Valve issue? Why? Have you given it a compression test and found very low to nothing in #4?
Compression test proved nothing was wrong, I was wrong to assume a valve issue.
How much fuel was on the #4 plug after the ride?
Quite a bit, it was wet with gas.
Are your overflow tubes plugged? You need to set those floats correctly and if you think the float pin is hanging it up , clean the floats were the pin goes through , polish the brass pin so it slides nicely into the floats. This hang up wouldn't have anything to do with plyer marks would it? Is that the needle we are talking about? If it isn't, and we are talking about a seating issue with the float valve, there is a toothpaste trick somewhere on this forum that would help it seat better if it's sticking.
All the brass has since been polished up and carbs have been cleaned as noted below. I didn't find any plier marks either, everything was smooth. The needles are original parts, but the float valve needles are new (and have been cleaned again).
My guess is your carbs are still dirty, the overflow is clogged,and either the float pin has been boogered up to where it won't allow the floats to operate properly or the float valve is not seating or is installed upsidedown....in any event I think your over flow is flowing down the #4 cylinder, passing through the rings and ending up in your oil while is rests and fowling the plug when you run...that's my guess. Have you checked your oil ,does it smell like fuel?
And if this is all or partly true, you need to address these problems before they turn into a BIG problem.
I make sure to turn the petcock off when I park the bike, but I think you're right about it getting past the rings somehow. And yes, the oil smelled strongly of gas. I have since drained it.
I've done quite a bit of work over the past couple days. Bought a gallon can of Gunk Carb Dip and proceeded to tear down the carbs again for a nice soak. They cleaned up better than I expected. After I reinstall them on the bike I'll be checking I set the float level accurately with the clear tube method.
While they were soaking I started to tear down the top of the motor to go ahead and do my 650 cam swap. Upon trying to loosen the cam chain tensioner I realiezed it was stuck. I let it soak overnight from PB Blaster but it still wouldn't loosen up. Ended up having to cut the nut and screw off.
Now I'm waiting on another bracket to come in the mail so I can replace the broken screw and put my cylinder head back on. I'm also waiting on my buddy to get here to help me get the head off. I'm hoping I don't find anything unusual once I get it pulled off. And hopefully I can reuse the head gasket too, my budget is tight right now.
Also decided to cut the front off the front fender. The orginal owner laid it over once and it ground the fender stay and fender a little bit on the side. I have to say I'm happy with the result of cutting the fender, it looks a little bit better. Just used tape to mark where I wanted to cut and used a Dremel to do the cutting.
Oh yeah, when I was reassembling the carbs I had a scare of tightening one of the pilot jets too tight and it sheared off in its hole. I ended up being able to get it out with a small tapered tap.
All of the gas-smelling oil has been drained out of the bike. I still need to get some more oil to cycle through it and get the rest of the old oil out, but that'll happen later this week. I've also been gathering parts to do a dual disc conversion with 750 brakes and a GL1000 master cylinder. That might have to wait till the summer though.
