help... please!

[Thedyingninja]

Okay so i was riding home yesterday and about a block from my place i was accelerating from a stop sign, was in second gear, accelerating quickly, but not hammering on it, and i lost power and my bike wanted to die. i let off the gas and it did die. I started it again and it would run if i gave it gas but it wasnt running well and i had a bunch of smoke coming out of the pipe for one of my cylinders (74 honda 360cl), and had nearly 0 power to move forward, so i pushed it home.
what could it be? where should i start looking?
im sad, cant ride. but at least i had my bike running when the guys came through town for the cannonball run.
http://www.motorcyclecannonball.com/
they literally rode right in front of my place, and stayed a half mile down the road from me, some of them parked in the lot across the street from me.

 

[VonYinzer]

Could be any number of things.

Carb issues, timing, etc. The smoke is unsettling. Did you do any engine work?

 

[GLENNWOOD55CAMEO]

If it started smoking, Check the compression......... :-\

 

[Rusnak_322]

I would say a it is a bad valve or piston ring and it is burning oil (source of white smoke). A compression check is the first place to start, or just go ahead and pull the head off.
Timing or carbs would not cause smoke unless it was so bad you holed a piston or burnt a valve.

 

[Thedyingninja]

Well its not blue smoke, its white, so its not oil.
I toyed around with it the next day, the exhaust pipe for that cylinder is ice cold after running a few minutes, the other is hot. pulled spark plug, wasnt getting any spark, i swapped the spark plugs between the 2 cylinders and i was getting spark with both. buttoned it up, still was doing the same thing. (still no clue as to why swapping spark plugs would give me spark.....) and they are both new spark plugs less than a month old.
also i am getting smoke from around my carb area, cannot pinpoint the exact spot where the smoke is coming from.
The other cylinder seems to be running just fine.
there was no alarming sound or jerking or anything when it actually happened, its like someone just flipped a switch and all of a sudden one cylinder wasnt working.

thanks for all the help already guys, lots to think about.

 

[VonYinzer]

Rebuild, clean and sync your carbs.

 

[GLENNWOOD55CAMEO]

Before you rebuild the carbs, check your compression...........................Its quick and easy to do..

 

[Thedyingninja]

im honestly certain it isnt my carbs because when i pull the spark plug, it was unburnt gas on it, and if i turn it over with the plug out, it sprays a mist out
im not trying to be difficult here, thanks everyone for the help im just trying t work through it all

 

[legendary_rider]

Yeah but the mixture could be off. Just throwing out ideas. Take mine with a grain of salt as I'm still new. I don't think you answered the previous question that's pretty important. Exacty what work have you done to the motor?

 

[VonYinzer]

Before you rebuild the carbs, check your compression...........................Its quick and easy to do..

Agreed. That's the first step.

 

[Thedyingninja]

I havent done any work to the motor other than replacing the plugs and wire ends.

 

[Thedyingninja]

okay an update, im not getting spark in the left cylinder, i am getting compression.
when i put the left spark plug against the motor i get no spark, but if i pull the plug away a millimeter, i get a spark between the motor and the negative side of the plug. (not the center post)

 

[GLENNWOOD55CAMEO]

Sounds like a fouled plug. Swap them around and see if thats it.....................

 

[Thedyingninja]

Got a new plug and its firing just fine, went out and rode and bike stopped, seems i wasnt getting a charge to my battery, i think im having stator problems, but i dont think they are constant.....

 

[crazypj]

You have checked oil level?
The oil in generator cover helps cool the generator windings

 

[Thedyingninja]

I changed the oil today, there was oil in the stator cover, but the oil was dirty, so like i said, i changed it out.
Im assuming that when you put oil in the motor, it flows over into that housing as well.
Got a multimeter, and put it on my battery, 7 volts, started the bike and revved the motor, 7 volts, turned on the headlight, 6 volts and the bike wanted to die.

 

[crazypj]

You'll have to charge battery and see if it holds above 12volts

 

[OJ]

What PJ said.

I had similar issues. I charged the battery for over 24 hours and she's been OK since.

 

[Thedyingninja]

Yeah but even if the battery wont take more, the volts should read higher than 7 with the bike running just like a car when u have it running reads higher than what the battery says when the engine isnt.
plus i had just charged the battery earlier yesterday.
all of that being said, when i go thte bike the battery was bone dry, i put battery acid in it, but its never actually been to a full charge, and never really wanted to charge all the way up. ill throw it on the charger and see.
could a bad battery actually cause that? i would think that even if the battery isnt very good that the bike should still run just fine as long as the battery has SOME charge.
either way ill give it a try....

 

[Thedyingninja]

what about jumpering over to my car battery to get my 12 volts, how would i check to see if the stator is working then?
is there a way i can use the multimeter to check the stator? there are 4 wires coming out into a harness, red yellow and 2 others, can i pop that apart and check the pins?