Does every one out there use plain stock plugs or do you use a better brand than the NGK DPR9EA-9 my weather conditions here are summer 20 degrees up to 40 degrees and winter 5 degrees up to 28 degrees

 

I've always used standard NGK's. I change them each winter when I do my major maintenance. That means between 20 and 25,000 miles. Even at that, they look fine. No appreciable rounding wear on the electrode and only minor sooting. I'll bet they'd go at least 40,000 miles before to be actual trouble but I'm in there anyway so do them. If I had a year where I rode 30,000+ miles I still wouldn't worry about the valve adjustment or plugs until the winter.

I know the recommended intervals are tighter than that but experience with several high mileage bikes through the years has gotten me to this comfort level. The first valve adjustment and to a lesser degree, the second, are the most critical. There may or may not be tight ones in that time frame but if they will do it, it's generally early in their life. After the first 10 to 20,000 miles the valve train settles down and is pretty stable for a long time to come. I still do them once each year but they're generally still good and none that are anywhere near a worrysome point. In fact, on my current bike, if I had never touched the valves after the 35,000 mile adjustment there would be no trouble and it's at 122,000 now. I still am never THAT comfortable with this to just ignore them indefinitely, but also don't panic at an extra 10K or so. Not after the critical first adjustment.

The spark plugs are another one of those things that can get some folks worried without cause so I'll mention it while I'm thinking about it. Chances are you're aware but maybe someone is reading this who isn't. If your bike was started cold and not run through a full heat cycle the last time it was run before to pull the plugs, expect them to be black sooty. This is normal for a cold engine. A full heat cycle cleans them right up. It's when an odd one shows up sooty and after a full heat cycle that it can be indicative of problems. I had a buddy who got all worried about his when he had started his in the garage to move it before to start a tune-up. They were all black and he was panicking. There was no trouble.

 

Thanks " DAD " you have been ever so helpful. The main use this bike is or was, was for just going to and from work, now with a little coaching I have my wife on the back every now and then ( Slowly more and more ) and a little bit down the track I wish to take her on a couple of hundred K ride so I want ot make sure the bikes runnign well etc

 

I use NGK DP9EA-9 plugs. These are non-resistor plugs. They give a hotter, but shorter-lasting spark. I also replaced the resistor in the sparkplug cap with a metal rod for a hotter spark.