Have you got spark at all 4 plugs Tim? If you have, stop worrying about your ignition, points are rubbish, but if you've got spark, they're doing their job.
If you've adjusted your valves properly and your cam timing is spot on, you should have adequate compression, (get a compression tester and check, don't worry about numbers, just make sure they're all within 10% of each other) so all that leaves is your carbs.
Yeah yeah, I know, you've cleaned them all, but are they really clean? You need an air compressor, a can of carb cleaner, and some patience. Remove your carbs completely, drop your float bowls, remove everything, (floats, needle and seats, main jet and pilot jet) and importantly, mixture screws.
Pump compressed air through every orifice, and make sure it's coming out the other end. Spray carb cleaner through every orifice (watch your eyes, that stuff stings) and make sure every orifice is clear, then spray air through again to make sure.
Check that your main and pilot jets are clear, make sure all the little holes in the main jet emulsion tubes are clear and clean, then re-assemble. Turn the mixture screws in all the way until they just touch, then wind them out 1.5 turns, that's all you'll need for a "ball-park" setting.
Check your float levels. If fuel is pissing out (with the bike on the main stand, sometimes they'll leak on the side stand) the levels are too high. I know you're probably thinking that you've cleaned the bloody carbs enough, but you mentioned earlier that when you pulled the plug caps on 2 and 3 it made little difference, that tells me that your idle circuits are blocked.
It is a trick for new players Tim, I remember when another member proudly rode his bike over to my place to show it off to me a few years ago, and I pointed out that it was only running on 3 cylinders. He was really happy when I made it run on all 4 for him! Cheers, Terry.
