I recently did a gasket R&R on my 89 Cane.... After retiming the bike twice it finally starts... If you are sitting on the bike starting from left cylinders going in a row 1 & 2 fire but 3 & 4 DO NOT!!!!.... I have fuel, and good spark to all cylinders.... So from past experiences on cars i did a compression test.... I have 150 across all cylinders after about 5 cranks per cylinder..... Is this the right way to test the compression? The carbs were never adjusted and the bike ran fine before taking them off it just leaked oil out the jugs so we replaced all the gaskets.... If anyone has any ideas please help? Is there another way to check to make sure the valves aren't leaking without taking the head back off and ruining a perfectly good head gasket if thats not really the problem? whats the firing order? which coil is in control of what cylinders? It seems pretty self explanatory b/c the wires are only so long, but maybe I've got them wrong.... Please help I am new to Bikes thanks....

 

compression pressure is 185psi give or take 28psi with warm engine in the manual it is likely a mistake was made with wiring possibly

 

If you have 150 psi across all cylinders you have to be missing either fuel or spark somewhere..
The valves should be fine because that would show up in a compression test usually. You can also use a cylinder leak down tester to verify the engine isn't losing compression somewhere, but I don't think that is your issue.

It sounds to me like the plug wires are possibly in the wrong location. I don't have my shop manual handy, but I *think* the left coil fires 1 and 4 and the right coil fires 2 and 3. Are you using a temp gun to determine which cylinders are not firing or a different method?

 

I just dealt with this last week. Its the plug wires! Swap 3 and 4 and it will work.

 

I feel like a complete moron but it was the plug wires... thanks for the help EVERYONE!!!!!