bike running very sluggish

hey i got my 85 xj700 running and it will run for a while then die and it only seems as if it has half the power. it sounds different and the rpm guage wont work when the bike is running. it backfires out of the carbs and exhaust. when i tried to take bike for drive it would act like i was riding a little scooter it could barely go fast enough to get into second gear and dies. also i cant get spark out of the 2nd and third plugs! and when bike starts u have to wait a while to start it again or else it will just turn over and not fire. please help i really need it fixed. ps it set outside in rain before running rough

 

Just a thought, but alot of these old bikes are very very temperamental to getting wet. This can be especially true for the coils. which could explain your lack of spark on 2 and 3. Try taking a hair drier or a heat gun and drying out the coils and see if that helps.

 

k i will try would that make it run really sluggish

 

The coils not firing right would make it run sluggish. The water 'contamination' can be grounding things out and just generally making it not run well