Motorcycle Repair: rough idle, yamaha maxim, cylinder type

Question

-------------------------hi Anthony thanks for the quick response, just wanted to ask you i took the tank off and drained the fuel from the bowls underneath the carbs and no.1 carb had no fuel in it? the other three where full but no.1 nothing, and this is the area that the ticking is coming from, what does this mean?   thanks.

Followup To

Question -
hi am not sure if your the expert to ask but i`ll ask you anyway. any help would be appreciated. i have a 1985 yamaha maxim xj 700 and it was running fine no problems accept now it idles rough and then stalls, the other day i was riding it and it started to drop cyclinders and pretty well stalled, its allmost like your running out of gas but the tank is full. I know that the fuel tap needs replacing because of a constant drip through the line but dont think that is the problem.when you first start it its fine and then maybe a kilometer down the road it starts to sputter and looses power like the carbs are being starved of gas, the fuel filter is a clear cylinder type and appears to be unpluged and the air filter is good. in an unrelated matter ( maybe related ) there is allot of ticking coming from the head area now started about a month ago and is getting worse. thanks Anthony.

Answer -
It sounds to me like you are in dire need of a valve adjustment.  This would also explain the ticking sounds.  I suggest bringing it to a dealer or getting a service manual if you are mechanically inclined to do it yourself.  It is not a small task.

Good Luck

Anthony
'Ride Today - Live Again'

Answer
Steve,

I'm guessing that you will need to trace the fuel line for carb 1 back to the tank.  Verify that it is not clogged.  Verify the fuel filter, if there is one, for that carb is clean.  If everything looks ok, carb 1 sounds like it may have a clogged jet - begin dissassembling the carb, using spray carb cleaner to clean all parts, clean all jets with compressed air in a can and rebuild as necessary.  If you are not up to the task, remove the carb and bring to a dealer, it will save the labor of them doing the removal.