NGK spark plug

[silverhound]

The Champion plugs got here this morning and I put them in Nana Chou. Drove her about 60 miles and so far so good.

The bottom of the NGK plugs are white. Does anyone here know what this means, and what adjustment do I need to do to Nana Chou?

OCR, the plugs look fine to me. Tan to grayish-white is normal. If anything maybe a little lean but most bikes are tuned to the lean side now. Also could be a little whiter from fuel additives. I think though that a person with your experience already knew the answer to the question before you asked it.

 

[pismocycleguy]

The bottom of the NGK plugs are white. Does anyone here know what this means, and what adjustment do I need to do to Nana Chou?
View attachment 17129
View attachment 17130

If the ceramic around the center is tan, everything is fine. Not too rich or lean, not too hot or cool.
If the ceramic is white, it maybe running too lean or hot.
Maybe run an exhaust gas analyzer?

 

[Old Can Ride]

You are both correct. This bike was designed from the get go to run lean (better gas mileage). It is all controlled by the CDI unit now days from sensors. The days are gone when I could take a screw driver and adjust my mixture screw to the perfect light brown setting. Change spark plugs and it will adjust itself!

 

[showkey]

I can not resist.........................since the NC engine is a 1/2 fit motor we should just order Fit plugs:

1 12290-RB1-003 SPARK PLUG (IZFR6K13) (IRIDIUM) (NGK) 004 2012 FIT 20.18 14.17 Qty: Click For Adding To Shopping Cart

just joking but I suspect they are not far off the mark........6..... is the heat range.

NGK IZFR6K13 Iridium and Platinum Spark Plug | eBay

 

[Old Can Ride]

It is just the rods and the pistons are the same. Wish life was that easy.

 

[showkey]

It is just the rods and the pistons are the same. Wish life was that easy.

I would order the Fit plugs and try them before using the Champions.

Life can be easy.................


Note ......would only try them after measuring the critical parts of the plug.

 

[Ruggybuggy]

From the word of experience, I've been an Auto Tech for more than 30 years and have change thousands of plugs. I'm not a fan of Champions, they can never seem to get their heat range right. The only plug worse than Champion is the Bosch plugs. NGK are some of the best plugs money can buy.

OCR I understand your reason for using them. If they are performing well then keep using them but I would pull them out after a couple of weeks use and see how they're burning. If they look fine, they have the heat range right so run and forget them.

 

[670cc]

In case you ever wondered . . .

NGK stands for Nippon (Japan) Gaishi (insulator) Kaisha (company).*



*according to the wiki

 

[Fuzzy]

The NGK is special manufactured for Honda. What matters of the heat range of the plug spark! As you well know as a engineer, different electrode gauge, width, and length determine the heat range. Both are suppose to be the same heat range.

There is much more to plug design than just heat range.

The length of the threaded portion of the plug should be closely matched to the thickness of the head. If a plug extends too far into the combustion chamber, it may be struck by the piston, damaging the engine internally. Less dramatically, if the threads of the plug extend into the combustion chamber, the sharp edges of the threads act as point sources of heat which may cause pre-ignition; in addition, deposits which form between the exposed threads may make it difficult to remove the plugs, even damaging the threads on aluminium heads in the process of removal. The protrusion of the tip into the chamber also affects plug performance.

 

[ray]

This is the original NGK at 9000km. Looks fine to me. What do you think?

 

[L.B.S.]

This is the original NGK at 9000km. Looks fine to me. What do you think?

The armchair speculator in me thinks they look a bit dark and sooty at the exposed thread ends; the "everything else being equal and if no problems have ocurred" side of me thinks after only 9k in to a 51k change spec., I wouldn't think twice about just leaving them be for another 42+ thousand Kilometres lol.

 

[MZ5]

I think I'm in roughly the same place as L.B.S., ray. As compared with 'perfection,' I see a bit too much carbon build-up on the threads and just a little too little tan on the insulator at the firing tip. However, I'd feel confident that they're 'close enough' and would keep running them. The lack of perfection I perceive would not be addressed b y changing plugs anyway. It'd be a mixture, fuel additization, heat range, and lube combination I'd look to fine tune (if I felt like messing with it).

