[IronSpade]

Is it simply a CR500 grafted to the existing CVT or a complete shifter setup? I would think by the temp of 12-1400 degrees at WOT you would be running way lean! I have a similar setup on a roadrace 350 twostroke that even after going to 320 mains I still get that magical number of 1350 F. at WOT and I have to be conservative cause I know what will happen if I stay at that temp for longer than a few seconds at a time. Kabboom!

Most all analog gauges are set for an ambiant temp of 75-80 degrees so if its 100 F when your out driving you have to add that extra 20-25 degrees on top of your readings. I know that 25 degrees doesn't sound like much but it could be the difference between burning up your cylinder and having a great day driving.

If your having a delema between running it rich to keep the EGT readings down and fowling plugs remember it will always run better at the leanest settings but it's also on the ragged edge of destuction when running lean. A solution that I've found is a Mikuni Power Jet carb kit which uses an extra jetting circuit for highspeed operation. So you jet your carb for idle through 2/3 throttle just like before but then you have an additional tuneable spraybar at the bell mouth of the carb that helps control lean conditions at WOT. It realy works well and I've used this setup on several race bikes. Problem is these carbs aren't very cheap at nearly $600 each.

As far as the grey plug, are you looking down into the plug at the base with a plug reader for a reading or simply looking at the color of the exterior? If you have a manual clutched motor and you can disengage the drivetrain and then do a plug chop/kill switch at the same time the motor will not run on possible contaminating the plug with fresh fuel charge.

If you also get a CHT (Cylinder Head Temp) gauge along with the EGT you could more accurately jet for all conditions without relieing on plug color as the tell tale. Remember 1350 is your safe max temp, anything over 1400 for more than a 3-5 second burst pistons start melting. Exhaust Gas Temps can be a tricky way to tune as I've been doing it this way for many years with road racers and laydown enduro karts but they really are designed for guys doing very fine tuning to get that last 10th of a second and running on that ragged edge can be very expensive. My suggestion, set it up rich and have fun! So you end up changing a few plugs, last I checked a new top end can run upwards of $500, plugs are $10 each. You do the math. Hope this helps. Later Travis