Great info on the "hot" plugs. I run them on my kicker because of the low rpms. I would hesitate to put them on my main motor because I run that motor hard and don't really want to buy a new one soon. Be careful!!! West Marine in Fife has a good spark plug catalog and it shows how the spark plugs are rated.

The synthetic oil probably won't help you idle any better but it will stop your fouling. No ash residue with the synthetic. It was amazing to see the difference in my old Johnson kicker. I was fouling plugs all the time and now a set will last all season(I would guess that has to be at least 200 hours on my kicker)

Problem for me is now I keep running that old 2-stroke kicker instead of upgrading to a 4-stroke.