Choke Problems - One cylinder not running.

I think I'm about to call it quits for this season.

I started it up again today and still had the same issues (no suprise there), #2 still cold on warmup. After the bike was warmed up I turned the pilot screw and it did have an effect. I set it where it had the most positive affect on the idle. Once off the choke the #2 seems to kick in and it gets hot like the others.

However, I checked the #1 pipe and it was just slightly warm. No where near as the others, not even #2. All I need is another problem. :huh: While it was idling I took off the #1 plug cap and the idle never changed a bit, eventhough I could feel the current tingling in my fingers as I held the cap. Seems the #1 is not running. Could be a fouled plug, I'll pick up a new one just in case.

Eventhough I had alread sync'd the carbs a while ago I rechecked them and sure enough they were off. Just wondering if this is because #1 is not running correctly, or is #1 not running correctly because they are not sync'd correctly (chicken and egg). It was too dark at this point so I couldn't sync them. Should I even bother with the condition of the bike? Should it be running perfectly before syncing? The #1 cylinder was pulling more vacuum than the others, this make any sense???

Think I may pack it in and pick up some ignition bits and set the valve clearances over the winter. Pick it up in the spring.

I've stated before that my bike never seemed really fast, maybe the bike is not running on four all the time :S

Thanks

it will be pretty hard to do a carb sync if it's not running on all 4 kind of like trying to align the front end of your car with worn out ball joints. no can do, what ignition system are you using, that could be part of your problem,as far as the carb's go try taking them back to a base line setting 1 1/2 turns out on the fuel screws is a good start if you have a timing light check each cylinder for spark see if it breaks up at higher rpm also check your advancer to see if it moves freely and is advancing at the right time you can buy a cheap multi meter from canadian tire that has tach inputs if you need to keep track of your r.p.m it's made by equss. if you can turn the fuel screws in and out and it has no effect it sounds like you still have blocked passages in the carb. spray carb cleaner in passages and use compressed air to blow them free go until you get free movement of air in the passages. if you run into any problems get in touch .

Just wanted to pop back in to thank everyone for their help and great suggestions. However, I think I'm going to call it a day and sadly put the bike away for winter.

The other day I started it again (same issues) but I put the timing light on the #2 plug wire just to see if there was current flowing. Surprisingly it was only firing very intermittently. I then swapped the #2 and #4 spark plugs just to see if it would do anything. I didn't think it would, since I thought the current flowing through the wire had nothing to do with the plug. However, #2 then started firing perfectly. I could have giggled something to temporarily fix the problem.

Tried again today, and cold start was a bit better, but still not normal. Never had to give it any throttle input though, which is good. I let it run until warm and just as I was about to shut it off, the #2 started sputtering and puffing back through the carb!!!!! Seems it stopped working again. This leads me to believe that it may very well be an ignition problem (or at least part of the problem). Maybe plug wire is faulty? Half the coil is flaky? Just tried to take it for a spin and even when warmed up it was only running on three cylinders.

I'll be getting a Dyna ignition, coils and plug wires over the winter anyway so I'm not going to bother investigating the ignition. Weather is cold here now so it's not worth the effort. Winter mods here I come

I just wanted to close off the thread and thank everyone for their help. One thing I like about encountering problems with the bike is that it gives me a great opportunity to learn, love it!

Checking back in to say this issue is now fixed!!!

With Wired George's help, we found the issue to be that a float bowl gasket punchout actually fell down in the hole that the enrichener tube sits in to get its fuel for startup! I never thought to look in there. It was blocking the hole causing the enrichener in this carb to not get any fuel. Removed it and it now starts perfectly, just like a new bike.

Thanks for you help George!