im pulling my hair out over this bike.

del

I wish I had someone around me who knew more than me so I can enjoy riding instead of trying to figure out whats wrong with the bike

So where are you?

If you put your location and bike model in you sig line, it will help everyone alot.

In addition to all of the above sage advice, I'd take a step farther back: You say you rode her home, before she stopped running -- and before all of the wrenching --. Try to think back: Were there any indications of trouble to come, during that ride home? What changed, between that ride, and your wrenching? You *may* yet recall some helpful bit of information...

Well it died on me when I tried to ride it a second time. I was cruising around just fine and then when I went to let off the throttle at a stoplight the bike simply died. After that it hasnt idled for more than a minute since with all the stuff ive been messing with. It would turn over and sputter ocassionally but nothing more. Oh and I thought my location was by my name, i will have to change that. I really just needed a break from the wrenching I guess and to not think about it for a day to clear my head.

if the battery comes up and you get the bike to turn over but it still isnt firing up and you are pretty sure its getting fuel try this.

take the filters off the carbs. pull the choke all the way out. hold the throttle half way open and place you hand and arm over the back of the carbs as you try to turn over the bike. as the bike is turning over slide your hand back and forth over the carbs(helps to have a extra hand)and it should fire up assuming nothing else is wrong. make sure there is fresh plugs in the bike before you do this.

just a shoot in the wind but i had a similar problem with my bike last weekend. rode about a hundered miles and my kz1000 ran great. on the way home it kept spitting and sputtering..... and every time i tried to stop the bike wouldnt idle it would die. it way like i wasnt getting any gas. after barly making it home i took another look at my bike with a friends help and he notice when i had my tank off the bike a few days prior i had accidently ran my fuel line over top of my oil cooler lines wich were getting preety hot. he then told me that he thought the bike was just vaporlocked. i had never heard that term beofore. i moved the line back were it was supposed to be away from the oil lines and it ran fine.one good thing about being young is you lern something new every day.

Lafayette, IN for now and Valparaiso this summer

You're only about 45 minutes away from me...Valpo is a little further

With the help of everybody on this board, you should be able to get her running. If not, I'm sure there are some Indiana KZer's that would help on a wrenching session to help ya out.

Were they checked & set according to the factory specs. New rubber parts, o-rings & gaskets? How are the carb holders? The airbox ducts?

The carb Holder and airducts arent in that good of shape and are the only thing I havent replaced due to how expensive they are. The only thing to set really is the pilot screws correct? Do I need to mess with float levels?

Was the Service Fuel Level check done. Why were the jets changed?

No that wasnt done, the jets were changed because it had the stock jets and it had a 4into 1 exhaust which typically causes things to run lean on a stock setup. Also didnt these bikes run lean out the door?

Are you sure? Petcock. Fuel level in each carb. Air screw adjustment. Etc. Carbs synched?

Petcock works for sure, dont know about fuel level, air screw? that the pilot screw?, carbs are not synched yet

Was the battery properly charged prior to putting it to use - the battery may have initial charge recommendations. Have the voltage outputs been checked as per the manual? Check the connections in the starter circuit. If you charge the battery, remove it from the bike & use a smart charger.

I charged the battery according to the specs in the beginning, all i have is a trickle charger right now and cant really afford to put anymore significant amounts of money into the bike if there is something more serious going on, voltage hasnt been checked yet.

A cut wire was mentioned. Any bulb base or socket corrosion? Burned out bulb(s) ? Also, new bulbs may not work right with an old flasher.

Havent really looked at anything other than noticing the cut wire

It's an old bike - you'll need to tackle anything that comes up.

Im afraid of making things worse than better haha

Not a bad idea. It may not solve the problem, but it will be beneficial non-the-less.

See this I can handle because its step by step

A Kaw factory manual? Take note of all checks performed.

It is the factory manual, I have been doing all the checks that I feel confident doing so far.

The presence of spark does not indicate good spark. Disconnect & reconnect the spark plug wires at all points from the coil to the plugs. Some electrical contact cleaner spray & dielectric grease wouldn't hurt. I thought I had good spark after checking in a darkened garage at night. Doing the above solved an intermittant firing problem. Test the coils. The manual outlines the procedure - it's easy - a multi-meter is required.

I will have to do this and thanks for the advice, I see a very long road ahead of me to get it running in any sort of shape. I wish I knew more before I bought it because it seems I have bought a bike with a ton of problems for way too much. Well to say the least this ebayer is definitely getting negative feedback after telling me this was a great bike in great shape and runs great.

del

check the vent in the gas tank lid. open up the lid and try to start it. from the sound of the turn signals, you have faulty wiring connections also. just fix one thing at a time and you will be fine. good luck!