Cyl 1 issue

the bike will start surprisingly good even for a cold day and and seems to run well, however I notice one problem. The headers out of cyls 2, 3,  and 4 get very hot, too hot to the touch. Cylinder 1 gets warm but never gets too hot to touch at idle. As the bike warms up and I increase throttle, rev it out, etc cylinder 1 tends to get hotter. The bike is intermittently blowing a moderately concerning amount of white smoke too... more noticeable when cyl 1 is getting hotter. Compression is 120 psi across the board.  Additionally, what gets me the most, the bike will run with the spark plug cap off of the plug in cyl 1 with seemingly no issue. However, With 2, 3, or 4's plug wire detached, the bike won't run. What could be the cause for this? Valves, is cyl 1 running too lean? I'm stumped, any inside is much appreciated. 

Clean your carbs and check the ignition system feeding #1.  That cylinder isn't firing as designed.  

What does cylinder 1's spark plug look like after it has been idling?
Check the plug after it has been idling...don't rev it up.

Sounds like oil fouling on cyl 1's  plug due to valve stem seal leakage.
The intermittent white smoke is the oil being burned off as the bike warms and the cylinder gets hotter due to the plug  getting washed with fuel , "un fouling" and firing more consistantly.
Pulling the plug cap on 1 with no change shows that at that time the engine is only running mainly on cyls 2,3 and 4 which is sufficient for the engine to run without stalling.
Pulling any other plug when number 1 is either intermittent or not firing will drop the engine down to two constantly firing cylinders which will stall the engine at low/medium rpms and make the bike guttless and almost impossibe to ride.

 
I'm really hoping the attached video is playable.. sending from iPhone.... 

After running the bike some more, drilling out the mains to 96, running the bike some more, more seafoam through the bike, yesterday the cyl one header finally seemed to get up to temp with the others until the bike got warm. 2, 3 and 4 will burn you if contacted for more than a brief second and cylinder 1 eventually cools down where it's uncomfortable to touch, but it can be touched for awhile... anyways, I noticed it the motor pick up a tick/rattling sound from the top end. I'm wondering if the cyl one intake valve was froze and became unstuck. I heard the split valve guides can pop out or a shim coming lose and bouncing around inside the valve cover. Or it could be main chain related from carbs being out of sync. I did pull the carbs apart to clean and threw them back together. No bench sync or float height adjustment.... that'll be next when I pull the carbs once more. 

I do plan on doing valve seals once I build up the confidence to tackle the job. Im a bit intimidated by having to do timing but have enough mechanic buddy's who will help. 

anyone ever hear this noice or something similar to what's in the video?

Are you 100% sure the spark plug is sealing to the head - a compression leak around the plug makes a "ticking" sound and would also stop the cylinder firing correctly

I'll have to double check when I'm home but I'm fairy certain there's no leakage at the plugs. I'm wouldn't rule out a bad head gasket just yet either. Is it common to lose the seal at the plug mating surface on these bikes?

jstry11 wrote:

I'll have to double check when I'm home but I'm fairy certain there's no leakage at the plugs. I'm wouldn't rule out a bad head gasket just yet either. Is it common to lose the seal at the plug mating surface on these bikes?

It's not uncommon in any petrol motor to have an issue if plugs have been "in and out" several times or over tightened. They have a crush washer so once it's elasticity has been used up it won't seal properly

It's not about the bike; it is about the plugs themselves. They have a crush washer to seal against the head when the plug is torqued down. Because it's a crush washer, it can be smashed flat through excessive torque and/or repeated removal/reinstallation of that plug. Once the washer has been flattened, it may not seal correctly.

Wookie58 wrote:

It's not uncommon in any petrol motor to have an issue if plugs have been "in and out" several times or over tightened. They have a crush washer so once it's elasticity has been used up it won't seal properly

Dang it, Wookie - you beat me by one minute!

I can't say I've ever had that problem or seen it before but seems logical. However, the plugs haven't been out from the time it ran with no noise to the rattle it makes now. They've all been in and out 3-5 times by now though. I think my next steps will be another carb cleaning, probably with a can of carb cleaner with focus on carb 1 and to do a proper bench sync. Anything else to note or check without having to pull the head and look into the valves?

Compression check while the plugs are out