Multi-cylinder carb setups are indeed a pain in the caboose. This is yet another reason I abandoned "big bikes" and went with the little bikes I ride today. I can have the carb off, cleaned of whatever might be fouling it and back on the bike in minutes. Same goes for jetting changes.
When I wrenched on bikes for a living I grew to hate multi-cylinder carb setups. Any repair you did you multiplied by however many carbs were feeding the engine. Add to this weaseling them back into place with rubber intake boots and manifolds that had grown hard with age and ozone exposure and it made you hate your job.
I did enough repairs on bikes like this that swore I'd never own another one of my own and started looking for alternatives. I first swapped my stripper Gold Wing for a new '86 Honda XL-600R dually bike and rode various other single cylinder duallies until around five years ago when they got parked permanently in favor of the true lightweights that now grace my stable.
Ain't for everybody but they sure work for me.
