Motorcycle Repair: 1985 honda, honda shadow vt700, electronic ignition units

Question
I just bought a 1985 honda shadow vt700 and one of the cylinders isnt firing the same as the other. it has new plugs and only 10000 original miles. I can get it running and stick my hand over each exhaust and the left side has higher pressure coming out than the right. Ocasionally the right side will have a pop or a burst of high pressure but thats it. its not leaking oil but i hear a slight ticking noise coming from the crank case. if u have any advice of where i should start whether its just a carb clean and adjustment or if i should start pulling the head off i would appreciate it.

Answer
Start by pulling the plugs to see if the one on the side that's not running is wet. If it is the problem could be lack of spark. Try swaping the plugs to see if the problem moves to the other side (while rare, it is possible for a new plug to be defective). Next, try swapping the coils. It could even be the electronic ignition units.

If both plugs are dry the problem is likely to be in the intake. First off, make sure the air filter is installed properly and in good shape. Make sure there are no leaks between the airbox and the carbs.

If that doesn't solve it try synching & balancing the carbs.

If it is still running on 1 cylinder the carbs probably need cleaning. Have a look at the carb cleaning information on
www.randakks.com
The site deals with GoldWing carbs (Randakk is a GoldWing restorer and carb specialist), but the same principles apply to any carbs.

I recommend joining a good forum that specializes in bikes like yours. http://www.hondashadow.net/ looks pretty good.

If you don't have a shop manual you should get one - your bike is an antique and you will have a hard time finding a shop that will work on it. The sad fact is that a lot of the mechanics working now are too young to remember bikes this old and aren't interested in learning about them so that they can do a proper job since yours may be the only one they see this year. This means that you will have to do most of your own work, and working on a bike without a good shop manual is just not worth the headaches. (My bikes are from the same era - that's why I fix them myself.)

I recommend that you get two manuals - a Factory Shop Manual and a Haynes or Clymer. That way when you don't understand the explanation in one you will probably figure it out when you have read the other too. If you spend some time on Google you might even find a factory manual available for free download.