Motorcycle Repair: bike wont start, honda cb350, worst case scenario

Question
hey Falcon.
i have a Honda CB350. I inherited it from my brother at the beginning of last summer, and it ran great. towards the middle of the summer it stopped working. i took out the spark plugs to find them burnt out. i replaced them and took the bike for a spin. about 3 miles later the bike stopped and wouldn't start again. after getting home i looked at the spark pluhs, and again they were burnt out. as many times as i replaced the spark plugs, the bike would run for only a few miles. i put the bike away for the winter and am now working on getting it running. i have put new spark plugs and gas in it and checked for spark and fuel, but it will not start. while cranking the engine it will ocasionally make a week pop sound. could it be the timing is way off? if so, how do i fix that? or is it something compleatly different?
thanks for your help.  

Answer
Hi Nick.
 To start with, you have a very old bike.  At it's age, you, kind of, have to treat it like your Grandmother (lots of tlc) or it will not work for you at all.

What you have is probably a few problems.  You will need the repair manual to test and repair the bike, as well as a decent tool kit and possibly some model specific (the repair manual list them) tools.

1)  Carbs need to be properly and thoroughly cleaned.  It sounds like they are running super lean.  Clean out and reseal the tank as well.

2)  You probably have one or more shorts and/or failed components in the ignition system.  best case scenario, it's a couple of easy to find shorts.  Worst case scenario would require replacement of the entire wiring harness and/or ignition coils.

Either way, you will need the repair manual for proper inspection and testing proceedures as well as test specs, among other things.

Let me know how it goes.
Good luck
FALCON