82 ltd1000

asking this question here because i'm fairly certain my problem is electrical...anyway..drops a cylinde intermitently while riding..sometimes it's great and some..then i can hear a change in idle and will backfire on decel...now..when this cylinder dropping happens..if a crack it wide open it will sputter a bit then catch and take the f$%k off..have cleaned carbs very well..although will do again..and tank is perfect inside..thinking a plug wire..has accel 8.8mm suppresion wires..thinking maybe the carbon strip that runs thru them is bed..any thoughts??

I am by no means an expert, but I think the copper core wires would be more suited to your bike.

People more knowledgeable than me say don't use suppression wires with resistor spark plugs. Use one or the other for providing the resistance. I have had some similar problems to what you describe when doing so.

Some spark plug caps have resistors built into them and I believe the 82 model had this. It looked like a small pellet or pill when you take the cap apart.

If you are using the original plug caps, then I suggest that you don't use the resistor wires. Also, the little resistor pellet sometimes gets burned up and causes problems. It would be worthwhile to check them.

So, you could theoretically have resistor plugs, resistor wires, and resistor caps. This would definitely not be optimal.

Good luck!

currenmtly has accel wires on it with normal caps..but these wires were on it when i bought it so who nows how old they are..being it's only one cylinder dropping and very intermitant..hoping new plugs and wires solves it..most of the time runs great..

Also check your coil connections as one of mine was loose and I experienced the same problem as you describe.

The spark plug caps can and do fail, so a new set should help along with new spark plug wires/leads (or for the Brits, the high tension leads).