I have an '88 600R that I have been through the carbs (Confidently now), I have ohm'd out her IC bits and her plug wires and coils (All within tolerance), I have spark across a 1/4" gap from all wires but I cannot get her to start even with the choke (She will backfire though) and my plugs are damp but not wet when you pull them. Worst case scenario, what could be sheared off in the case that would set my timing off to the point that she wouldn't fire?

 

How many miles on this ride and when was the last valve adjustment?

 

15K miles and I had the valve cover off last weekend and the intake and exhaust valve gaps were within tolerance, a little on the tighter side but within tolerance according to the Haynes manual. Compression is 148 to 155 across all cylinders.

 

good compression, what about the plugs? since you ohmed out the coils, wires and checked the new plugs, what about air leaks on the boots and other rubber components?

 

The boots on the cylinder side look new and the boots on the air box side look old and aren't super soft but they will snug up to the carburetor. Pulled the petcock off again and got the vacuum valve to hold vacuum a little longer. The air filter is a foam one without the outer keeper so it doesn't make a positive seal to the air box; could that lean me out enough to make her not want to start even with the choke on?

 

place some grease on the foam seal for testing.

so you are saying that you need to rebuild the petcock.

 

I replaced the IC Igniter with a used one (I checked the old IC Igniter with an ohm meter and found too great of difference between actual and the Haynes manual) and she fired right up. I still need to adjust the carbs and get her synchronized but she lives! The exhaust headers for Cylinders one, two and three get hot fast, am I running too lean; whereas cylinder four warms right up nicely.