I have taken the exhaust off my bike. I look into the two circular holes that are left in the engine. You can feel a tubular object in them running vertically and upon looking the one on the left side is white, the one on the right is black. Is this normal?

Thanks

Those are the stems of the exhaust valves. They should be about the same color. Black is about normal but white indicates it is lean.

Pull the plugs, what color are they?

How many miles on the engine?
When is the last time the carbs have been syncronized?
Any other mods...pod filter, rejetted, exhaust?

I can't pull the plugs until I buy a spark plug tool. When buying the bike I was told the plugs (NKG) were new.

The engine has 15,990 miles.

Don't know when the carbs were last synched, I bought the bike with 14,500 miles and was told it had just been serviced with all fluids changed. I did check the float height recently and all is good on that front.

The bike has a stock exhaust but is fitted with a K&N air filter with an air removal box installed.

Hope some of that helps.
Thanks.

The color of the plugs will tell a lot. Also, check to see if they are the same model/type. It is very possible that the carbs are out of sync and the left is running lean. A good carb cleaning should help if there are any clogged jets. Worse case there may be valve sealing issues, but lets not deal with that yet.

Quote from: hehehemannI can't pull the plugs until I buy a spark plug tool. When buying the bike I was told the plugs (NKG) were new.

The engine has 15,990 miles.

Don't know when the carbs were last synched, I bought the bike with 14,500 miles and was told it had just been serviced with all fluids changed. I did check the float height recently and all is good on that front.

The bike has a stock exhaust but is fitted with a K&N air filter with an air removal box installed.

Hope some of that helps.
Thanks.

If he replaced the air box with the K&n pods (I think that is what you saying), did he rejet the bike at the same time - with the stock jets you will be running lean.

Regards
Conrad

That is true, but he would be running lean in both cylinders not just the left one.

Quote from: hehehemannI can't pull the plugs until I buy a spark plug tool.

If you happen to have an 18mm wrench lying around, that will work too.

Ive got the same problem, right rich, left lean.  My right plugs is black while the left is a light tan, Ive also fouled 1 plug on the right hole.  You can hear the dam thing misfiring when I first start it up, it will fire once then skip one or two then fire again, it doesnt do it once its warmed up good.  My bike runs real good though, its a 93 with 13,500 mi.  Its also got a dead spot around 5,000 rpms.  I think a good look into the carbs will help this winter when I tear her down to get the frame painted.

Quote from: hehehemannI can't pull the plugs until I buy a spark plug tool. When buying the bike I was told the plugs (NKG) were new.

You do know there's supposed to be a baggie with tools in a recess of the rear fender under the seat, dan't you? That should contain plug wrench. (It's possible that the previosu owner lost it, of course.)

Okay, I pulled my plugs.

The left plug is white

The right plug is black with some kind of mineral deposit on it.

What do I do next?

Thanks all.

Take apart and clean both carbs. Make sure they are set up the same...jets, needle shims, float levels. Sync the carbs. Also, look for leaks at the carb boots.

Reading the plug color is a little misleading since they were last running at idle. The idle circuit would me the the main area to look at...pilot jet & air screws. The main jet & needle height do play a roll but not too much at idle.