Ignition problems?

[jonah]

I have a 1980 xs650 special. It belongs to my brother who left it under a cover at my house about two years ago. This summer I've decided to get it running. I uncovered it and it is surprisingly clean. I flushed the tank and put in new gas, changed the spark plugs and got a new battery.
The starter isn't hooked up so I kicked for awhile and finally she fired up. Sounded terrible though, loud but heavy, she chokes hard when you turn the throttle and backfires like crazy! I pulled the plugs back out and they are all sooty.
I pulled the carbs and took em apart, dipped, rinsed, dryed and oiled them lightly. I got rebuild and re-jet kits from mikes so I put them back together with the kits. I bench synced them then remounted with new pod filters.
I checked the valves and the rotor timing, and checked the brushes.
Then I hooked the battery up, fired her up, and she sounds exactly the same... Slightly less backfiring but if I hold the throttle for 10 seconds, pow!
It looks like their is an electronic ignition system, could this have gone bad? How do I check it? Other ideas?

[madmax]

 Before you go any further, check battery condition & confirm it is charging, one of the peculiarities of the XS is if the battery is low on charge, the charging system shuts down which causes all sorts of running problems. 

 Assuming it is charging then spitting/popping etc is a symptom of a weak mixture, have you replaced the butterfly shaft seals (potential air leak), have you rejetted to compensate for the pod filters, what brand of filters did you fit? (cheap crappy ones don't work).

  Max

 P.S. Why oil the carbs? That's a new one on me!

[grizld1]

Jonah, if you dipped the carb bodies in most carb cleaning solutions you will have destroyed the throttle shaft seals (and if not they may be gone anyway, as Max suggested). Also, rebuild kits typically contain many generic parts which aren't suitable for your application. Go to www.amckayltd.com/carbguide/pdf for the "XS650 Garage Carb Guide" that 5twins and I wrote a few years ago. Vacuum carburetors perform best with a still air box; if you have the stock air box I'd strongly advise you to reinstall it with fresh filter elements.

BTW, Max has given you some excellent advice; clean up the electrical connections, make sure the alternator is charging, and make sure your key and kill switches are passing current as they should. A quality multimeter is your friend.

[jonah]

Ok, thanks guys. I'll check my connections, alternator and butterfly seals. I removed them before dipping tho and they looked to be in good shape. Also the battery is brand new and fully charged.
As for oiling the carbs... It does sound funny, after dipping, rinsing and scrubbing with a mild brush, I used an air jet to dry them. I then rubbed them down with a penetrating oil (sparingly) and hit them with the air jet again. I then set them in front of a fan for a few hours. I read that this prevents flash rust. No rust occurred and I think it makes them look nice, but i agree it sounds funny.
Thanks again for the advice. I'm curious about the igniter box under the battery, it regulates the pickup coils and according to the manual you can't fix it or test it except by replacing with one you know will work. Can I upgrade this system while replaced it?
Ps. I got all my kits and filters from mikes xs.