Rich, in the summer my plug was a reddish tint too, and the bike ran great with no problems. My plug did not look like those in the thread, mine was more of just a tint, not a deposit. I think that the cause might of been from my oil, Klotz R-50, which is red. Also, the plug looked alittle like a clown face, the insulator was a reddish tint, the electrode(metal coming out of insulator right?) was blackish, and the electrode had a really thin white depost on the circular edge.