FWIW, I've put a couple tanks-full through my bike since switching to plain copper Champions (just to provide general aggravation for all my friends here on the forum ), and mpg is right on target. We'll see whether that changes over time.

 

[L.B.S.]

I think I'm in roughly the same place as L.B.S., ray. As compared with 'perfection,' I see a bit too much carbon build-up on the threads and just a little too little tan on the insulator at the firing tip. However, I'd feel confident that they're 'close enough' and would keep running them. The lack of perfection I perceive would not be addressed b y changing plugs anyway. It'd be a mixture, fuel additization, heat range, and lube combination I'd look to fine tune (if I felt like messing with it).

FWIW, I've put a couple tanks-full through my bike since switching to plain copper Champions (just to provide general aggravation for all my friends here on the forum ), and mpg is right on target. We'll see whether that changes over time.

I'm a pitch fork and torch guy regarding Champion plugs ( for as long as I can remember! ) with zero personal cause to back that up, and I hate that I am stuck thinking that way. So just for the other side of the coin, I'm perversely rooting for the Champions to do well and throw a stick in the spokes of the mob, hahahaha

Sorry, my fellow townsfolk mob lol

 

[ray]

Thanks @L.B.S. @MZ5 for the candid answers

I'm running the LV header. Expected it to run lean but seems otherwise. Maybe because the roads I take are always congested, hence lots of unburned fuel from constant acceleration and braking.

Sent from my ME371MG using Tapatalk

 

[pismocycleguy]

Short trips, no chance for the engine to reach full operating temperature, and a lot of idling will also cause a rich condition.
I had a friend that only rode about 4 blocks of city roads to work. After a few months he couldn't get his bike to even start due to excessive carbon deposits on the plugs. Need to get out on the highway and "blow the carbon out" occasionally.

 

[Old Can Ride]

This spark plug thing Honda has going really for some reason just got to me. I am sorry, but I will not get ripped off for $30 for a spark plug.

Even the auto parts stores can not get the IFR6G-11K plug. This plug is listed by NGK as a dealer order plug only. So no one but a Honda dealership can obtain this plug. Honda is NGK biggest customer, and they have a monopoly on this plug. If you are on the road, and this plug goes south on you, you just can not get another plug. Very few Honda dealerships keep this plug in stock because of the price, and the dealership has to buy a full case of these plugs.

I have a friend who gave me some big help here, and for obvious reasons I can not mention their name. The good news is you can get another NGK plug that will do the same job, and all is exact with heat range and length. This plug is an NGK and can be bought at any auto parts store for less than $2.50. All measurement and heat ranges are exact, and it is a NGK plug. The difference is the material used in the Spark Plug Diode, and Honda's monopoly. Honda states in the owners manual to change the spark plug at 32,000 miles with the Iridium diode spark plug. NGK states change to this other spark plug at 32,000 miles with the copper/nickel diode spark plug. Yes, I can purchase the BKR6E-11 NGK plug everywhere, even on the road at any parts house. NGK part number 2756. So, 2X30 = $60 /or/ 2X2.5 = $5. If nothing else write the number BKR6E-11 and NGK part number 2756 in your owners manual, you could need it someday when on the road. Guess what spark plug I now run in my bike..........

 

[Cyclerosis]

OCR, how did the Champions work out?

And thanks for the excellent information! I just ordered a set of 4 for $11.69

 

[Cyclerosis]

They fit a Goldwing 1800 according to one site I stumbled across.

 

[Old Can Ride]

The Champion plugs ran a little lean. Ran them for 1500 miles. Great gas mileage, but too white once I checked the plugs.

I also tried the Denso SK20PR-L11, but it ran way too lean. Only ran the Denso for 600 miles, as it was just too lean.

 

[MZ5]

Thanks, OCR!
The Champion RC8YC4 (stock# 345, as I recall) is an even more ubiquitous plug, and it's running nicely in my NCX. Denso's IK20 is the finest fine-wire center firing point available, and also crosses for this app. Densos are almost impossible for me to get locally, but they're readily available through the mail, unlike the HonGK plug.