

 

[Fred W]

I have seen the erosion of spark plug electrodes with a naked eye, albeit after much higher mileage than we are talking about here.

I'd especially be interested in how the softer material of the two side electrodes fared after 34k miles or ripping electrons off of them.

I suspect that the hard center (iridium) electrodes held up fine for that long.