Motorcycle Repair: 84 Honda Magna 700cc 4-clylinder, vacuum leaks, honda magna

Question
First off I'd like to say thank you for spending time to answer this question. I'll give you the basic background on this bike. I bought it about 4 months about. When first bought; it ran, (badly) and would not hold an idle. I am a mechanic and first off I checked the electrical units with an OHM meter, found the spark units and rectifier were reading below range. I then replaced both. Charging system then worked fine. After, I noticed that the fuel system was acting up, checked systems and found that I was not getting fuel to carbs. With that I then replaced the fuel pump. Bike started up had good spark to the plugs. Starting problem still exists.  Main problem: left side generator cover must be removed when attempting to check timing(with timing light)oil is flying everywhere? How do I go about checking the timing ? When attempting to find the means of checking the timing; no one seems to know, even the bike's manual. I know that there is no means of changing the timing but the manual explains that all of the other units are working properly if the timing is correct. So, therefore that would point to a carb problem possibly.
P.S
When Spark generator was checked at (outside Temp.)of 95F degree and above it read 530 OHS when the book said  480 OHMS but the book also said that ideal temp for checking the spark units was 68F degrees. Once again thank you.

Answer
Gary, it sounds like you have done a great job of going through the electrical/ignition system. These are problem areas in most of the V-4 Hondas of that era.

Assuming that you have checked the valve clearances and gotten favorable compression readings, then the carb rack is the next stop in the great Magna adventure.

When bikes are hard to start and won't idle, either there are big vacuum leaks or the idle jets are plugged up from sitting (most likely).

Don't worry about the ignition timing. It is fixed electronically with the pulse generator as a reference. Spark advance timing is very unlikely as a cause. Plugged carb jets are the most likely cause of your current issues.

I think the pulse generator coils are close enough given the temperature variance. Resistance goes up as temperature rises.

Bill Silver