Answered my own question, they do just pull off. However they are extremely stubborn....
Here are the plugs, approx- 13k miles......

 

@7500 miles

 

All look OK to me.

 

I'll be changing mine....in about 49,200 miles from now. Then again, I might have a different bike by then.

All look OK to me.

They're more than ok. Honestly folks, plugs don't wear out at 7K, or 10K or even 20K miles. It's not exactly apples to apples but I changed out my sons Toyota at 120K miles and even those plugs looked just fine. And the new plugs did nothing in terms of mpg or engine performance...the big benefit was installing a new valve cover gasket.

 

I'm also letting mine go farther than usual. By the time I hit the end of the season they should be around 30,000 Kms. I'm interested to see then what color Kev's O2 controller makes them, seeing how the stock setup is run very lean in the closed loop. I commute quite a bit and in high gear, so I have no concerns with wear and tear on the plugs with the extended mileage compared to the recommended change interval. Still working fine with 23,000 Kms so far. You city only folks may get different results...

 

When installing plugs, here are a few general guidelines:
1. Use anti-seize on the threads but sparingly, be careful not to get them near the ends
2. Do not gap plugs, check the gaps, and if it's off, install a different one which is good
3. If ever dropped, do not use
4. Use silicon dielectric grease on the insulators and coil contacts (such as DC-4)
5. When removing plugs, if after the initial loosening, it ever gets tight loosening it, stop, and spray penetrating oil in the holes to loosen the carbon and let sit for a while, otherwise it may strip out the threads when removing.

 

Amen, amen, amen, and amen.

This is excellent advice which you will really appreciate the next time you remove the plugs. Especially using the diarrhea grease...I mean dielectric.:laughing4:

 

I don't understand these low-mile plug changes either.

 

For sure spark plugs can last longer! Services manual require 8000 miles spark plugs change, also as preventive maintenance the condition of the plugs can tell you a lot of your engine performance, if you ride on a contaminate environment,dust,pollution etc.. Engine Air filter can be check as well and is in the way to the spark plug job,for me I like to do all my maintenance and repair , but maybe I'm too preventive!

 

I have about 9,000 miles on my bike and have not changed the plugs. I don't change them until I get one or more of the six tale-tell signs (usually rough idle) that they are going away. I always replace the stock air filter when I do my plugs.

When to change spark plugs:

1. Engine has a rough idle

Your engine idles when it is a stationary and in this position the engine normally produces around 1000rpm. The sound the engine gives off is constant and smooth but if your spark plugs aren’t performing as they should, your engine will produce a rough and jittery sound while producing larger vibrations through the bike. Not having this checked can lead to costly damage being done.

2. Having trouble starting your bike?

Many people put their bike not starting down to being out of fuel or having a flat battery. One possibility you may overlook is having bad or worn spark plugs. If your spark plugs don’t produce the spark needed to get the bike moving, then you’re going nowhere. It is also possible that faulty spark plugs are causing your battery to drain. If so you need to have your battery and spark plugs changed as soon as possible.

3. Your engine misfires

When your engine misfires it causes the bike to halt for a fraction of a second and then continues it’s usual movement. This means the bike isn’t functioning as smoothly as it should because one or more cylinders aren’t firing properly, which can also lead to higher amounts of emissions.

4. Engine surging

When a bike sucks in more air than usual in the combustion process it can cause the bike to jerk and then slow down or continually start and stop, which means the bikes engine is working inefficiently. This is also known as engine hesitation and dangerous situation can arise if this occurs in traffic.

5. High fuel consumption

If your spark plugs have deteriorated you’ll notice that your bikes fuel economy can decrease by up to 30% due to incomplete combustion. If you notice you’re having to fill up more often than usual it can be caused by deteriorating spark plugs. To get back to your bike’s optimum level of fuel consumption all you’ll need to do is have your spark plugs changed.

6. Lack of acceleration

If your bike is accelerating poorly it is fairly easy to tell. It feels as if the bike doesn’t want to respond when you lay into the throttle, or it does but not instantly as you’ve become accustomed to. It can also feel as if your bike is trying really hard to pull itself along. This ‘sluggishness’ can be easily fixed by having the bike serviced with a spark plug change.

