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Patrol, thanks for the compliment, but I am just a 47 year old motorcycle enthusiast who has spent most of his time on dirtbikes. I am a career Plant Engineer/Maintenance Supervisor in industrial manufacturing, so I have had a lot of experience with welding, electromechanical problem solving, machining, and other stuff that has been applicable to my hobby.
I would *not* go up one heat rating on your plugs. Do your mods and then take a look at the plugs after you have ridden it a bit. There has been a lot written about different ways to do a plug reading, and I would encourage you to look around the web and read about them, but the main concern is that a hotter plug will retain more heat and may lead to detonation by firing the fuel/air charge off a few miliseconds too early.
"Side gapping" is also known as "indexing", I believe, and simply refers to getting the open gap of the plug to face the incoming intake charge. The position of the plug is changed by slightly shimming the plug to get the gap facing the right direction when it is fully tightened.
My feelings are that this is not a worthwhile pursuit in most cases, except in full blown racing motors (usually turbo or super charged) and atmospheres. You can do it if you'd like, but you will be hard pressed to tell any difference by the seat of your pants.
There are more knowledgeable folks than me on this board, and I may be corrected on these topics.
Good Luck with your mods, though. I would like to perform most of the same mods to my Adventurer, so I am anxious to hear how you make out.
Greg
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