That's how many miles I have on my spark plug. Last time I went to fire up the old girl, it sputtered like it wasn't sparking properly for about 10-15 seconds before it cleaned up, so it looks like before I take it out again, I should put in a new one.

By the way, this is on a 1999 400 Xplorer 2-stroke.

Can't say I didn't get my money's worth out of the plug, especially considering somone gave it to me for free!!!

In all seriousness, though. I was just trying to see just how long a spark plug would last in my Xplorer.

So far:
Champion - about 1000 miles, maybe 1500 if you clean it once or twice.
NGK - close to 3000 miles
Bosch Premium Platinum - almost 8500

Now that is impressive.

very impressive on a 2 stroke!

I have NGK Iridiums in my scr400 and have good luck but still change yearly. The standard NGK would foul out occasionally.

I have had the orig Champions in my sp700 for about 1500 miles put a second set in for about 500 then went to the Bosch Plat plus and now Iridiums.

Jim

Sounds good Farmr! I had a 2001 Explorer. The only drawback from not changing the plug in that old 2-stroke was when I was in WOT drag racing. I could detect a high rpm miss on the first run or two. After a few passes it would clean-up and nearly run perfect up to rev limit. I suspect that a new plug would have eliminated the initial miss. As for as starting and normal performance it never was a problem. Can't beat a brand new plug if all out performance is needed IMO.

My 02 SP 700 had about 6300 miles when I sold it. The original spark plugs were still in it. My 04.5 700 EFI had 6100mi. when I sold it. The original plugs were still in it also. I suspect I will probably not change them out of our 05 and 08 500s either.
I can't quite remember for sure but I don't recall having changed the plug in the 01 400 Explorer. It had around 4500 mi.
IMO the electronics in todays engines are so hot and efficient that the old practice of changing plugs regularily as in annual tune-ups is just not necessary for normal use. Proper maintenence of air-filter contributes a lot to the life a plug.

FWIW I had a 2001 Ford F-150 4.2L V-6 that I traded in 2007 with 144,000 miles. Guess what? The spark plugs were never changed, ran great!

Darn farmr you must be the most frugal person I've yet to meet.

My wife uses the term 'cheap'. Somehow, frugal sounds more polite.
Funny you mention this, as I was thinking of trading off the Xplorer for a new machine, but decided against it, because it isn't worn out yet. I mean honestly, what's the difference on trade-in price on an Xplorer with 14,000 miles, or one with 15,000 +. Figure I just as well get my money's worth out of it.

If you think I'M frugal, you should meet my dad. 2 years ago he sold the first new car he ever bought - in 1970. Drove it 35+ years, more or less just because it still ran.

Spark plugs are weird things and their life span in an engine is pretty much up to the "operator".

We deal with a lot of 2-stroke engines "Stihl Dealer".
One guy needs to get his plug checked every time he visits the shop. The other never has any problems with it.

Longer life seems to be obtained by the "let it sit and idle before shutting down crowd".

I've got an experiment plug running in my old lawn-mower. I change it when it sputters. In 18 years of running the mower, can't say I changed it often though.

Farmers around here have the same tendencies, most are "frugal".
Or otherwise they have the "If it ain't broke don't fix it!" attitude.

By the way "what kind of 2-stroke oil are you running Farmr123??

I have been using the Polaris synthetic stuff.
I know my Polaris dealer made the comment on the 2 strokes to get them good & warmed up & wind them out on the road every once in a while. My experiences would have to agree with them. I know one guy with a 400 Xpress (same engine as I have) that does a lot of puttering, getting his mail, etc with it. Probably only takes it more than a mile from home every 10th trip or so, and to him 25 MPH is fast.
I'm the other way, most of my trips are several miles, often pulling/hauling something, and we have hayfields 5-6 miles away that I sometimes have to check 3-4 times before we bale, and I go down the road 50 MPH or so. He has had 2X the belt problems (I think from puttering & stop-start driving in high) and probably 5X the spark plug troubles.
I have had a few more problems with bent handlebars & broken front racks/bumpers, but that is a whole different story.

That's about the same thing I tell my customers.

"It's a robust 2-stroke so it needs exercise and good oil."
Always allow for a minute of idle before shut-down.