I've got 50lbs of compression and a broken heart

Everyone my name is Chuck long time lurker very little poster. Just want to shout out to everybody and say thank you for all the help that I've gotten from everyone off this wonderful website.

Not sure where to begin so let's start with the bad news. After tinkering with my carburetors for weeks with bouts of flawless performance followed by feeling like running on two cylinders after only parking the bike for a couple hours and then finally broke down thinking I was out of gas but ended up being able to limp home only to find I have 65 lb of compression in cylinder 1 and 3
140lbs in 2 and 50lbs in 4. After adding a little oil unfortunately all of them increased potentially crushing my hopes that it was just a valve problem. How to be fair I believe the valves needed adjusted and I haven't done them. So I believe the last time they were done was a couple years ago. 

I've been wrestling with this bike since it caught on fire in Portland last year and I completely rewired everything replaced multiple parts in the carburetors, the manifolds, the coils, the spark plug wires, brake lines, master cylinder, throttle cables, etc. finally got it started and running in the beginning of Summer only to have it feel like it was dialed in for about a week. After adjusting the carburetors and synchronizing them the bike would run great intermittently at best. I'm not the most mechanically inclined guy but I'm not a complete duff either so I did what I could and troubleshot everything the best I can figure out how. And now here we are I'm not sure what the next step is or if I'm sitting on a lemon at this point. All I know is that this bike helped pull me through some of the darkest moments of my life while I struggled with both an addiction and severe PTSD from multiple deployments to Iraq. I'm waiting on disability so money is tight but I would love to be able to keep this bike but not sure if it would be financially smarter just to get another KZ and part this one out. So please if anyone's got some advice I would love to hear it. Don't need shit sugar coated if it's bad news it's bad news I just need help figuring out how bad it is and what to do from here. So again I humbly ask for any help possible. I willing to do whatever it takes has long as it's financially feasible. 
Thanks in advance 

-chuck

First thing I would do is check the valve adjustments. 65 is way low but it could be tight valves, Shim over buckets so adjusting is easy and it might run well after being adjusted. What do the plugs look like" Post some pics and we can walk you through. 
Steve

I was pulling the plug every 20 mi or so because there was always was always some type of symptom after riding for a little bit. Occasionally number four was a little wet with fuel but the spark was good. The last time I went through the carburetors I had to end up changing out the needle seats because of some damage that was sustained from pulling them so many times. So I tried using the stock needles for the BS 34 carburetors with those seats and couldn't get the fuel levels right so I switched to the viton tip needles that came with the seats and again I could never seem to get the levels right using the clear tube method. I tried using the clip that was on the needles attaching it to the floats I tried not attaching it to the floats and I tried with the clip not on there at all they never seemed to be consistent. Occasionally the fuel levels would be spot on and then I don't know where the bowls would only be half full. About a week before the final ride I came out and found gas was all over the side of the bike number one in two weeks pretty good. So I changed the oil just to be safe no metallic material was seen but I noticed that the amount of oil that came out was low. Only a couple quarts the levels seem to be full so I was throwing off a little bit. Ended up adding about 2 and 1/2 quarts and didn't understand what the problem was or if the viewing glass was jacked up. So after writing just a little bit realize the problem was I ended up just draining oil out of the oil filter location and not the actual drain pan screw. Probably put 10 miles on the bike like that I think I was maybe a quart over full. After adjusting that problem the bike ran great for another 3 days intermittently. So not sure if I blew rings but there was no smoke at the time of The last Ride

Yup, start with the basics. If you are very careful and a little lucky, you may get the cam cover off without ripping the gasket. If so, checking the valve clearances may cost nothing. If you need a few shims, somebody around here may have what you need for less than a bar of gold.

The fuel level problem needs to be solved for sure. If the levels are inconsistent, the fuel mixtures will be, too. If the fuel is low enough, the jets cannot pick it up and there will be no bang. Some aftermarket float valves can be problematic. Hopefully, that is not the case here. There could be debris in the system causing the changing levels and the badly flooded carburetor.

I wonder about the compression test. If the pressures really are 50 - 75 psi, I doubt the engine would even start. If the gage has a long hose, with the release valve near the gage, you may get afflicted readings. Also, the readings should be taken with the engine at operating temperature and with the throttle held wide open.

The fact that the engine was not burning huge amounts of oil is a good sign, however, when the carburetor overflowed, fuel can run into the intake tract and if the valve was open at all, it can run into the cylinder, eventually passing the rings, and fill the crankcase. Oil that has been contaminated with gasoline should be completely replaced and a new filter installed.

Focus on one thing at a time and let us know how it goes.