Iridium spark plugs....

[fatboy]

Are they really worth the money ?
Standard plugs are around £4.50 each and Iridiums £11.50 each

[HisNibbs]

it's a lot of work to change them so I reckon they are worth it for the longer service life alone.

I thought the bike ran better when I first fitted mine though the placebo effect can be pretty strong.

[GregD-UK]

Hi all,

Took my bike to a guy who has a dyno, he use to race aprilia's. Suffice to say we chatted about various things whilst he was doing my map. He commented that the older engines, pre 2003, worked better with original plugs. The iridium one's are more suited to the gen 2 engines where the map and electrics are different.

So, I reverted back to normal plugs

Still use 97ron fuel by the way

[HisNibbs]

Comparison I made was fkd originals Vs new iridium.

[Aladinsaneuk]

I have too agree with Keith - I felt the iridiums were better but .... May well be psychsematic

Hanna's bike will be getting iridiums very soon

[D-Rider]

The theory with iridiums is that with their finer electrode you get a stronger spark (not all iridiums have as fine electrode as others BTW)

Therefore although you might get a bit of an improvement in running and economy, the real benefit will be in marginal situations - like when trying to cold start with a battery that is not at its best.

Few (if any) of us will have changed from a new set of standard plugs to a new set of iridiums (or Vice Versa) - so even subjective comparisons are probably flawed as clean, new, correctly gapped plugs are always likely to feel better than old, dirty plugs.

I use iridiums as I think they are a bit better in these more marginal situations.
If someone renewing plugs was a bit strapped for cash, then they might be better off going for standard plugs and putting the saving towards food on the table.

[stumblebum76]

Are they really worth the money ?
Standard plugs are around £4.50 each and Iridiums £11.50 each

I got mine from ebay at £27.98 for 4 ngk's, or were you looking at Denso ones?

[fatboy]

The price was from a site linked to here.I have not shopped around, you've proved bargains are out there !

[Cathcart]

I run iridium too, have put them in my bikes for years. Felt like they were better but then that's possibly the placebo effect. I still run them though.... Never had a plug related issue and that's reason enough for me.
Had denso and had NGK, didn't notice a difference.

[wayno]

I theory iridiums and standard plugs should have the same performance as long as they are in the same condition (i.e. one'es not completely knackered and one's brand new), as the spark will always travel the path of least resistance (i.e. from a single point on the plug).

The benefit of iridium comes in the service life, which is why I like to use them, it saves replacing them as often, I believe they last about 4 times longer

[D-Rider]

The benefit of iridium comes in the service life, which is why I like to use them, it saves replacing them as often, I believe they last about 4 times longer

Sorry, this is a partial myth.

There are Iridium plugs that have significantly longer service life but not all of them do.

With "ordinary" Iridium plugs, the greater electrode erosion occurs at the ground electrode.
To overcome this, for long life iridium plugs they fit platinum ground electrodes.
The IXU27s don't have platinum ground electrodes.

The benefit of these plugs comes from the 0.3mm centre electrode which, I'm told, offers greater charge density and a stronger spark

[fatboy]

ok, as ever loadsa interesting points, the falc is up for a major service and I must admit Im surprised at how the plug gap increases in a few months with standard plugs.
We all know how much fun it is to get to the plugs, so it's a chore I dont want to repeat frequently ....
So which Iridiums are the best ?

[Aladinsaneuk]

Well

Denso pay Andy's wages and therefore help the Grey Economy....

[fatboy]

LOL !