flip it or pull it?

[Jonesy :-)]

Thanks fellas
and in no particular order, answers to Q's

Ev, plugs and caps were removed and taped up out of the way, once had a bad experience in WA where bike fell over and broke a plug, so didn't want to repeat that in the flip. Try finding a  plug cap in remote North WA on the weekend in the mid 80's when shops never use to do 7 day trading

Steptoe, I was thinking about the side of the coil dying that sends spark to No:1 cylinder while No:4 is happily getting its 2 sparks per cycle, could that happen? will do a double check on pick up wires.

Brett, that's what I was thinking could be part of the problem, and with the difficulty getting the carbs on in the first place was dreading and trying to avoid having to take them off again, some how I think I've got a combination of electrical and fuel

Next thing I'm going to try is to hook up the gunson colour tune to see if there is any spark

[BrettS]

If you flipped it over with the carbs on I’d say there is a good chance that cylinder carb has unsettled some grime and blocked up. Have you tried squirting a bit of fuel down the carb to see if it fires?

[steptoe]

coils can't die on one side,, they fire twice as wasted spark set up
1 lead could die I guess, highly unlikely
the backfire can be fuel igniting on the exhaust stroke
more likely a cap as suggested by Ev or pick up wire at  base plate, sort of firing but not very hot

[Eveready1100]

Is the plug cap ok, Paul? doesn't take much of a knock to do them in. Might've been bumped in the flip?

[XSIIE]

Flip the bike back over and then flip it back the other way to unwind what you did?

[Jonesy :-)]

So, I moved No:1 plug to another cylinder but the sooty plug problem stayed at No:1
True or false
1. Can a coil die on one side/lead?
2. Exhaust backfire can be from unburnt fuel in exhaust igniting? (noticed intermittently on deceleration)
3. An over fueled cylinder would be wet not sooty?

Any other reasons for a misfiring cylinder or sooty plug and running only on 3 cylinders

Before I flipped the bike over to fix gearbox (with carbies on) it was running Ok

[Jonesy :-)]

Eddy, just the output shaft and gears

[XSIIE]

Did you put in the complete gearbox from the diner motor?

[BrettS]

Mine did that at one stage and it just went away again. It was around time carbs flooding so I just blamed that?

[Jonesy :-)]

Yay, now I've got a  smooth changing 5 speed XS1100 tfft
Boo, but its only got 3 cylinders
All header pipes were hot except #1 which was stone cold
I think its electrical? While it was running I can pull the plug cap off and doesnt sound any different, just resting the cap on the plug and it starts to fire, push it back on and it cut out again?, regardless, I took it for short sneaky unregistered spin, it seems to run ok at higher revs with the occasional miss, I think its the carby As well?
The problem child keeps kicking me in the shin, no matter how much tlc I give it

[Jonesy :-)]

The spare motor will be raided again today. I cant see how any stress would be put on this pin retainer to cause it to break off?
Oh well you can never tell what a Really Horrible problem child will throw at you

[XSIIE]

 
Looks like a bottle top to me

With a big of broken gear selecto

Gotta love these bikes, they just keep giving.

So "............... Is it fixed?

[Jonesy :-)]

Yeah Eddy you were probably top of the pressure applicators :-)
But,
The problem child continues to thwart any efforts to be maintained.
While stripping down to fix the box I found this tiny scrap of metal......huh? no idea what it could be

Wasn't till putting the external gear selector gizmos back together i noticed this broken bit of selector actuator pin thing

[XSIIE]

Gotta love peer group pressure

[Jonesy :-)]

Well, I succombed to common sense, rather than trying to correct the previous meddlers wrongs, I salvaged the gears and shaft from the spare motor. Surprisingly they are in very good condition, regardless I did the washer swap anyway.