how do yo deal with fouled plugs?

[portland250r]

fouled plugs are the devil. i have dealt with many and i want to know how you guys deal with them, you toss em or do you have a way of bringing them back to life.

well before i found out my seal to the petcock was shredded gas would always flood out the 250r you had to run it and once you shut it off it would not start so i checked and now i got it under control fixed the valve.
sandblasting the plug will work great looks brand new and works like new never seen anything left on it not even a spec of sand i have tried the lighter trick and its useless and does not work for me. i dont have fouled plugs that much now and when the trike does die it just takes a good 3 minutes then fires up.

[79fordblake]

My ATC never really gives me problems with fouling the plugs but I have always had good luck with drying them out with a propane torch. When I am going to be going on a long ride I always bring a extra new plug just in case.

[200XMichigan]

Carry a spare, replace them when you need to. If I am in a pinch I will sand between the electrodes and clean it with some carb clean, but I'd rather not.

[portland250r]

i learned to carry spare plugs the hard way.

[NINJA]

Toss em. The majority of fouling is caused by all the additives in modern gas baking onto the insulator cone and allowing the high current to complete it's path that way, rather than jumping to the ground strap. If you sandblast them you make the insulator cone pitted on the outside and give it even greater chance of fouling again. The blowtorch/lighter trick only works if you are oil fouled, in that case, do some rejetting.

[NOS_350X]

What ninja said, Junk them, If your frequently having problems there is soemthing wrong, Fix the problem not the result.

[Thorpe]

Never had any luck trying to revive a fouled plug... For 3 bucks, its not worth my time... Replace.

[portland250r]

i have a bunch of plugs now so no need to mess with a fouled plug. i also got the R rejetted since then havent had any problems. it wheelies a lot more now which is a great sign.

[ceaserthethird]

Let's see some pictures of the Beast =)

[Dirtcrasher]

I just chuck them, my buddy use to have me sandblast them but when done, I could see little grains of sand in the plug and warned him that "This is NOT good".

He has an immaculate 96 KX250 and one he put a pipe on it, he started fouling plugs. He literally carries 6-8 plugs for every ride we go on.

I refuse to help him any longer because no matter WHAT I did for him and his wife (for free) that "See you next Tuesday" had something to beyatch about. At this point I'd have to explain WHY you don't sheetrock directly under stairs (I felt the need to strap it off for a pntry under the stairs) and why the feed and drain for their sink had to go where it had to go. All she did was question me so guess what - NO MORE WORKY FOR ME - Even paid..............

I've done so much free crap for people that don't appreciate it - I'm done with it.

Sorry for my rant; Just jet it right and get some new plugs :lol:

[dirtdemon]

paper towel and wire brush

[Dammit!]

I'm with NOS on this. Fix whatever is causing it to foul in the first place. My R hasn't fouled a plug in years.

[Twilight]

Lean that jet out a bit till ya get the carmel color and no more fouled plugs =)

My KTM, Pilot, lawnmower, and weedwacker have the same plugs in them since I got it all.

[beets442]

I mostly fouled NGK's, I went to Autolites and have a longer burn rate...

[WilliamJ]

We tried spray-on oven cleaner.......seemed to work. No good brushing them as it leaves deposits and sandblasting does the same. Some swear by platinum or iridium plugs - never tried them in trike engines but I have a feeling they may be even worse if they get fouled. More suited to modern lean burn computer managed engines perhaps?

[CRAZY70MAN]

scrap em'!!! I buy em by the dozen.Not worth the hassle to me for a few bucks.....I wanna ride not worry about a 3 dollar spark plug.

[Auto_Demon]

My ATC never really gives me problems with fouling the plugs but I have always had good luck with drying them out with a propane torch. When I am going to be going on a long ride I always bring a extra new plug just in case.

ya take a torch to a wet plug keep burning it until you cant hold it anymore then quickly put it in your trike and fire it up and its good, thatll save u from buying a new plug for no reason.

[1984 honda 200s]

when i first got my 200s kicking she fouled pluggs bad, i cleaned the carb out and put a bigger slow jet # 38 slow jet instead of stock #35. i also used to lightly clean them with sand paper or a bench grinder brush.

[portland250r]

Let's see some pictures of the Beast =)

ok let me get them off my phone. if not ill take some next time im out.

[portland250r]

114858114859114860

[portland250r]

theres the r the other trikes, ones in the shed my firend says are RETIRED. the 350x im trying to talk to him about getting running again, those ones has not seen the light of day in the last 10 years then that 200x behind the R is mine. these are old pictures too. the r was his old rider he bought a banshee then quit riding it.

[Twilight]

portland250r, where did you get that R from? Looks familiar.

[portland250r]

long story i know the guy who has it buying it from him. there are a lot of R's in oregon

[Twilight]

thats my old R that I sold... well the engine and exhaust are the same. looks like the swinger and wheels are too....

[portland250r]

this bike hasnt been sold for a long time. the old owner is in his 30's and has had it since he was 19. how long ago did you sell it cause if you did a hell of a lot of things has been done to it it has that paul turner pipe and god knows what he did to the engine.

[Twilight]

Odd, guess it wasnt my old bike then. But the side cases, pipe, silencer, seat, fenders, even the front fender and swinger looks just like my old bike.

[portland250r]

thats wierd. the paint jobs really nice its blue tiger mostly darb blue with black vaines hard to explain its been wrecked so many times he let this idiot use it to go to the dunes they wrecked and tried filing a lawsuit against him almost ran me into a shed when i first tried i slammed the throttle hard and it wheelied then luckly i missed the tin wall and got the front tire down for the turn. i have ran into the thorn bushes 3 times already from skidding it after a drag race but a little cuts dont do nothing.

[tri again]

fouled plugs are the devil. i have dealt with many and i want to know how you guys deal with them, you toss em or do you have a way of bringing them back to life.

well before i found out my seal to the petcock was shredded gas would always flood out the 250r you had to run it and once you shut it off it would not start so i checked and now i got it under control fixed the valve.
sandblasting the plug will work great looks brand new and works like new never seen anything left on it not even a spec of sand i have tried the lighter trick and its useless and does not work for me. i dont have fouled plugs that much now and when the trike does die it just takes a good 3 minutes then fires up.

(baking soda) aka SODA blasting or walnut shell type grit or anything used for reloading in a 12 dollar harbor freight plug sandblaster will help if you're just trying to get something running in the ballpark without ruining a handful of new plugs.
A quick spritz with electrical insulating spray and then a file or sandpaper just between the electrodes.

blasting sand also works altho I've used beach sand when stuck.

Make sure yu blow them off with compressed air to get rid of the grit.

Keep yer eyes open for plugs @ 99cents.

They'll do that sometimes to get you in the door at the dealer

We also have to realize there may be a time soon when plugs (and food) may not be avail at any price. ;-)