Two issues at once

Hi all, well I have been working on the bike..New bars, leaking carbs, cleaned the tank, fired it up. All was well as far as I could tell. Took it for a short ride. Didn't have power under load. Measured the temps and found #2 was not hot. Pulled the plug and it wasn't wet. Checked spark, seemed good. Checked the rest all good. Maybe the carb not getting gas to that cylinder. Did a compression test. #1,3,4 about 135ish. #2 180lbs. No smoke or blowby evident. I did have the carbs leak and filled up the crankcase. Drained and replaced the oil. Any ideas?

I would check the float heights on all your carbs to make sure they're within spec. If you don't find a problem you should inspect your float needles and seats for wear and replace them if necessary. If you try to run the bike without fixing the problem you will contaminate the new oil. Make sure while you're doing the compression check your are holding the throttle all the way open. You should also do a leak down test to see why you are getting a much higher reading on just one of your cylinders

I tried the float test using the clear hose method but maybe I'm doing it wrong. Real low levels. I mean not even close. How do I get more fuel into the bowl during the test? I did replace the needles and seats. Ill try the compression test again. Should I drain the carbs before the test? Any bench marks on how far to bend the tangs? I've never done this before so lots of questions. Thanks for the help, Keith

If you have a factory service manual it will make everything a lot easier. I'm not sure of the exact levels recommended for your bike (perhaps another member can weigh in). The easiest way to check the float levels is to attach a clear tube to the overflow drain, set the petcock to PRI, and measure the height from the carb body. The fuel level in the carbs doesn't have any effect on your compression reading, however many people prefer to remove them prior to doing the test so they don't have to worry about holding open the throttle.

I think maybe you are right. If the problem is float height and #2 is not getting fuel then maybe the compression test makes sense. I will drain all the carbs and reperform the compression test. If anyone who has recently performed the float height test could post how it was done and how much the tang needs to be bent, in general, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Keith