HELP! Intermittent Cylinder

offthewall

XS650 Enthusiast
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Edmonton AB, Canada
Running kick only,wireing overhaul, small 3 A/h batt, pamco ignition, iridium plugs, Mikuni BS38 carbs, 130 pilot jet, 2 turns out on idle mix screw. NOTE: I have NOT swapped for nylon screws on my grounded brush yet.

SYMPTOMS
-Idles really rough at proper idle rpm sometimes
the bike quits and farts out the carbs.
-Bike idles fine at high idle. Might skip a little but doesn't die.
-When left spark plug is removed and grounded, right cylinder runs very smooth.
-When right spark plug removed and grounded, left cylinder runs briefly then quits and carb farts.
-To start bike on left cylinder only, I need open throttle
-To keep the bike running on left cylinder only I need constant high throttle
-Both cylinders running rich.
-When vacuum syncing carbs, levels are all over the place

WHAT I HAVE TRIED

MOTOR
-Cam chain tension
-Valves adjusted
-Timing set
-Compression test: 150 psi in both cylinders

CARBS
-Cleaned
-Replaced float valves
-Replaced base gasket
-Replaced jets
-Ran right carb on bad left cylinder-- same result
-Ran left carb on right cylinder and still ran good
-Different idle mixture screw settings from 3 turns out to half a turn out

ELECTRICAL
-Switched from points to pamco
-Checked for spark
-Swapped 10A fuse on red wire to reg/rec with 15A (10A kept blowing)
-Checked that battery is charging. Doesn't go below 12v, or above 14.5v
-Coil tested
-Plug wires tested
-Disconnected all lighting powering only the ignition.

I have exhausted every possible solution I can think of and probably forgot to list some.

WHAT I THINK
-Because right cylinder runs good it can't be battery or charging system.
-Because I swapped carbs it can't be that
-It can't be valves because I triple checked clearance and compression
-It can't be timing or advance mechanism because right cylinder runs great
-I am leaning towards electrical like a fried part of my pamco or maybe an intermittent arc or bad coil.

I will be posting a video and wiring diagram so you can see/hear for yourself.
Any help appreciated.
C5930DC1-F82B-4010-844E-2C7BEA52BF8A_zpsx8mq95k5.jpg

Sorry for the crappy diagram but it will have to suffice for now
 
Last edited:
Try swapping the 2 plug wires and spark plugs (move the one that is on your bad cylinder to your good cylinder) to see if the problem follows. It may be as simple as a plug that is arcing away from the ideal combustion zone or it could be something like a poor connection in the spark plug cap or at the coil.
 
I got it to idle and run on the left cylinder by swapping plugs again, but idle is rough and sounds to be stumbling on the left. Carb sync is all over the place using the motion-pro tool. I'm also getting quite a bit of condensation out of my pipes- not sure if that's normal.

I'm going to drop a size on my pilot jet hopefully that evens it out. I will try swapping plug wires as well but I tested their resistance and they checked out.
 
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