sparkplug reading help
 

weve got the bike running really strong mid range. we pulled alot of fuel out of her and shes running great. makes more power than shes ever made, seems to be fairly smooth as well and rather clean. but after we dropped the clip on the needle after the last time i noticed she was a little poppy up top, when i close the throttle it pops more than usual and at times when i get back on the throttle it was hesitating for a second and then going. now that was the same night we dropped the clip. its in the 5th position now. but tonite it wasnt too bad, i beat her pretty hard on the way home from the gym, about 25 minutes of riding and it wasnt easy. see about 130 mph at one point, lots of full throttle middle of the sticks redline shifting, and she seemed to run relatively strong. but she sounds alot less throaty now and has more of a raspy sound. so i beat up on her to check the plug to see how shes doing up top. im not an expert for plugs and it may not be the best example but its as close to what it looked like in my hand as i could get. to me it looks like it may be boardering a hair on the lean side, its a tan color which i know is usually a good thing but im not sure sure if its maybe too lean for one of these big twins. the plug looks very similar to that when i do alot of mid rpm mid throttle riding.

Attachment 27073

i just want some input from the guys who know these things best. id rather add a bit more fuel to save the engine just to be on the safe side. im gonna try to get out to the dyno in the next few weeks but in the meantime i wanna get the bike running as good as i can. needle is in the 5th position, fuel screw should be 2.5 turns out unless it was touched by the first guy who was setting the carbs, 48 pilot and the mains are whatever dynojet calls for for a bike with an aftermarket exhaust, no k&n and at near sea level. i cant remember off hand what they are but i remember having to order them as my kit didnt have them.

Looks a tad lean to me, especially if the color of the insulator is blue. Maybe just the camera? Maybe my old eyes?

It's a tad darker in person. I took the picture with my phone. I'll get my dslr out tomorrow and snap a better one

yep! definitely looking lean from my house too.....

Ok thanks. Good to hear ill have to bump up the mains I think

I can't say I have any definite answers, but here's a few thoughts.
It sounds from your description that it is going lean on top end.
This coincides with being at the 5th notch to get the midrange fattened up. If you go up in size with the main jets, you'll probably want to drop the needles a notch.

Popping on decel and hesitation off the bottom are also signs of being lean. Since the needles are already high, you might want to consider going up a size on the pilot jets.

But change one thing at a time.

The pic I see on my monitor looks good to me.
For plug reading I always thought these were runs, pull clutch, shut off and then pull the plug, not putt around back to the house in a RPM or running range you aren't concerned with. I can't tell from your description when did you pull them? The only true way to tell is go too far the other way now (rich direction) and then back off one. Its hard to know ideal until you hit the 'past ideal' point.

Well I've been past ideal on the needles. 6 th shot and 5 shims. I guess the guy was compensating for bot syncing the carbs. So we pulled a lot of fuel and she runs much better.

I was quite good about the abuse. I beat her until my street and then was easy on it but I live 6 houses in and i shut her down in the driveway and Coasted. I'll bump the mains and see where that takes me. Thanks for the help