How embarrassing.... well, I did it a little while back, and hoped it was just my imagination; but, I know it's not. I had the engine rebuilt, and lots of work done on the head. When I got everything back, I had trouble tuning the bike, thus the plugs were in and out, a lot. Long story short, I ended up having the #1 plug (one on the far left) really hard to screw in the last time I did it. I should have backed it out and applied some lube....but no..I kept going, thinking it would thread normally at any second. Well, it never did. I got the plug all the way in, and it's been running just fine for a while; but, I know it's wrong. In fact, I just looked at the angle of the #1 plug vs the angle of the #4 plug, and they are clearly different. Thus, I'm sure I x-threaded it, and it'll be okay until such time as I have to remove that plug. Then, I'm guessing it's not going back in , since the threads are shot.
Sooooo, I've heard that this isn't the end of the world, since it's an easy plug to get to? I've heard of a back-out tool or something that can be used to re-thread the hole? Is this right? Will I get a mulligan on this screw-up? Can anyone give me the low-down on what I've done and if/how it can be fixed with the head still on the motor?
Thanks in advance!! I feel like an idiot.
