Major Problem

MDZ, I'll give it a try. You are correct in that I was working on fuel when it went out. I suppose I should look into the spark thing again as I am not very confident about the condition of my coils.

Patton, I don't think it was the petcock as I was adjusting the float levels just yesterday and the carbs were filling fairly rapidly.

My compression started out fairly low on this bike (around 80-90psi). The bike has about 25k miles on it. Has it been anybody's experience that the rings and gaskets can be renewed without the pistons and boring out the motor? I don't want to spend $600 to get the motor running again. Or would I have to take it apart to know what I need? I would really hate to replace the rings and then find out I need to replace the pistons as well.

On a KZ650 25,000 miles low mileage. If the rings are shot (which I seriously doubt) it would be the result of serious abuse, neglected maintenance, or running with no air filtration.

If it was running ok before the rings didn't suddenly go kaput on their own. I believe something else must be the problem with it not starting. Did you try kickstarting it yet or bump starting it? Is the kill switch set to "RUN"? Ed

I have not been running with no filtration, but I have been running with cheap pods. I have no airbox. I know for certain the kill switch is set to run as there is no kill switch. I have tried kickstarting it until my leg hurt. I agree with you Ed, that it is unlikely the rings went kaput, but it seems some event happened in which the bike went from running to not, all at once. I had been very proficient at getting this thing running and this is very frustrating.

let us know if spraying starter fluid into the carb intakes keeps it running.

If so, would suspect fuel starvation as the culprit.

Good Fortune!

One thing at a time. Clear tube test the floats. Check ignition system. May have a spark outside the engine but under load, nothing. Weak coils or bad points/ ignighter or connections.. Once it runs, the compression can come back up. I still haven't seen plugs.
Steve

swest, the plugs are brand new, just bought them. The old ones were black and fouled (I suspect I was running really rich). I will not be able to get to any of this until Friday as I am at school currently. but as soon as I get to try any of this I will let you know. I know the voltage at the coils was 13V as of the last attempt to start. The points are new (less than 4 months with no driving.) I also just clear tubed the floats.

Points can be glazed. If you run them a finger nail file or points file is a must. You can use a folded match book or other cardboard piece to clean them. Maybe a little oil on them? New condensers? If the points are sparking, they're shot. That would do it too.
Steve

ewolpert wrote: My compression started out fairly low on this bike (around 80-90psi).

If that is an accurate date point, I don't see how the engine will run. If it does, it would barely run.

It didn't barely run, it ran quite well.

So I was looking at pictures of fouled spark plugs and mine looked more like oil fouled than anything else. If I am not mistaken this is due to the rings being bad, correct? (I would add a photo but I am not near the old plugs.

Bountyhunter, you said this happened to you with a new gasket set, do you think this is possible with a very old gasket set? I am thinking I am going to pull the top part of my motor apart and renew the gaskets just in case, I am just hoping I do not need to replace the pistons as well.

Oily plugs in this instance may result from worn valve seals.

When doing the leak-down test, was air heard escaping from the crankcase vent?

If not, the pistons, rings and cylinder walls are likely okay.

Good Fortune!