79 850G, sounds like popcorn

[AF_Bill]

So after I made my last post, I tried to head home but she wouldn't fire again. I was about to rip what little hair I have left out. My parts guy didn't have points & condensers or spark plugs. So I made a trip to auto zone (thanks to the help of some guys there) to get new plugs. As soon as I get back from there, I hop on the bike and she fired up on the 3rd start. So I just hopped on her and rode home as fast (and safe) as I could. She was running a LOT better than she was on the way down. But not I know what I need to order and be back 100%

 

[AF_Bill]

SO I had her running about 2 weeks ago and then she lost almost all power to move. She'd idle fine but I was doin 30mph, in 3rd, in a 65 zone. Needless to say, I got towed home.
Fast forward to an hour ago, the shop the bike is at (and who synced the carbs back in May) has told me it'll be $1000 for a carb rebuild, oil change, plugs, and new petcock. Why a new petcock, I dunno. It worked fine. F^ck that noise!

 

[cal_look_zero]

If you haven't rebuilt the carbs and done new o rings as of this point, I'd start there. Then, drain the tank, pull the petcock and clean the filter at the petcock.

If there's still a lack of power, I'd start getting into mechanical timing issues. I had a VW that flattened the cam lobes and it would run... at about 20mph. Check your valves, check your cam timing, check your points timing.

 

[MisterCinders]

SO I had her running about 2 weeks ago and then she lost almost all power to move. She'd idle fine but I was doin 30mph, in 3rd, in a 65 zone. Needless to say, I got towed home.
Fast forward to an hour ago, the shop the bike is at (and who synced the carbs back in May) has told me it'll be $1000 for a carb rebuild, oil change, plugs, and new petcock. Why a new petcock, I dunno. It worked fine. F^ck that noise!

$1,000 for that list of work? Was he holding a gun at your head? That's absurd.

Do your own carbs, oil and plugs. At most, you'll need to spend $15-20 for some o-rings from Rob Barr. Spend the rest of the money on hookers and booze.

 

[UncleMike]

Not hookers.*

 

[AF_Bill]

I rebuilt the carbs myself in may as well. I set them to factory specs then sent it to the same shop she's in now for the sync and valve adjustment. As soon as I get her back, new air filter, oil change, maybe plugs,
Cal- I really didn't think to drain the tank. I'm gonna add that to my list too.

 

[AF_Bill]

I'm about to seriously give up. I've checked the spark on each cyl, fine. New air filter and freshly cleaned carbs. STILL pops. I hate so ask/say, I think I need to rebuild the carbs. I DID figure out that cyl 3 & 4 are the ones causing the issue.

 

[AF_Bill]

SO, I figured out what the hell was wrong. I mixed up the coil wires!!!!!!! All that crap, just to find out that I had one coil goin to #1 & 3 and the other to #2 & 4. I went by the marking one the wires instead of lookin at my repair manuel. Dumbass me lol.

So she was running for 10 mins and then I cut her off. I tried to start her again and all she does is crank. I think I might need to rebuild the petcock now or does it seem like there's another issue?

EDIT: Yesterday, I installed 2 new plugs and fired her up. Lil rough but ran w/o stalling. Figured I'd take her to my parts guy and see what he said. So she popped for about 10 mins while riding, but stopped sometime durin the ride. Did the same thing when I was riding home. Any thoughts?

 

[AF_Bill]

Well I FINALLY figured out what's wrong with her. It was a short into the wires from the points to the coil! I has a feeling that it wasn't a carb issue. So i'm in the process of finding the shorts. Already found and fixed one but now tracing the wires to find the other.

 

[twotimeGSr]

So, your very first post said you had a problem after degreasing... do you think you just got water in the short area to begin with? I have been trying a few things to get the oil off the engine and have been hesitant yet to powerwash it. I'll probably mask it off pretty well before I try much water now.