Iridium spark plugs - good buy!

[Beeza]

A set of NGK iridium plugs (BR8EIX) has absolutely transformed my infuriatingly hard-to-start Laverda into something which simply leaps into life at the slightest hint of starter. No missing or hesitation at part-throttle either --- now I can ride it through stop-start city traffic without worrying that it might stall. Well worth the extra money, whereas other quite pricey things like SplitFire brand plugs and platinum ones have been disappointingly ordinary. :yes:

[vifferman]

Good stuff!
I fitted them to my VTR1000 and more recently to the VFR, but they made no noticeable difference. The only reason I fiitted them to the VFR is they cost less at Repco than the ordinary ones did at Cycletreads.

[Woodman]

Yep I always run Iridiums, don't really make much difference to the klr, but they last ages.

A note on splitfire plugs.

They say that the spark goes two ways when they fire, but that is actually a physical (physics?) impossibility as electricity will always go the easiest route therefore there will only ever be one spark not two.

[I'll C U Jimmy]

I concur :-) I have them in my XS650. Starts first kick every time.

[bsasuper]

Ebay is your friend for these plugs, half the cost.

[{.bLanK}G_o_D]

electricity will always go the easiest route

Not entirely correct but close.
Electricity flows very much like water.
The "majority", not all, of "the electricity" (electrons flowing through a conductor) will follow the path of least resistance.

[firefighter]

Ebay is your friend for these plugs, half the cost.

Yep. $80 for iridiums, to your door off ebay

[slofox]

They say that the spark goes two ways when they fire, but that is actually a physical (physics?) impossibility as electricity will always go the easiest route therefore there will only ever be one spark not two.

Errrrmmmmmm...so how do you explain THIS then?

[Owl]

Yep. $80 for iridiums, to your door off ebay

Hell, I paid $11.50+gst each, but then I'm good at finding bargains eh!:laugh:

[firefighter]

Hell, I paid $11.50+gst each, but then I'm good at finding bargains eh!:laugh:

Whaaaa??? Where?! You have to share iv'e never found any for cheaper, I get mine from the UK. (is that kiwi dollars, shipped to your door?)

[Owl]

Whaaaa??? Where?! You have to share iv'e never found any for cheaper, I get mine from the UK. (is that kiwi dollars, shipped to your door?)

It's a secret (friend of friend type deal), but I should get an updated price, as that was a couple of years ago now. I did query the price at the time, but apparently there was no mistake.

[dipshit]

I just got mine for $17.34 each as a genuine Suzuki part from the local dealer. (as iridiums are standard on the K8 600/750)

They would have been about $35 each as an off the shelf NGK. ( CR9EIA-9 )

[Woodman]

Errrrmmmmmm...so how do you explain THIS then?

I can't, You may have a point. I will look into it.

[Woodman]

Not entirely correct but close.
Electricity flows very much like water.
The "majority", not all, of "the electricity" (electrons flowing through a conductor) will follow the path of least resistance.

So can a spark jump to 2 places at once like a splitfire plug claims to do? I am more than happy to be proven wrong btw.

[{.bLanK}G_o_D]

So can a spark jump to 2 places at once like a splitfire plug claims to do? I am more than happy to be proven wrong btw.

I don't know if the splitfire plugs spark in two points or not, I have never heard that. I heard the split in the electrode makes a wider spark. Could well be a bit of both our theories.

But to answer your question directly, yes of course a spark can jump to more than one point. slofox posted the perfect example.
A lightning bolt is spark that jumps all over the place. It doesn't always discharge to earth, more often it is easier to discharge from cloud to cloud.

[Coldrider]

Lightning is not that well understood, but stand well out of the way anyway.

[R-Soul]

Lightning is just electricity flowing in a circuit that is composed of conductive paths through air. Air is not very conductive, which is why you need a hell of a lot of voltage to get it through air in the first place.

Just like current splits up and goes through various paths in a parallel circuit, so does lightning. As I understand it, as more current goes through a path, it increases the resistance (actually impedance) in that particular path. eventually the resistance of that path is higher than the resitance along an laternative path, so some goes that way.

So IMO I reckon that plugs can be designed with similar resitsive paths, so that the spark splits into two. I dont see why not?