Purchased a non-running 77' Kz1000A

Purchased a non-running 77' Kz1000A. Been in storage for at least 20 years. Practicably complete, but been wrecked on the right side. Tested the compression on it today. Cylinders 1,3,& 4 had 90 lbs. cylinder 2 had 70 lbs. :ohmy: Can't expect a lot for $100.00 with a clear title. Added a few drops of oil to cylinders, made no difference. Don't think adding more oil or something different would make any difference. So time for a rebuild. Anyone know of any Good Shops out here in Calif. for rebuild?

Did you have the throttle open full when doing comp. check ?

When I bought the bike, the carburetors were removed as the with handlebar controls and throttle w/linkage.

Try a leakdown test and pull the valve cover and see if the valves on #2 are moving if it sat open like that for years it may have had a valve seize

floivanus wrote: Try a leakdown test and pull the valve cover and see if the valves on #2 are moving if it sat open like that for years it may have had a valve seize

I'll second that!
I bought two that sat for 30 years. One was perfect and fired instantly with fresh oil and clean carbs while the other had pistons that were one with the cylinder walls and the head of the #1 exhaust valve popped off, hit the piston, and wedged sideways in the seat as soon as I removed the cams. :lol:

Well we know the motor isn't frozen since it kicks over with compression but low. Does mounting the carbs and operating them wide open make any difference? I'll pull the valve cover tomorrow and report my findings. When kicking it over multiple times, it sure causes the motor to leak oil out of it. I'm assuming the gaskets and seals are dry? Any estimate on cost of a rebuild?

If the carbs are installed the throttle needs to be open to allow air to flow into the engine past the slides. If the carbs are off the bike you will get the same result as if they were on the bike with the throttle open

You need to add about a teaspoon of oil to each cylinder, but you should check the valves first. Compression not increasing a bunch after adding oil means rings and cylinder are great, but you can't tell until you adjust the valves.

Of course, check your valves just like everybody suggested. If that fixes the problem, great! But even if the compression stays on the low side I would not think about rebuilding just yet. The bike has been sitting for 20 years and the rings my need to free up a bit by running the bike for a couple of hundred miles. then you can check the compression once again to see what you got.

That's kind of what I'm thinking. When I was kicking it over multiple times checking the compression, it sure started to leak oil underneath I'm assuming from dry gaskets and seals? I'm going to pull the valve cover off in the next few days and check the valve clearance's. I have received my shop manual yet, but what are the valve clearances supposed to be?

Drained the oil today. Oil drain plug full of metal shavings at the magnetic end. Couple of the shavings were approx. 1/2" in length and about a 1/4" in width? One was folded in the middle with one end slightly curved. There were approx. .004" thick. What do you think they were?

Metal shavings are not good of course. Regarding the compression, first thing to do is adjust the valves, then put a couple hundred miles on the engine. The compression is sure to increase since it's been sitting so long.