What would be some tell tale signs your timing is off?

[Guest]

I have a 78 GS550.. All stock. Points. Out of curiosity. What be some tell tale signs ones ignition timing is off??. What would look out for?

[gsrick]

If it runs, then the worse off it would be is one tooth, but any more than that and you may wind up bending valves on top of the pistons. Take off the valve cover and points cover and manual check to see if everything lines up as it shows in the manual.

[Big T]

Rick, did you have a drink or something?
The OP asked about ignition timing, not cam timing.

The bike will spit, pop and have a flat spot when the timing is off. Put a timing light on it and set the timing.
Better yet, buy a Dyna S and be done with points

[gsrick]

Rick, did you have a drink or something?
The OP asked about ignition timing, not cam timing.

The bike will spit, pop and have a flat spot when the timing is off. Put a timing light on it and set the timing.
Better yet, buy a Dyna S and be done with points

Nah, I quit drinking in 2010. I just missed the ignition part.

[RichDesmond]

Well, if you're done, and she's not....

[Brendan W]

I have a 78 GS550.. All stock. Points. Out of curiosity. What be some tell tale signs ones ignition timing is off??. What would look out for?

Apart from really being off like backfiring/notstarting/no power the only thing I ever notice is that it runs better after you do the timing again after as little as a few thousand miles.
I have seen pros just rev the throttle and listen and say it's off. But then they are generally going to be right anyway.
Timing gets blamed a lot for what is really a capacitor problem. They can go off and produce all sorts of poor running symptoms and the points timing gets the blame.