Spark Plug coloration

so, can anyone tell me what the color of a spark plug should be. i'm thinking i've got the wrong jets in one carb. but reading some articles. they say the coloration should be a sandy chocolate brown.

i've got one brown plug and 3 black plugs. so now i'm trying to decide if i got 3 carbs running rich OR 1 carb running lean.

i can't make out the main jet number on the one brown plug but the 3 black plugs have stock #110's. float height is 14mm EXACTLY on all 4. i had started with 16mm. but i've got the same problem at either height.

basically 3 carbs are running different then 1 carb.

 

The brown plug is running right, the other 3 are rich or oily -- you didn't specify what type of black.

How about the needle position? Do you have the stock needles, or adjustable ones?

 

needle's look to be stock. unadjustable. but i haven't taken them apart yet. gots to figure out how and get the tool.

comparing the sliders side by side though. standing upside down. they appear to be all the same length on the needles.

black is typical black. running rich. not sooty though. or oily. just more gas then the brown one. i figured that was normal and the brown plug was lean.

i've checked the compression and they all mesure 140 lbs. EXACTLY.

main jets look to be stock 110. the jets on top look to be the same number on both jets in all 4 carbs. can't tell about the smaller jets on the bottom yet. numbers are kinda hard to read. have to wait for daylight for a better picture.

i've had these damn things apart 4 times now. so far i've been unable to find ANYTHING that might be different. or any reason 3 run richer then 1.

all 8 floats all measure 14mm right to the line. that might explain the running rich but that don't explain the 1 plug being brown while the other 3 are black.

it's causing me to have a poor running condition under 3500 rpm. and over 6000 rpm. it's a holding back condition. with a somewhat of a missing condition mixed in. bike runs like a champ as long as the rpm is in the sweet range.

i can cruise easily at 55mph with little throttle. but the speed limit around here is 65. and 75 out of the city limits. so this thing struggles at that speed. and gas mileage is TERRIBLE.

if this thing had brass floats, i would say that 3 are too heavy. and not holding proper adjustment. but this thing has those foam type floats. and i've yet to see them go bad

 

I had a similar problem with one cylinder running way too rich. It ended up being the little fork that pulls up the enrichment plunger was keeping the plunger slightly open so I was getting enrichment gas on that cylinder with the choke off. I made the adjustment to the little fork and fixed problem.

 

i'm trying to fix an over all running condition. the sweet spot is between 4 - 6k rpm. anything out of that range runs like crap.

 

Snowy, it was just a suggestion about a problem that will cause black plugs.

Along the same lines, make sure that the choke cable outer jacket is seated in it's socket at the hand control. if you close the choke cable too fast, it sometimes pushes the end of the cable jacket out to where it's resting on the face of the socket, not in the socket. This will pull up on the choke inner cable and raise your plungers resulting in black plugs.

 

The incorrect AIR Jet or Fouled AIR Ports on the Emulsion Tubes will make the Plugs Black.

The Main FUEL Jet's supply doesn't get broken-up and atomized leaving the Tube. Gas, in an almost liquid state, gets sucked into the Cylinder and there NO way it burns right.

This also opens the door to Improper AIR Jet Placement.
There's a misprint in Haynes that screws-up somebody every now and again.

The AIR Jets are under the Rubber Diaphragm.
You may or may not have a Shelf to remove.
The AIR Jets are different from FUEL Jets.
The LARGE Jet [O] is PILOT Air Jet.
The SMALL Jet [o] is MAIN Air Jet.

 

i don';t have a haynes manual so i can't tell if i've got incorrect jets. other then the mains in the float bowls are all 110. (stock). the rest i have no idea about.

today i rode her about 60 miles. sometimes, it actually did fairly decent on the low rpms.

i'm starting to wonder if it might be a choke problem. not seating all the way for whatever reason. i haven't found any plugged jets or ANY plugged orficies whatsoever. compressed air and carb cleaner goes through every orifice on every carb. don't nmatter how i blow or squirt. or to which end. something comes out another end.

 

Did you remove the Main FUEL Jet and Washer and Push-out the Brass Emulsion Tubes.

They are roughly Hour-glass shaped with as many as 16 ~ 25 Air Ports drilled through it.
The Tube is what the Needle Jet opens as the Diaphragm Piston rises.
Sometimes you have to probe the Metering Ports to clear them of dried-up fuel.


Failure to Clean these Tubes is the Number-1 Issue with Bikes having "Power Band" Issues.
Probe the Metering Holes and L@@K through them for light.
Scrub the Center out with Pipe Cleaners.

 

no, rickomatic. i didn't try that. i will have to try that out next. never even looked at those or even thought about the holes in there.

i'm also curious as to the choke bar. cturek mentioned a bent fork holding his choke opened a little. i can't find any diagrams on that arm. are the forks supposed to be curved or straight? cuz all mine are curved.

if i have to tear apart the carbs AGAIN. i would like to have ALL the information i can find. as i want to make this the LAST TIME i have to tear these things apart.

i'm getting tired of fixing and NOT riding. LOL.

 

The "Fingers" on the Choke Pulls are supposed to be curved.
Therein is the problem.
PO's with Bikes that don't start, ... jam the Choke Lelver over with such force that it BENDS the TOP Section of the Enrichment valve over ... making the "Tee-Top" bent-over.

Bent-over Enrichment "Tee-Tops" are vulnerable to remaining stuck open.

 

took her out for another ride to dinner. she's starting to get some smoother accelleration around 2500 now. idle was getting higher also. probably won't last long though knowing my luck. LOL. would be nice if it worked itself out though.

sometime during the week i'll pull the emulsion tubes out and check out the chokes also. when i get some time after work.

post more when i find out more details.