79 kz400 Oil on my spark plugs HELP PLEASE

First off, I'm a complete moron. I know absolutely nothing about motorcycles. I just got my first bike(79 kz400)

I was riding it just fine for about 2-3 weeks. All of a sudden on a ride it just died and wouldn't start. Still won't start. I charged the battery, and checked the SPARK PLUGS and they were covered in oil? I'm guessing that is bad? I bought new spark plugs, put them in and it still won't start.

What do i do? Thanks everyone

Really like your bike! Looks great! An oil fouled plug (and don't trust me on this as I could be wrong) usually means that your piston rings are either really worn, or you have way too much clearance between your valve guides and stems. As far as it not running after you changed the plugs, have you done a spark plug test? Also check the connections between the boot and the plug. On my bike, when I take the spark plug out, if I don't put the plug boot on just right it won't even start. And don't worry about not knowing to much; It comes with a lot of practice and determination. If you can, find someone who knows a little about motorcycles and ask them if they can teach you. You'll learn a lot! Also, here's a website that has helped me learn even more about motorcycles than i ever would just tinkering with my bike: www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm Hope this helps and really hope you can get your bike running; A sitting motorcycle is no fun for anyone. Oh and almost forgot, make sure you find a manual for your motorcycle. It can be a world of knowledge and can help you with just about anything that may be wrong with your bike. Good luck!

Looks like no air box and cant see any pods. Is there any air filtration on those carbs ?
Also looks like shortened or cut off exhaust. Is there a muffler of any kind.

I would expect it to be really lean unless the previous owner did some serious carb jetting to compensate. If you are lucky it will be something simple but if not then could be as bad a holed pistion due to the above mods

You can find a lot of information including a manual on the kz 400 site www.kz400.com/index.html

dokken wrote: First off, I'm a complete moron. I know absolutely nothing about motorcycles. I just got my first bike(79 kz400)

I was riding it just fine for about 2-3 weeks. All of a sudden on a ride it just died and wouldn't start. Still won't start. I charged the battery, and checked the SPARK PLUGS and they were covered in oil? I'm guessing that is bad? I bought new spark plugs, put them in and it still won't start.

What do i do? Thanks everyone

I would have a difficult time telling the difference between oil covered plugs and plugs that are just wet with fuel. Given that you are still getting at least some fuel through the carbs I would start by removing the spark plugs, pushing them into the plug boots, grounding them against the engine and cranking the engine to see if you are still getting spark. If you've got spark, I'd look at the cleanliness of the fuel system. Is it possible that some rust or sediment has gotten into the carbs? If so a proper cleaning is in order.
Hope this helps.

Bill

Thanks a lot for your help. So i finally got it running, which is good i guess. However, It sounds awful and runs awful. Plus it bogs down a lot, then revs really high when i touch the throttle. I'm really worried this is going to cost a lot to fix. Do you have any suggestions as far as what to tell my mechanic to look at?

Thanks again

You should check for air leaks between carbs and rubber holers, engine and rubber holders. Spray some WD40 to this points and see if any white smoke comes out of the exhaust.

First thing I would do is get an air box and a muffler. You are probably running lean enough to fry the engine.

dokken wrote: Thanks a lot for your help. So i finally got it running, which is good i guess. However, It sounds awful and runs awful. Plus it bogs down a lot, then revs really high when i touch the throttle. I'm really worried this is going to cost a lot to fix. Do you have any suggestions as far as what to tell my mechanic to look at?

Thanks again

UniDiablo has it right. WD 40 will tell you if you have an intake leak between the carbs and the engine, mostly because when you spray the WD on the leak it will seal temporarily and the idle will change.

Was JR correct? Are there no filters on the carbs? If you can't go back to the stock air box at least fit a pair of pod filters to provide some filtration.
After that, welcome to the joys of carb jetting!
Bill

It has air filters on it, but i will try what you suggested

thanks guys