 

Hey Doug...... my bike misses when I'm in the rev. limiter....... Do I needed plugs?

 

Haha, got me there. Warp drive, Scotty. I'm giving her all she's got captain; she's gonna blow.

 

Which anti-seize are you guys using?

 

I use Champion from when I worked on aircraft engines.

 

Permatex, because it is easy to obtain at every parts store.

 

Cool! Thanks fellas.

 

Can't say I've ever heard anyone advise against gapping plugs. What do you do when your new plugs are gapped larger/smaller than what the engine calls for? Keep buying new ones until you find some that are gapped correctly for your engine? I don't think so.

 

Can't say I've ever heard anyone advise against gapping plugs.

Well, now you have.

You can gap yours back and forth all you want sir ;-)

 

What's the reasoning?

 

If you bend the ground strap you are asking for it to fall off and bounce around in the combustion chamber and chew up a lot of stuff. The gap doesn't have to be exact, just close.

 

Dude, if you insist on arguing, you win, adjust your gap.

See ya!

 

Well that was a productive discussion.

 

I can see how you might be wary of damaging the electrode on one of those new fangled $20 plugs, but the old $2 copper core NGK is pretty tough. I've gapped some several times over the course of a couple days trying out different settings (a -0.1 than stock in my old KZ400 actually reduced engine vibration with no reduction in power, though I think the mechanical advance was a bit wonky).

 

I use a pair of double-hinged pliers (similar to these) with a slight curve at the tip to help work the coils free. (Carefully!)

I recently changed my plugs and found them in good shape. I see no reason beyond the regular use of crappy gas to change them before 15-20k miles.
As for not using a plug that's been dropped - Amen. Dropped 6 inches onto a work bench is one thing. But, on the floor? Trash can it. Ceramic material is not something
you want flying about atop a piston top. =)

More on gapping from NGK themselves:
" If it is necessary to widen the gap, do so with a tool that only pulls back on the ground electrode without touching the Center Electrode or the porcelain. To close the gap on a plug, gently tap the plug, electrode first on a hard surface. NGK doesn't recommend adjusting the plug gap more than .008" in either direction. Beyond that slight adjustment, the ground electrode and Center Electrode won't align properly, hindering spark plug performance and drastically reducing plug life.
•Due to the fragile nature of their electrodes, special care should be taken when adjusting the gap on Fine Wire plugs.
•Gapping should never be attempted on Multi-Ground plugs. "

 

Like most others replying to this thread, you only need to change the plugs if they are eroding away.
This picture is of the plugs on the FZ at 5K miles. If you look closely, you can just see some rounding off on the center electrode and a little bit of tapering of the ground wire at the open end. Looks like the erosion is slow and these do not need to be replaced.
Some coil packs are harder on plugs than others

[URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/RichBinAZ/media/My%20Bikes/IMG_0970_1.jpg.html][/URL]

 

I changed the plugs on my cbr 600rr at 14k and I noticed a performance difference no doubt. They didn't look to bad either

 

I changed mine before at 6000 miles, like what the book suggest, but I was also leaving on a 4500+ miles trip in a few weeks and was in there checking the air filter and TB sync. Just good insurance at that point.

 

I agree with most of you, plugs don't need to be done that often. That being said though, if you feel like it, why not ? It's just money and time. I am guilty of doing way too many oil changes and running Engine Ice to save 2 degrees c ( old horse - kicked ). Gapping plugs is something I learned in the 80's and have always done it when required. Never had an issue. I even got a plug which was too long for my first bike ( single cyl 2 stroke ) and installed it not realizing it was too long. The bike started and ran loud and ticky for a few seconds, then stalled. I, being young and ignorant, took the plug out and gapped it, not knowing it was contacting the piston ! Haha. I tried it again and it did the same thing. Wow. Anyway, that plug took a wicked thrashing from the piston twice and didn't break. I wouldn't be worring about having to slightly gap a plug.