Flashback, thanks....I think I was pretty careful not to mis-read the starter fluid test. I sprayed near the air filter on purpose to get a sense of what kind of change that would make. But when I pinpoint the spray right on the flange/head mating area the idle drops off dramatically.

texasscott1, Yeah, I noticed the same thing with the o rings, so I made gaskets which "fixed" it for about two rides. Made more gaskets, used some sealant, still leaked. So I went back to o rings and have some black permatex stuff on there. Jeeze, I just can't imagine it's so tough to seal those surfaces. Unbelievable.

As for other problems, heck, I'm open to any suggestions. SVS? Well, I've Sea Foamed this thing several times....the whole thing, in the gas and Deep Creep in the intake and exhaust......, and it just doesn't have any effect on this. What else?

What's weird is, all that needs to happen to clear this up is to pull over and let the bike idle. It sits there and burbles on one, maybe one and a half cylinders for about five seconds or so, and then it's fine. I take off and it will run through the gears no problem, and then....and then....I try to hold a steady 60 mph or whatever and it soon sounds like crap again. Then, roll off the throttle, and when I roll it back on it's really, really bad. So, I pull over, jump off to try to detect which cylinder is down, but before I can get back there it's already starting to fire on both again. Back to square one.

I don't think what you're experiencing is the result of a manifold leak - heck you can take the AIS vacuum hose off and it won't cause anything like what you've described.

IF you've got a real good case of sticking exhaust valves then that will take a cylinder out and if it's caused by improper valve to guide clearance then there aren't any additives that'll help. The cylinder cutting out will probably show a lot of carbon on the plug so should be easy to find.

Scott B.

As a test, you may want to unplug and bypass the fuel pump with a section of fuel line straight from the petcock to the carb...worth a try, it sounds like it may be starving......

Thanks again guys....I'll check that stuff. Scott, I appreciate the opinion about it not being a leak....that's interesting and should help me going forward.

I will build my resolve and tackle this soon. life needs to allow me the time to do so.

Thanks again.

mike