[RidgeRunner]

Black is pretty normal on plugs. Shiny and new scares me. I'll wait on smarter folks to chime in but I had one of those old 50's with the brown stripes. I was a kid and I couldn't wear it out. Leaking carbs meant it had a stuck needle and seat. For me at least, the motor was simple enough I literally fixed it at the ramp with a couple open end wrenches and screwdrivers. Lucky I didn't tear a gasket that day. I don't know the backstory on yours. Mine screamed, literally. It was real noisy. Metal cowl with no insulation. Take the three piece cowl off and holy crap it was loud beyond loud. All the old inlines were loud come to think of it.