About a month ago, I posted a little note about the wonders of the Iridium spark plug. While the plug provided a noticable change in power, after using the plugs for trail riding and racing for the last month, I have found that the Iridium plug just does not have the same staying power of the Platinum BR8EVX. As a result, I have switched back to the BR8EVX plug, and traded out all of the new Iridium plugs in the race van for the BR8 plug.
The final straw was on a little 40 mile ride Saturday morning. The big 50 just would not run strong, and I was having trouble starting. Since I had a fresh filter, I knew this could not be the problem, so finally just pulled the Iridium plug and put in a used BR8EVX. The 50 barked to life, and once again started half way through the kick stroke. Upon analysis, the Iridium plug was a light tan color, and was not wet with fuel, nor did it appear fouled. Since this was the second Iridium in just a few weeks, and given my prior experience with the longevity of the BR8EVX, I have opted to switch back.
Because that I spoke so highly of the Iridium plug in our initial testing, I wanted to send an update to ensure no one was led down the wrong path. I think the retail on both plugs is around $10-$12, so I don't want to see folks waste money on something that may not work very well for them.
Rick