I need some ideas......

[Flyboy]

I doubt the gas is bad, then you would have problems on all four pots, not just the number two.

If, as you say, the plug readings are giving you three good readings, and just the number 2 fouled, you may have an electrical issue on that cylinder.
Likely suspects would be;
Plug, could be that the plug is fine outside the motor, but once it is installed and working under comustion pressure etc, it could be breaking down.
Plug wire
Plug cap
Plug cap resistor, open and replace with brass rod.

[Billy Ricks]

This won't explain what's going on with #2 but it may be part of your problem. There are some fine screens that sit on top of the float seats in the carbs. If you had sediment reaching the carbs those screens could be clogged. As for #2 that carb float could be sticking but that usually leads to overflow. Float height on that carb could be set too high.

[tejasmud]

Didn't see it posted yet.

Might make sure you are getting 12v at the coils from the wiring harness.

[Flyboy]

Might make sure you are getting 12v at the coils from the wiring harness.

Indeed, I thought about that to, but then he would have the same issues on #3 as well, as they fire at the same time off the same coil.

Will be interesting to see what it turns out to be.

[DrImodium]

I woke up and knowing my luck I should have known it was going to rain today I fired the bike up first try with the choke out 1/4. Let it warm up for a min and it was blowing a little bit of white smoke (No blue smoke anywhere). After it warmed up the smoke went away and it idled perfect without any choke. I grabbed my coat and went for a ride down my road in my development. Since I had my open face helmet on I was getting pelted with water from the road so I turned around and came back home (Less than 1/2 mile total). Pulled into the garage and put her in neutral, still running. As I walked away from it, the revs started dropping and it started sputtering and wanted to die. Twisted the throttle to give it some more RPMs and as soon as I let go of it, It started sputtering for 4 seconds and then died.

So, It will idle perfectly until there is some load placed on it and then it falls on its face. What gives?

Im headed out to pick up some carb cleaner and some carb dip. Im going to clean the carbs out, replace the O-rings, and try to get the carbs all bench synced. Then Ill sync them on the bike and hopefully that will rule out any issues with the carbs.

Im getting so frustrated with this bike. It will run, but it wont run right long enough for me to enjoy it or even ride it to a shop to have them take a look at it. The only time I get to enjoy it is when I go into the garage and smoke a cig. This isnt a piece of art to just look at, I want to ride it!

[rustybronco]

I also checked all 4 plugs:

1- Looked Perfect
2- Fouled out rich
3- A little lean
4- Lean

As I walked away from it, the revs started dropping and it started sputtering and wanted to die. Twisted the throttle to give it some more RPMs and as soon as I let go of it, It started sputtering for 4 seconds and then died.

So, It will idle perfectly until there is some load placed on it and then it falls on its face. What gives?

Sound's like your #2 carb is flooding...

[DrImodium]

So I just got done taking the carbs off. I checked the intake boots and they are nice and flexible. I also checked the voltage at the coils and they were getting 12v. Im going to strip the carbs down tomorrow and replace the O-rings. Following the rebuild I will bench sync them and then vacuum sync them on the bike. Aside from it being a carb issue, Im out of ideas. I bought some fuel stabalizer and added 2oz to my tank thats 2 gallons full. That was more for my own piece of mind but just in case there is any water in the fuel, that should take care of it.

Question for the night:

This will be my first time tearing a set of carbs down but Ive read the DIY on Bikecliffs site and am planning on sitting down and just doing it. Im running Emgo pod filters, Stock pipes, and a DJ Stg 3 Jet kit using the 165 mains. What is a good base line setting?

My goal is to get it to run somewhat right so I can do some plug chops and figure out what the h@^$ is going on so I can dial it in and actually have it be reliable enough to ride to the mountains for once. Its getting really frustrating..........

[Colin Green]

I have just recovered from having repeatedly stripped & cleaned mine only to find all that time wasted when it turned out that the coils were shot. Swapped them out and all fixed.

Not the first time I have wasted a lot of time blaming carbs and/or dirty fuel for electrical faults. Can you borrow a pair of coils off a spare bike to try it out. You never know.

Oh yeah! Another one that has caught me out was lose plug caps (come loose from the lead) Push and twist to tighten them up. Better yet, pop the caps off and trim a 1/4" or so off the ends of the leads then wind the caps back on.

