I also learned the hard way that you can not run a cheap set of flea bay points. When I first started this build I bought a set. After trying to set these I just removed them and put in a OEM set. I was rather surprised at the difference. Lesson learned.
Checked the timing and it was spot on. The carburetors were a different story. I kept going with the factory suggestion of out 1 1/2 turns on the pilots. The bike ran awful. Had to keep the RPM high just to keep it running. Kept dying and when I opened the throttle it was horrible.
The heck with this! I backed out the one (1) and four (4) pilots until the engine smoothed out. Then went for number two (2) and three (3). About 2 to 2 1/2 turns. (richer) Problem solved. Idles lower, snappy responce. No popping and the exhaust sounds sweet. These 77 models were just leaned out to much for emissions.
Since changing out the points and adjusting the pilots guess I better sync the carburetors again. On a good note between this site and the shop I continue to learn.
tt