no fire on cylinder 1 xj550

ok, so im still baffled with my lack of power at wot. I built lollipop baffles for the exhaust, thinking it was a back pressure issue and it actually ended up decreasing the top end power even more.. It seems like if it was a getting under fueled it would sputter and miss somewhat. Could it be that I over jetted it? it comes stock with 112 mains and I installed 117.5 mains, and keep in mind that its got pod filters and straight exhaust. Also could it be the needle setting? im not really too familiar with how to adjust the needle and exactly what it does.. sorry, I seem to be beating a dead horse, I just want this bike to run to its full potential.
thanks guys

 

Did you try giving it a little choke after you had topped out?

 

I'm not seeing it anywhere in the discussion....

Have you actually checked and adjusted your shim clearances yet?

 

Iv tried giving it choke and it doesnt help the power at all.. No i havent checked the valve shim clearences, where would one obtain new shims if it apears to be out of spec?

 

Some dude named Dave runs a shim pool. If only there was a way to draw his attention to this thread... @hogfiddles , do you know how to get a hold of him?
Getting the shims into spec is an extremely important step to getting these bikes working properly. Check this link:
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/airhead-valve-adjustment-with-pics.14827/#post-122016

 

Also i was just riding today, and it felt like the clutch slipped out through 4th and 5th. It has new clutch plates, but iv been having issues getting the clutch adjusted proporly. It seems when it is set right, it wont go into neutral, and if its set so that it can go into neutral then it noticeably slips under hardly any load. Maybe it needs a new cable.. But could that be whats causing the power loss?

 

Cool, that would be nice. Lol iv been kind of avoiding doing the valve job due to the fact it looks like a good size job

 

what oil are you using? oil not specifically designed for wet clutch motorcycles (or deisel engines, for some reason) will make your clutch slip. Check out K-moe's oil link:
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threa...or-a-wet-clutch-motorcycle.43702/#post-386713
As for the valve job, it's not thaaaaat tricky, once you've got the tools and info. It gets easier each time as you become more familiar. If you don't want to buy the shim tool, read this too:
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threa...-the-tool-vs-ziptie-w-pics.29209/#post-249951
Listen to BigFitz. He the man.

 

So choke didn't help at WOT. Implication is that either A) you are already giving it more fuel than it wants, or B) that your fuel bowls are being sucked dry and there simply isn't any fuel in the bowls to be added by the choke.

Sure would be nice to know if it wants more fuel or less fuel.

If you've got a working vacuum petcock, you could do a WOT chop to see what the bowl level is. Run at WOT until it won't go no more and then kill the motor and coast to a stop. Then once you're stopped, check the bowl levels. If the bowl levels are way down, you're sucking the bowls dry faster than the supply can refill them.

Maybe some of the smart guys around here can come up with an easier way to figure that out...

 

Stop chasing your tail.
Read this: http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/the-information-overload-hour.27544/
Do all of the things.
Nothing can be avoided. Everyone who owned the bike before you avoided the maintenance; you can't afford to.