iridium plugs: if you havn't- try it.

jetboy · Post by **jetboy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:59 am

For those who might be thinking that iridium plugs might be a good way to go: I say, give it a shot!!

Those who know my bike may note that its a bit of a running project, and I recently bombed over the Bay bridge (about 11 miles) and did not realized that one of my choke cables had got hung up, so bam- by the time i hit the city i was backfiring and had pretty much destroyed my plug on that side.

So I got some new plugs at the local ducati place: your bog standard champions. after adjusting the choke cable i put them in and she fired up and i was away. But, i noticed that the plugs that had been in were iridium, and that the spark plug cables seemed to have been upgraded to match. I rode home, she seemed to be ok, but a little wimpy- probably pissed off at me for neglecting her.

So i ordered some denso iridium plugs and today i popped them in and wow! what a difference! acceleration and throttle smoothed way out and the pleasure was back! ! still deep throaty on the low end, but popped to a clean warm hum as soon as the throttle engaged.

Kurt · Post by **Kurt** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:19 am

agree -- have NGK Iridium in my 907 -- nice.

ducinthebay · Post by **ducinthebay** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:18 am

I have tried several regular plugs, and found the Champions to work the best in this motor, but I haven't tried the iridiums.
What plug number are you using. Heck, there's only two of them, how much could it possibly set me back?

Cheers,

jetboy · Post by **jetboy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:15 am

I tried denso

IX24B

got them for 10 bucks a piece off ebay, arrived in 3 days so.

http://www.denso.com.au/sparkplug/make/9/ducati

has all the denso plugs

not sure about the ngk version.

Post by **paso750** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:50 am

I`m with ducinthebay. I`ve also tried all from Denso, Bosch, NGK, NGK Iridium and Champions and must agree that with Champions the engine runs the best. Maybe not so responsive as with NGK Iridiums but the Champions seem undestroyable and always work. The kind of spark plugs I`ve never tried are the ones without ground electrode. Anyone did ?

Kurt · Post by **Kurt** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:03 pm

for NGK for my 907, I started with the plug finder
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/part_finde ... p?mode=nml
which led to
NGK DCPR8EIX
available at various eBay stores

I figured, if I spend (at least) $10/qt for oil that I will throw away a few times a year, why not $10 for a plug that will probably last a year? But that's just me ...

persempre907 · Post by **persempre907** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:42 pm

I can't well remember where, but somewhere I read that the iridium plugs are not so good for these engines.
What would be the improvements with the iridium spark plugs?
Ciao

jetboy · Post by **jetboy** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:16 pm

from what i've read the main advantage lies in that they can take a .9mm gap vs the stock .6mm gap.

1. The electrode is much smaller, which will arc at a lower voltage - which gives you a weaker spark and less chance to fire: solution, gap it wider so you need a corresponding higher voltage to arc, with the added benefit of a larger arc-- more gas particles igniting. Some problems people may have experienced coudl come from gaping the iridium plugs too close.
2. get some decent plug wires to match: as you gap wider you do draw more voltage down the cables, if there are any deficiencies in them, you may arc inside the cable causing misfires

I talked to the guy at Munroes (local ducati dealer/shop) and he had mixed results with the plugs depending upon the bike: In his older 70s bike the upgrade was incredible -better in every way he said, - where the same results were not gained in his later 2000 model: the bike ran basically the same but fouled faster so he went back to standard.

higgy · Post by **higgy** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:43 pm

Champion first offered the iridium plug in 1960.
"Champion Iridium Spark Plugs
Iridium is a precious metal that is 6 times harder and 8 times stronger than platinum. Iridium has a 1,200 F higher melting point than platinum and is a better conductor of electricity.
Champion Iridium plugs feature a superior 0.7mm iridium fine wire center electrode, platinum v-trimmed ground electrode, and exclusive Heat-Active alloy. These are the best performance plugs on the market for traditional automotive use and many racing applications.
Champion introduces the new Champion Iridium plug, one of the finest Iridium plugs on the market. Until now, spark plug manufacturers have favored platinum for their long life and for performance spark plugs due to its high melting point. Champion Sparkplugs had already made an iridium industrial application spark plug, but it sells for over a hundred dollars per plug. Now the technology is available to effectively use iridium in a spark plug for automotive applications. The strength, hardness and high melting point of iridium make it very well suited for a fine wire plug. These are the best performance plugs on the market for traditional automotive use and many racing applications.
Although Champion has manufactured iridium spark plugs for the industrial and aviation since the 1960's, advances in late model automotive engine designs have necessitated their experience be applied to the automotive field. Champion was up to the challenge. "

Now just the thought of putting champion plugs in anything I own makes my skin creep,I must admit that it has been my experience that the plug that will work best in any engine under everyday use is the plug that came in it to begin with. The exceptions to this rule have been few and far between.
JM2Cs

ducinthebay · Post by **ducinthebay** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:52 am

Higgy,
I can fully understand your resistance to putting Champion plugs in your Italian bike. I always associated Champion with badly built American cars, like the Pinto or the some of the obnoxious overweight V-8 monsters. Spark plug companies pick their own heat ranges, so they may have just gotten lucky and found the right combination for our engine. Maybe the Ducati engineer copied an American engine when he designed the top end. Who knows why it works, but it does.

One things I like about the Champion plugs is that my local autoparts store sells them for $1.89. I'll try the iridiums for science though.

Cheers,

higgy · Post by **higgy** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:37 am

Yeah I might have to give them a shot as well just to see. I recently bought a set of NGK at autozone for 2 bucks each,cheaper than ebay.

Kurt · Post by **Kurt** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:04 pm

I'm trying these for the nostalgia:

higgy · Post by **higgy** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:34 pm

No fear that parts will start falling off? Brave soul

Kurt · Post by **Kurt** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:56 pm

higgy wrote:No fear that parts will start falling off? Brave soul

Higgy, I'm happy to report that no bits have fallen off my Bitsa in the 1000 miles put on since April.

It must be the Rizoma bars and Carello headlamp!

nnnnnnorman · Post by **nnnnnnorman** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 8:39 pm

that bitsa looks like a lovely ride kurt!

iridium plugs: if you havn't- try it.

iridium plugs: if you havn't- try it.

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Re: iridium plugs: if you haven't, try them.

Re: iridium plugs: if you havn't- try it.

Re: iridium plugs: if you havn't- try it.

Re: iridium plugs: if you havn't- try it.