cutting the elctrode to get beter mpg?

[leedutcher]

for about 3 years now i have run plugs that i have cut the electrode in half like this.. i figured sence this is a small bike that get decent mpg already y not get more!! gas is pricey and everyone could save as much as they can. cutting back the grounding electrode on spark plugs to improve performance, some kind of old school racing trick. Sounded cheap and easy enough, I was interested to try it out.

Using my Black & Decker dremel- type tool with a cut- off wheel, I clamped a plug bottom up in a vise. Then putting on my 5- power magnifier, I successfully cut the electrode back flush to the center electrode

I set the gap with the wire gauge to 30mm between the electrodes, which is really at the edge of the center electrode. Repeat three more times, hit the threads with a little copper based anti thread seize, and that was it.
Rode away the next morning, and felt as if the bike was more responsive, but I couldn't swear to that. But I was real happy it was running like a Rolex watch.
1400 miles later, I do the math concerning gas mileage. Now, I always for years get 34mpg on my xs11. I was noticing during that 1400 mile run- up, when I stopped for gas every 100 miles or so, it took less to top off than I was used to or expecting. Well, 127 miles, 3.4 gallons to top off, that works out for me to be 37.5 mpg on my 11. I'll take it!
I've made no other changes in weight, speed, drag, that I'm aware of, other than tires.

 

[drewpy]

interesting, that's assumes the igntion system is up to scratch.

I presume it gives a longer flame spread due to the extended spark, hence more power.

I wonder why the spark manufacturers don't do it?

 

[leedutcher]

yep bigger spark= better combustion= slightly more power. plus if ngk knew the plug would cost double and the manufactures probibly wouldnt make much money know ppl could just to it to there basic plug. like i said this what i did for my xs1100 but im rebuilding my harness on the 400 will post in a differnt thred on what i found...lol

 

[OliverB]

Lots of different electrode mods offered by plug manufacturers over the years. One caution - if the spark is not hot enough, you can have high speed spark failure issues. Modern ignitions produce way more current than older systems and can tolerate such mods better. Any ignition system producing below 50K volts I personally would be careful with the mods.

 

[lhaolpa]

for about 3 years now i have run plugs that i have cut the electrode in half like this.. i figured sence this is a small bike that get decent mpg already y not get more!! gas is pricey and everyone could save as much as they can. cutting back the grounding electrode on spark plugs to improve performance, some kind of old school racing trick. Sounded cheap and easy enough, I was interested to try it out.

Using my Black & Decker dremel- type tool with a cut- off wheel, I clamped a plug bottom up in a vise. Then putting on my 5- power magnifier, I successfully cut the electrode back flush to the center electrode

I set the gap with the wire gauge to 30mm between the electrodes, which is really at the edge of the center electrode. Repeat three more times, hit the threads with a little copper based anti thread seize, and that was it.
Rode away the next morning, and felt as if the bike was more responsive, but I couldn't swear to that. But I was real happy it was running like a Rolex watch.
1400 miles later, I do the math concerning gas mileage. Now, I always for years get 34mpg on my xs11. I was noticing during that 1400 mile run- up, when I stopped for gas every 100 miles or so, it took less to top off than I was used to or expecting. Well, 127 miles, 3.4 gallons to top off, that works out for me to be 37.5 mpg on my 11. I'll take it!
I've made no other changes in weight, speed, drag, that I'm aware of, other than tires.

30mm is about 1-3/16",I think you meant to say 0.030,thirty thousandths. That would expose the spark more directly to the mix,and be kinda self-cleaning. lha

 

[leedutcher]

u know what i ment....

 

[lhaolpa]

u know what i ment....

Yeah...but I could just see some ol' boy tugging on the electrode"I don't know why I can't get the right gap"HaHa!!!I have heard of that trick,but never tried it,don't see why it wouldn't work.The flat bottom electrode plugs work,I used them in my H1 Kawa,back in the day. lha

 

[isigt]

When I was a kid I used splitfire plugs on my dirtbike.
Would work in a similiar way, right?

I saw they were discontinued in the states now. Don't know why.

 

[lhaolpa]

When I was a kid I used splitfire plugs on my dirtbike.
Would work in a similiar way, right?

I saw they were discontinued in the states now. Don't know why.

Still sell the E plugs,which are the same thing. I don't remember these splitfire plugs when I was a kid,but they were all made in the USA.So was almost everything else. lha

 

[HoughMade]

You have no idea the self restraint I am exercising when it come to a cheap mod=more horsepower and better MPG thread....I will go no further, except to say that there is a legal reason Splitfires are not popular anymore (still available). It has something to do with their advertising claims and the Federal Trade Commission.

 

[OliverB]

I have a magnet you put around the gas line. It will double your gas mileage and make your engine last forever!!

 

[lhaolpa]

You have no idea the self restraint I am exercising when it come to a cheap mod=more horsepower and better MPG thread....I will go no further, except to say that there is a legal reason Splitfires are not popular anymore (still available). It has something to do with their advertising claims and the Federal Trade Commission.

I only know that my garden tiller would barely run,and I put an e-plug in it,and it ran a lot better,and still does. lha