Autolite 63

[ddragon63]

Champions come OEM in Chrysler products. They are recommended to be replaced in 20K mile intervals.

Nuff said.

Ya on a vehicle that cruising speed is 2,000 rpm and never see's and rpm higher than 5,000.... I think your comparing an apple to a banana Greg. IF we're basing our bikes off automotive numbers.... My Mazda 6 stock plug is a NGK Platinum recommended replacement? every 100,000 miles.

My old 2002 R1 stock plug NGK IX plug... recommended change every 8,000 miles or 12 month.

From my FACTORY 1979 XS1100SF owners manual... Spark plugs BP6ES(NGK) or N-8Y (Champion) recommended service.... every 5,000 miles or 12 months

Now with Greg's apple and banana we have some grapes, watermelon, and pineapple to make a whole fruit salad!

I think it boils down to choice... and we need to all remember this... you may be loyal to a plug company and that's fine. Hell..I'm a Chevy car guy, but a ford truck man! Just make sure you are getting the heat range right from 1 manufacture to the next. Other than that you can stick whatever plug you want in your bike, after all it is your bike

[jimbyjimb]

Well ddragon and steve thanks for the conversationalisms. I have to say that in my heart I was already thinking what steve was saying.

As for champions: every lawn mower, chain saw or weed whacker that wouldn't start I've ever repaired all I did was replace the champion with anything else. A couple weed whackers were newer ones too. Briggs and Stratton engines I've had have a particularly hard time with champions as well. I find it odd others don't have that problem. It was wisdom I learned from my dad who's been a heavy duty/auto mechanic for near 30 years, "start by replacing the champion" and every time that solves the problem.

[crazy steve]

It's interesting to know the history behind the past/current Autolite plugs....

Once a wholly-owned division of Ford, they had such an excellent reputation for quality/performance that they were the recommended plug in nearly all high-performance auto catagories; even the Chevy guys recommended 'em. But they were victims of their own success; by the mid-70s, they had nearly 80% of the replacement plug market and all the 'other' guys started sniveling about it. The feds stepped in, and forced Ford to sell the plug division off under anti-trust laws; high bidder was Fram. All was good for a while, and Ford continued to buy their OEM plugs from Fram with 'Motorcraft' branding. But then they started having warranty claims; new cars were coming back with bad plugs. Fram had cheapened the plugs to the point that reliability was out the window. Ford went back into the spark plug business under the Motorcraft name and eventually started marketing them in the aftermarket again, although without the wide range they once offered. Well, word got out and Motorcraft plugs started climbing up the sales charts again. The feds stepped in again, Ford withdrew sales of the plugs from everywhere except dealerships. So that's why you can find Motorcraft filters at the local parts store, but not the plugs....

Fram nearly destroyed the brand, but after offering mileage guarantees (and improving quality a bit) and a huge advertising budget, they brought the brand back to a degree. But they're still crap...

I haven't checked to see if Motorcraft has a 'cross' for the XS; when I buy plugs for my cars, I go down to the Ford dealer and choke while shelling out about $6 each for plugs, but I've never had one fail. Can't say that about either Autolite or Champion.

[BA80]

Let's anayze who REALLY destroyed the quality...............Who stepped in and forced a good thing to become a bad thing again?

[crazy steve]

Let's anayze who REALLY destroyed the quality...............Who stepped in and forced a good thing to become a bad thing again?

Word was that GM and Chrysler had more friends in Washington than Ford did....

[BA80]

Possibly a pattern forming here. .............................. Who knows...

[crazy steve]

Greg, it had gotten to the point that some of the GM and Mopar dealers were selling/installing Autolites... is it any wonder Ford got their pee-pee slapped?

[BA80]

Yeah, if you make a product better than your competitors I guess that is what SHOULD happen.

Absolutely, no one should be making more money than someone else. Instead of forcing better quality from inferior producers the government should drag down those that have gotten it right to the inferior levels............


I see you logic there.......

We should stop this Steve. It's getting political and I have some strong feelings in that area.

I'm getting close to one of those rants.

[jetmechmarty]

even the Chevy guys recommended 'em.

I used to run with Autolite plugs in my Chevrolets and everything else I could get them for. I don't do that anymore. I just put NGK plugs in the Yamahas and I think I have AC plugs in the old Chevys. I don't put a Fram filter in anything I care about either.

[jimbyjimb]

No joke on the fram. Cut them apart, they've got cardboard where any self respecting filter should have metal and an O-ring.

My dad pulled two fram's off both of his jeeps and found the cardboard on both had disintegrated, so he pulled both pans and took a load of it out of the pickup screen. I imagine it had built up over a time since he used the fram's for a while. Pure cheap garbage.