lewis Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 ive got to put some new tyres on the 4rt,i ride all sorts of terrain ,any one tried some different tyres ,thoughts would be helpful .also my spark plugs seem to be really black and sooty ,what do you reckon ,its my first 4 stroke so dont really know.thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz thumper Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Hi Lewis, Plugs are usually black around the outer body but should be a medium brown on the center electrode. If you are running the correct plug, check air cleaner is clean, been reported that using the heavy sticky enduro or motocross filter oils can promote a rich mixture due to the small size of the aircleaner. Recommend you use engine oil as per the book. I presume that you are not running any fuel additives, just premium unleaded? I change my plugs every six meetings or so, but my mate has only changed twice all season without any hassles. Our plugs are consistently brown on the center electrode. As for tyres have not tried anything other than standard Mich,s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty-python Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 In order of personal preference 1 Michelin 2 IRC 3 Dunlop. To be truthfull, i have had dunlops on since May (SSDT cheapies, courtesy of boofont), and at my level haven't noticed much difference to the michies. My plug is also slightly sooty, possibly due to over oiling the airfilter.The plug is still the original. The manual says to use engine oil, but the filter is so exposed, and seems to atract cack i'll stick with filter oil and just use it more sparingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g4321 Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 My plug is also slightly sooty, possibly due to over oiling the airfilter.The plug is still the original. The manual says to use engine oil, but the filter is so exposed, and seems to atract cack i'll stick with filter oil and just use it more sparingly. Unless you have done a proper plug chop I would expect a plug to come out of a 4 stroke engine slightly sooty, especially if it has been running at low revs for a short period of time before you remove the plug. If you have turned the tickover down from the Honda set rpm like several people on this message board seem to have done it may be the spark is slightly weeker at tickover than Honda planned for the engine - this may also lead to a sooty plug. As for your thoughts on filter over oiling wouldn't the high tech fuel injection system on the Honda compensate for this - unless you really choke the filter with oil? I change my plugs every six meetings or so, but my mate has only changed twice all season without any hassles. I have a couple of old TLR Hondas - I doubt if I look at the plug more than once or twice a year, I dont think I have had to re-gap it yet but admit to replacing the plug every year or so. Think of the plugs in your road bike or car - what mileage do they do without attention, its not like a 2 stroke where the plug has to suffer horrible smelly 2 stroke oil in excess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masso Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I remember the first time I took my air cleaner out..jeez, it was full of some greasy goop!...I don't know how the thing ran! so, I quickly cleaned it out, the thing came to life!..still not happy with that ultra dense foam, I've put my old 315 air cleaner in and the thing runs great! far more responsive and revs out better! the better breathing foam also increases the idle..which I have left that way this helps with starting and probably does give me a stronger spark........masso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz thumper Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 (edited) If you have turned the tickover down from the Honda set rpm like several people on this message board seem to have done it may be the spark is slightly weeker at tickover than Honda planned for the engine - this may also lead to a sooty plug. As for your thoughts on filter over oiling wouldn't the high tech fuel injection system on the Honda compensate for this - unless you really choke the filter with oil? I have a couple of old TLR Hondas - I doubt if I look at the plug more than once or twice a year, I dont think I have had to re-gap it yet but admit to replacing the plug every year or so. I have my bike set at 1130rpm idle and plug is as stated a nice dark brown on the center insulator and electrode, even after a lot of slow work. I also have a 250 TLR and plug life is exceptional, I have found the minature plug in the 4RT not so long life. All the initial warnings about not enough power to run the engine at low revs do not seem to be based on reality, I have run mine ultra slow all season, it doesn't stall, spit or have starting problems. As to why the system doesn't compensate for a plugged air cleaner, I am not sure but it doesn't. Still the most fun bike I have had and new Repsol arrived today !! Going to start unpacking. Why the system doesn't compensate for Edited December 22, 2005 by oz thumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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