I purchased the bike a few months ago. It had been sitting in a lot for the better part of 20 years until the previous owner bought it and got it up and running. As such it has very low miles for its age with barely over 5k and ran well until the charging system gave out. Other than draining the battery the bike would run perfectly. I let the bike sit for a few months before installing a new stator and rectifier only to find it wouldnt start. The battery has been kept on a tender to keep the voltage at 12.8. When I try to start the bike itll flood and I attempted repeatedly to drain the carbs to allow them to dry and then start again. I have since then cleaned out the carbs. However, when I took a look at the sparkplugs I saw the wire for the 1st cylinder was badly burned while those of the other cylinders look like new. My question is is there anyway to fix the wire without purchasing a whole set and if not which would be compatible with my bike as I'm having trouble locating them. Lastly, seeing as the bike would start before sitting is the damage to the wires caused by my repeated attempts to start the bike or did it somehow manage to start before with a damaged wire. The spark plugs were covered in oil when I removed them and im aware that flooding can cause oil and other nasty stuff to make its way into the engine.

 

In no particular order:
1. Your bike sat for a long time and then sat for a couple months. Your carbs are gummed up. Most likely the float needles are stuck, that's why the bike is flooding. Take the carbs off and CLEAN them. Really clean them, then clean them again. This is why your bike is flooding and won't start.
2. Your plug wire looks corroded, not burnt. Probably from sitting for so long. Could have had some water or condensation down in the plug hole. There is a drain hole from the bottom of the plug hole out to the front of the engine. Make sure it's open so stuff can drain out from around the plug in the future.
3. As for the plug wire, you can probably just clean it up as best as you can. Scotch brite or bead blast or whatever. If you really want to buy new wires, there are plenty of places that sell oem wires. RonAyers for example or your local dealer.
4. Your plugs themselves are probably covered with carbon and fuel, not oil. Either way since you've pulled it all apart, you might as well change the plugs. But they aren't causing your problem, they are a result of gummed up carbs. See #1 above.

 

Phil, thanks for your suggestions! You were correct in that the plug was corroded. I used some cleaner on it and the plug looks good as new. I also cleaned out the carbs while making sure to clean the float needle especially thoroughly. Unfortunately reattaching the carbs is proving to be quite a headache due to all the extra hoses from the emission system present in the California model. I found a diagram for the hoses and I have it all but figure out but theres a connection on the engines cylinder and I cant figure out what the appropriate hose for it is or where it leads to.

 

Are you talking about this one in red? That's for attaching gauges when you sync the carbs. Normally it's plugged off.
You should have similar 'ports' on the other 3 intakes, but they probably have screws in them to plug them.

 

Yes I was referring to the one in red. The one for the 4th cylinder is the only one that has a screw. The 1st cylinder leads to part of the emissions system while the 3rd leads to just below the radiator next to the oil filter.​​​​​​​

 

Yeah, looks a little different because it's a CA model.

On the non-CA, the 3rd & 4th would be blocked with screws.
2nd one is plugged off and the 1st cylinder one goes directly to the fuel petcock under the tank.

It looks like you got hooked up right for a CA bike.