Newbie and also having engine issues

[Paul]

Plugs, coils and connections are always a good start and then the adventure begins.

[Kevin Proctor]

Hey Jonesy

thanks for the recommendations.  I have checked the wires at the TCI for breaks.  They are not stretching and the resistance for the pickups at the TCI are correct so i believe they are OK.

I know the plug caps are not good.  As recommended by Geoff the plan is to replace them first and see what the result is.  There is still a good chance I will replace the coils as I'm not terribly happy with them.  Maybe that can be a Xmas present to myself.

Thanks again.............Kevin

[Jonesy :-)]

Hi Kevin
Welcome
1st thing I would check is pick up coil wires for breakage. Under left side engine cover. These are one of the XS's known weak points. Wires suffer from fatigue breakage from constant bending. outwardly appear ok but go along the wire and pull and where it is broken the insulation will stretch

[Kevin Proctor]

Guys

Yes I am a newbie to the group but not to bikes.  67 years old almost retired living in Gippsland, Vic.  I owned a XS Eleven back in the day and loved it.  Had to get the current one when it came up on Market Place for a good price

Currently I have:
A 1980 XS1100 which has some issues that I will come to. 
A 1972 Suzuki GT750 waterbottle (water cooled 3 cyl 2 stroke) that I am fully restoring
A 2003 Yamaha FJR1300 tourer used for weekends away
A 2004 Suzuki Hayabusa that is not registered as it is too fast for me now
A 2006 XJR1300 that is my daily ride when I get a chance

The XS1100 is having some engine running issues.  Please bear with me and have a read to see if you have any pearls of wisdom

I recently bought the XS1100 which had had a broken valve repaired by the previous owner.  It was running on 2 cylinders when I got it.  Although the bike doesn’t look as good as I would like it, at this stage I just want to get it running OK to see if it is generally reliable before deciding how far I want to go with restoring it.

Since purchase I have carried out some works but it is still pretty much running on 2 cylinders with exhausts 2 & 3 only getting warm:

Inspected cylinder bores with a camera.  All looked OK with no signs of obvious scoring.  Hard to see if there was any crosshatch through the camera
Dropped the oil pan to check for debris as there was a little aluminium in the filter – Pan likewise but pretty good all-round.
One cam was out of time by one tooth.  Removed cams.  Cams and tunnels were good with no signs of scoring or wear.
Reset the valve timing
Adjusted valve clearances.
Adjusted cam chain
Cleaned and re-sealed the carburettors, replaced float level needle and seats.  Static set of float levels.  Fitted new diaphragms as one was holed
Engine started OK after finishing all works.
Oil pressure is running at 55 psi at 3000 rpms
No signs of smoke in the exhaust (4 into 1 system)
Hot engine compression was 150 psi on all cylinders with good climb on gauge
All spark plugs are firing.
The engine is not running well enough to play with carburettor adjustments yet
Swapped plugs 1 & 2 and also 3 & 4 with each other with no change to the temperature of the exhausts.
Engine is revving up OK but tends to backfire through the exhaust I believe due to cylinder/s 2 and or 3 occasionally misfiring and lighting unburned fuel in the exhaust
 
My next thought is to try swapping the coil for cyls 1 & 4 to 2 & 3 position to see if the temperatures of the exhausts shift indicating a bad coil for 2 & 3

Any other ideas you can offer?   Are there still genuine or OEM coils available that will suit the bike as I am happy to replace the coils if need be ?

Thanks………………Kevin