#6 took a dump

[DFragn]

Lost #6 yesterday. It just stopped firing.

This a.m. I drained the bowl, it of course had fuel in it. And, I could smell fuel in the exhaust anyway.
But, I checked it for sheets & grins.

2nd step. Pulled the plug. Sha-zam...a flake of carbon prohibiting spark!  

All is good again.  


EDIT 24hrs. from original post:

This wasn't a plug failure at all.
To be so would mean I had been running the bike under poor conditions for some time. I wouldn't do that.
They're as clean/dirty as they should be and with about 10k on them.

It was instantaneous, it happened between shutting it down at home after a ride and starting it up a few days later.

This was a piece [flake] of carbon adhered sideways as if magnetic to the center electrode and the top electrode. It wasn't wedged in between the electrodes.

I imagine I'm passing a ton of carbon out the exhaust because I've been adding an oz. of Techron to every tank of fuel for a few years.
Why? Because after 10 or eleven years [85k] I developed an idle drop issue that could not be attributed to anything.
Techron is the only method to prevent my idle drop issue. Nothing else such as Seafoam, higher octane fuel & others prevents the idle drop issue when the engine is heat-soaked.

[98valk]

Lost #6 yesterday. It just stopped firing.

This a.m. I drained the bowl, it of course had fuel in it. And, I could smell fuel in the exhaust anyway.
But, I checked it for sheets & grins.

2nd step. Pulled the plug. Sha-zam...a flake of carbon prohibiting spark!  

All is good again.  

sounds like a bad plug or one going bad.
just had this happen on my DR200se. sitting at a light, just stalls. was able to get home by keeping the rpms above 4k. NGK plug only 900 miles on it and the bike, go figure.
firing the plug outside the cylinder had spark and then no spark.
Put a new autolite with reduce size center electrode in and fired right up. have since put over 200 miles on it and no problems.

[slider]

I had problems with ngk in my valk--supposed to be good plugs.Gone to champion and now no problem in 3000 miles.

[Hoser]

I used to carry a spare plug when I rode a T500 zooky many years ago, most always needed it if I put on a lot of distance.  electrode would whisker across and drop a cylinder.  I used the spare and then knocked off the whisker after the old plug cooled down, that way I always had a spare with me.  Not unusual on the old 2 strokes.  It was a great bike otherwise, never broke down, and ran very well for it's time, right with the 650 trumps and beezers.  Hoser  

[3W-lonerider]

so you went from NGK to champion. ROFLMAO..thats like going from driving a caddy to driving a vega..you would not believe how many machines i work on in a weeks time that either run poorly or won't run at all. remove the crap champion plugs and install a good set of ( name your brand ) they are all better than champion. i won't even run champion in my lawn mower..but to each his own.

we had a guy come to our shop one day with a plastic see threw box that he could pressurize to resemble a combustion chamber. he had quite a few brands of spark plugs installed in this box.. when he fired all the plugs up you could see them sparking as he increased the pressure in the box guess which sparkplug quit first..yep it was the champion.

[rodeo1]

as a former race driver i agree 100% autolite for race cars, nkg for my bikes.

[BonS]

I used to carry a spare plug when I rode a T500 zooky many years ago, most always needed it if I put on a lot of distance.  electrode would whisker across and drop a cylinder.  I used the spare and then knocked off the whisker after the old plug cooled down, that way I always had a spare with me.  Not unusual on the old 2 strokes.  It was a great bike otherwise, never broke down, and ran very well for it's time, right with the 650 trumps and beezers.  Hoser  

[hijack]
I too had a Titan 500. Lived in the big city and never had to worry about it being stolen as it wasn't desirable. It even ran with the Honda 750's very well. I had some quiet expansion chamber pipes on it. (The word "quiet" is almost never used in the same sentence with "expansion chambers".) Nice broad band of power, not peaky at all, made it an enjoyable ride.  
[/hijack]

[valkyriemc]

as a former race driver i agree 100% autolite for race cars, nkg for my bikes.

FWIW, I really think NGK is a good plug, champs I quit using back in the late '60's. But like most subjects on this board i.e., tires, batteries, petcocks, fuel filters, fuel additives, the best seat, valve stems, engine oil, moly/grease for the rear end, ad infinitum , a general consensus doesn't come easy...

[The Anvil]

If you've ever flown in a piston engine aircraft then you've trusted your life to Champion spark plugs.

I don't fly in single engine piston driven aircraft BTW 

[Fudd]

If you've ever flown in a piston engine aircraft then you've trusted your life to Champion spark plugs.

I don't fly in single engine piston driven aircraft BTW 

+1 on Champion aviation plugs.  But that don't mean the motorcycle plugs hold up as well as NGK's.

[DFragn]

EDIT 24hrs. from original post:

This wasn't a plug failure at all.
To be so would mean I had been running the bike under poor conditions for some time. I wouldn't do that.
They're as clean/dirty as they should be and with about 10k on them.

It was instantaneous, it happened between shutting it down at home after a ride and starting it up a few days later.

This was a piece [flake] of carbon adhered sideways as if magnetic to the center electrode and the top electrode. It wasn't wedged in between the electrodes.

I imagine I'm passing a ton of carbon out the exhaust because I've been adding an oz. of Techron to every tank of fuel for a few years.
Why? Because after 10 or eleven years [85k] I developed an idle drop issue that could not be attributed to anything.
Techron is the only method to prevent my idle drop issue. Nothing else such as Seafoam, higher octane fuel & others prevents the idle drop issue when the engine is heat-soaked.

[The Anvil]

If you've ever flown in a piston engine aircraft then you've trusted your life to Champion spark plugs.

I don't fly in single engine piston driven aircraft BTW 

+1 on Champion aviation plugs.  But that don't mean the motorcycle plugs hold up as well as NGK's.

Yeah I don't know too much about their plugs in bikes. I DO know that the bodies rust out quickly. I don't like that.

[The Anvil]

Something tells me that the Techron is not doing the job of removing carbon, at least not in that small concentration.

Ever tried pouring water down the carbs to crowbar carbon off of the valves? It's an old hot rodder's trick that went the way of the dinosaur. I'm just old enough to have seen it done and seen it work.

[DFragn]

Something tells me that the Techron is not doing the job of removing carbon, at least not in that small concentration.

Ever tried pouring water down the carbs to crowbar carbon off of the valves? It's an old hot rodder's trick that went the way of the dinosaur. I'm just old enough to have seen it done and seen it work.

Nah, not up to water-boarding the fat lady.  

Yeah, 1-2 oz. per tank is not much, but with every tank for years there must be some hidden benefit.

The idle [set @ 900] drop issue acts as if electrical and gets worse with brake lights & turns on at a stop. But, only when heat soaked and ambient air temps above 80*.
By accident I discovered the Techron effect at stabilizing it. I poured many chemicals in there [B12, Seafoam, octane boost & others], except kerosene. That may be a good idea.
The first untreated tank brings back the idle drop issue.

Guessing maybe the carbon flake was a fluke that didn't pass through the exhaust port. Bet my carbs are extra sparkly inside though. They were in good shape at 70k when I up'd the slows.