On the top of the engine there are round chrome covers. Pull the one of the right side. You will see the end of the cam. You will find a hole in the cam, Well actually two holes. One goes through the cam from left to right, the one you want is a small hole that goes from this big hole out to the out side of the cam.
On the points bikes this hole was used to pin the advancer to the cam. When they converted from points to TCI they didn't delete any of the point features.
Now on the lower left side remove the round cover that says Yamaha on it. In there you will find the timing marks. Set the marks to TDC. Now look at the hole in the cam. If everything is perfect the hole will point either straight up or down. Any variation from that indicates chain wear.
With 32,000 on it it may be off by a few degrees. If more than 5 or 6 degrees then it is worn.
As mentioned the cam chain adjuster can indicate wear. If you have to screw the adjuster in so far that there isn't enough threads to put the capnut on them the chains worn.
The chain can be fairly worn and the bike will still run ok. The cam timing be a bit retarded but that won't stop it from running ok.
I would go through the basic tune up procedures before I started tearing thing apart.
Do the steps in this order.
Cam chain tension.
Valve clearance.
Check the timing, use a timing light to check the idle setting and at 300 prms for full advance.
Now with these things checked and set right, if it still has problems you can trouble shoot the ignition. Look for weak spark. Do one plug at a time. If spark is weak , new plugs, if still weak check the ohms through the caps. If no ohms or very high ohms replace caps.
If still poor spark check the coil for ohms , primary and secondary. Also from the wires to ground. This is all in your repair manual. You do have a manual?
Once you determine yohave good spark, then it might be carbs.
www.amckayltd.com/carbguide.pdf will gert them right.
From the poor description of your symptoms it sounds more like dirty carbs.
Leo
