I have been riding my 66 Shovel since June. I'm going to guess I put around 3 to 400 miles on it. I pulled the plugs tonight to see how they looked, and this is what I found. I know that it is better to have it run a little on the rich side than to lean on an air-cooled engine. I would like to know what the more experienced shovel head owners think??
Motor is stock with points ignition and a Linkert D-7 carburetor.
Engine starts easily and when warmed up has a good idle. Once and a while it seems to spit. I know the gas on Long Island is trash with that alcohol garbage in it.
The plug on the lower left is the front cylinder top one is the rear.

 

Odd since the rear cylinder usually runs Cooler...
I gave up reading Plugs except at the Track, with Race Gas...As noted...todays "Green" gas is ****!!

 

You are burning a bit of oil on your front cylinder. I would say you are a bit lean on the main/needle and a bit rich on the idle, but as @Racepres said, modern gas is hard to read.

We don't have a lot of alcohol gas in NZ and I never use it, my plugs run brown.

 

a lot of doing a plug read is how you did the 'Plug Chop' as we called it back in the 60's & 70's,...
if all you did was to go into ya garage and remove the plugs we see here in the pics, you cannot trust what you see.
you need to have a hot fully warmed up motor, going down the road in top gear, accelorate hard with throttle wide open, THEN at the same time, hit the kill switch, pull the clutch in and coast to a halt, all the time, keeping the throttle open
THEN remove the plugs for a propper read,..
as said, ...back in the day it was known as a 'Plug Chop', it shows how you are doing where it matters, when ya giving it a handful and not just idleing it in the garage

 

Not how I was taught.. Engine Does Not need to be Running to take in Fuel...when Not Running, yet turning over...that is now Unburned Fuel, In the combustion chamber. We always Chopped the Throttle...course, I Only do that at the Drag Strip.. On the Road..Manners are a quantifiable trait!