Motorcycle Repair: my honda needs help, honda cb550, manual test

Question
hey chris,
 i have a 1983 honda cb550 SC i was given by a friend for nothing its my first bike. its my first bike, but there is a problem its only running on half the engine. he replaced the valve cover gaskets on each side of the motor but like i said its only running on half the engine. i just cranks and cranks we got it to start once or twice but thats about it. im thinking its my be the plug wires that might not in the correct order if you could please give me some of your advice on what you may think it be  and the firing order for the cylinders so i can try that. well thank you for you time and hope to hear from you.

     sincerly jim  

Answer
Hi Jim.
 I see two possibilities here.

1)  If the plugs are all firing (which I doubt), then they are in the wrong order (which you suspect).

2)  One of the coils is not firing.

Get the repair manual and check to make certain that the plug wires are all hooked up properly.

If all four plugs are not firing, then there are two possibilities.

1)  One of the coils is bad.  Test it in accordance with the repair manual test specs and proceedures.

2)  There is a short in the ignition system wiring.  Test the wires with a multimeter.  See if you are getting power to that coil.

Let me know what you find.
Good luck.
FALCON