Motorcycle Repair: Baffles drilled and wondering, honda vlx, light shades

Question
Hi Mark. My wife purchased a 97 Honda VLX and the baffels are drilled with a 3/16" hole through both baffles. It has a stock air cleaner and no other mods. I have a 98 VLX with the back baffle drilled 1/2" and the front with a 1/4" hole. It runs good as well,all stock. My question is are they o.k. left like this or should we be rejetting them or something? How do I tell? They do sound nice and look like new so I want to keep them like that.

Answer
Hi Dale,

Technically, any modifications to the air intake, exhaust, or carburetion means tuning the other system components.

I think you'll be ok as is. To know how the drilled baffles are affecting the air-fuel mixtures, remove the spark plugs and look at the colors of the porcelin insulators. Desired colors are light shades of brown or even off whites. If you notice anything other, report back and we'll look into it further.

Describe the appearance of the plugs to me. Reply to my email: mshively1@woh.rr.com

Respectfully,
Mark Shively