Motorcycle Repair: 1979 Honda 1100 dead cylinders?, honda 1100, plug caps

Question
Hi Bill,

Thinking of buying a 79 Honda 1100, but the only problem is that when it starts up, it will idle roughly.  Upon discovery, the outside exhaust pipes on each side are cold while the inside ones are quite hot.  The owner supposedly had talked to his mechanic and was told it could cost more than $500 for the repairs, but wouldn't be more specific on what the repair might be.  I love the looks of the bike, but dont know if it would be worth sticking more than $500 into it.  

Any ideas what it might be off the top of your head?

Thanks,

JB

Answer
Here's a link to the 1975-79 GL1000s.... http://www.classicwingclub.org/  GL1100s didn't start until 1980, so I am a little confused.  The ignitions are similar, however, in case the problem is that.

Without knowing the mileage and repair history it is difficult to guess accurately about this problem. If the bike has been sitting for awhile, the idle jets in the carbs could be plugged up. You really need to establish if it has even compression on all cylinders first. From that you have to see if it is getting spark to all cylinders. If so, then the problem is probably in the carburetors....  $500 carb overhauls are not unusual nowadays on any multi-cylinder machine. There is an air cut valve on the carburetor bank that is supposed to reduce backfiring when you back off the throttle. The diaphragms do go bad and cause an air leak in the intake manifold, which may cause misfiring on one or more cylinders. Could just have bad spark plug caps/fouled plugs or many other conditions.....

If you don't want to spend $500, skip it.... but remember that buying a used bike can often set you back an extra $500 if you don't look it over carefully, Gold wing or not....

Bill Silver