It's slushing outside and the bike is in, although if this global warming thing keeps going this may be the last winter the bike comes inside. So I was running the bike on the centerstand to get the Stabilized fuel through the system and I noticed the exhaust sounded slightly different from one side to the other. When I put my hand over the exhaust it felt different from side to side, one side softer and the other sharper. I hadn't noticed this before as I ride with ear plugs. Anybody care to share their opinion?

 

I will take a shot in the dark here; dual exhaust with each covering 2 cylinders, they do not all fire at the same time so there is bound to be a differance in the sound between the two pipes. Does not sound like avalve problem.

Loud ticking from the top of the cylinders is sign of valves needing adjustment.

 

An imbalance like that could possibly mean the valves are waaay out of adjustment, but you would hear some catastrophic valve noise from from the head. More likely culprits are:
~Serious gun in one of the carbs. (This seems like the most likely because you mentioned fuel stabilizer.) If you left fuel in one or both carbs (even with stabil) the jets and/or float valve can get gunky, necessitating a carb rebuild and clean (and if you do this, PLEASE be careful not to bend the sensitive little arms on the float valves!)
~One of the float levels is off because someone bent one of the sensitive little arms of the float valve when they rebuilt your carburetor.
~Carbs waay out of synch
~Have you been running the bike like this in the winter very long? The weak side of the engine may have a fouled plug. If you're not going to ride your bike, running it in place is a lot worse for it than winterizing it.
~Do you regularly start the bike and let it idle on the sidestand?
~Vaccuum diaphragm problem/leakage, OR a problem with one of the vaccuum hoses leading to that diaphragm.
Did it just recently start doing this? Did you buy the bike used? How many miles have you put on it since buying it?
Does the exhaust out of both pipes stink? Which side are we talking about here?
-CCinC

 

Ok let me answer the questions that I have received back from you the loyal forum watchers.

I just filled the tank and put stabil in it. The bike was then run while on the centerstand till the fan kicked on. The idea was to get the treated fuel thru the system.
The carbs haven’t been rebuilt. The bike is new. Purchased in Sept. 4600 miles on it.
Just had the 4,000 mile service performed on it prior to bringing the bike inside.
Plugs have foulded before. Hotter plugs, as the manual says for cold weather, have been installed.
The bike has had a history of running cold. Stalling when coming to a stop in cold weather has been a problem. Dealer said it wasn’t meant to run in cold/wet and cold weather.
I think this is going to be an educational experience.
The right side of the bike has the sharper exhaust sound and pulse, felt with hand.[/ol]

 

Every experience is an educational experience!
I try to pay attention when other people screw up--as long as they're paying for my tuition, I might as well pat attention in class.

Rather than get the stabiled fuel in the system, I believe it would be best to turn the petcock to OFF and then run the fuel line and float bowls completely out of fuel.

If the bike runs cold and you've fouled plugs before, it might be a good idea to check your pilot screw settings. An rich setting will help a bike run cooler (but will also have a tendency to foul plugs.) If it's bitter cold where you live and your bike is running so cold that it won't idle even after you've ridden more than 10 miles at freeway speed, you can cover a portion of your radiator, like truckers do in winter. I'm not joking. Tape or clamp some kind of heavy, non-meltable fabric over the bottom half of your radiator and the reduced cooling surface area will allow your engine to get up to proper operating temp. I would honestly rather do that than put in hotter plugs.

 

That in itself does not make much sense to me. g/l