2007 Maintenance con't

Valve cover was leaking from one corner, replaced with silicone gasket:
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Ready to set valves. Note homemade tool:

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Ground down a 16 mm deep socket to spec:

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Tip up the tank, not necessary to remove it:

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I am guessing these are the factory inners. 14 K on the bike:

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Plugs ordered from local shop, back together tomorrow.

From what I can see in your picture the inner plugs don't look bad. in fact I think they're supposed to last for an incredibly long period of time. What is your analysis of their condition?

It seemed to run fine. I just wanted fresh plugs to establish a tuning baseline. Beetle map, stock muffler replaced with 8V model, valves set, TBs synched. I have put a few hours on it and everything seems smoother than when it came in.

The inner plugs should be good for 100,000 km. The problem is rusting into place, as is evident in the removed items. Even if these are long life plugs, they probably should be removed and cleaned every service - I just replace mine, they don't cost too much in the scheme of things - 4 x plugs, air filter, oil, filter plus gearbox and Cardan oil changes are the regular cost items - not expensive if you do it yourself. I buy the engine oil in 20 litre drums so it aggregates to really good prices over a few oil changes.

A smear of anti-seize on the threads on re-assembly for the inner plugs ensures they come out easy the next time.

Make sure you get the plug caps on the inner plugs, properly - they are a right royal bitch to get back into if they are not on right.