[DrImodium]

Just gone done pulling the first carb apart. There was crap everywhere inside, especially under the fuel inlet needle valve seat. There is a little screen in there that was completely clogged. Im only on carb #1 so I can only imagine what the others are going to look like. Im going to do them one at a time so I can use an assembled one as reference when going to put it all back together.

Questions for today:

What brand of lube do ya'll use for your o-rings?
What parts of the carb CANT go in the dip? The fuel inlet needle valve seat feels like it made of plastic. Can that get dipped?

Thanks guys. Youve been a huge help in this process

[Billy Ricks]

This won't explain what's going on with #2 but it may be part of your problem. There are some fine screens that sit on top of the float seats in the carbs. If you had sediment reaching the carbs those screens could be clogged. As for #2 that carb float could be sticking but that usually leads to overflow. Float height on that carb could be set too high.

Yup, I've seen it before.

[azr]

Just gone done pulling the first carb apart. There was crap everywhere inside, especially under the fuel inlet needle valve seat. There is a little screen in there that was completely clogged. Im only on carb #1 so I can only imagine what the others are going to look like. Im going to do them one at a time so I can use an assembled one as reference when going to put it all back together.

Questions for today:

What brand of lube do ya'll use for your o-rings?
What parts of the carb CANT go in the dip? The fuel inlet needle valve seat feels like it made of plastic. Can that get dipped?

Thanks guys. Youve been a huge help in this process

No lube is used for the o-rings. Basically no o-ring, no plastic, no rubber, etc... you disassemble the carbs completely so it is just the body going in the dip (no jets, no needles, no choke plungers, only metal). It's hard to do one carb at a time because you really need to leave the carbs in the dip at least over night if not longer if they are really dirty. Spray all the inlets with carb cleaner and then air if you have it (I've used only carb cleaner spray lots of times after the dip and it's work well, you just have to make sure you get ALL the inlets). There's a good 'how to' on Bikecliffs site. By the sounds of what you found in the first carb your bike desperately needs this maintenance done. It will be a HUGE improvement in both performance and bike maintenance skill for you.

It's great your coils are getting a full 12V but that doesn't tell you if they are working, you need to test the primary and the secondary, that will tell you if they are working. Do it while your are dipping the carbs, only takes a few minutes.

[Billy Ricks]

You probably will want to oil the o-rings that go on the float seats. They are real easy to shave the edge off of trying to put them in dry. When that happens you end up with fuel getting past them. Any type of oil will work for that. WD-40, motor, cooking, anything slippery.

[DrImodium]

The more I go through this bike, the more I kick myself in the ass for buying it. It visually looks good and all, but Im finding out that the PO didnt do any of the maintenance on it that he had advertised. He even presented receipts for the parts that were used and had said that he performed the service himself. Im finding out this is NOT the case.

After stripping the carbs and completely rebuilding them with new o-rings, I put them back on the bike and had a high idle issue, as well as no combustion in the #2 cyl. I used a colortune to get the best A/F mixture I could and the #2 cyl was getting spark but refused to ignite. I pulled the carbs back off and pulled the fuel bowl. When I was tearing them down during the rebuild process, I had noticed that the pilot jets were chewed up pretty badly at the slot on the top. The tip looks good and everything is clean but a previous mechanic had tried removing these without a proper fitting screw driver. Is this an area of concern? I checked over the carbs again just to make sure I hadnt missed something and everything looked good. Moved on to the intake boots. I had always thought they were new because of how clean they looked and how flexible they were but after inspection, I discovered the dreaded crack; #2 specifically.

New boots will be ordered with new o-rings once I locate some. Im hoping this is the last of my worries. Everything else has been replaced or rebuilt with the exception of the coils. When I signed up to the forum, I got BikeCliffs mega welcome and read through the "Common Problems" section hoping I could get by without having to replace all of those things. I have realized I would have been better off factoring in the price of replacing those items from the start before I offered the seller a price. This has taught me a lot about old bikes and the need to thoroughly go through and inspect problem areas and address them immediately.

In case you didnt see them, two questions:
1. When I was tearing The carbs down during the rebuild process, I had noticed that the pilot jets were chewed up pretty badly at the slot on the top. The tip looks good and everything is clean but a previous mechanic had tried removing these without a proper fitting screw driver. Is this an area of concern?

2. Best place to get the carb intake manifold boots?