filled with gas, drove .8 miles, washed it, wont start

[GeezyRider]

!986 Kawasaki 454 LTD. Washed it like I have hundreds of times before with no trouble. Guy at the gas station swears their gas is good. Bad backfire when cranking. Sounds like ignition timing to me but I don't know what to check. Has good spark, compression checked good, it's been 3 days since washing so if something got wet it should be dry by now. After cranking with full choke I pulled the plugs and they were dry. Anybody got a clue?

[rover]

clue

Open the fuel petcock

[GeezyRider]

Rover,

Ha ha, you are just too funny!!!

[3Phase]

Geezy, you're absitively posolutely sure you put gas in the tank, not diesel?

Drain the carburetor float bowls and some of the gas out of the fuel line from the tank into a glass jar and look for water or anything else that shouldn't be there.

[GeezyRider]

3Phase

3Phase,

Yeah, that would be easy to do, put diesel in. But no, the pump I used dispensed only gasoline. But just to be sure I may have gotten some bad gas I drained th carb float bowls and refilled them via the gas line and a small funnel using gas attained from another gas station. The pickup coils ohmed out good but something may have caused them to get out of sync. I want to exhaust all possibilities before tearing the dynamo cover off and checking because I have never delved into that part of the motor and really wouldn't know what to check for other than maybe a broken key for the timing rotor.

But many thanks for your input!

[GeezyRider]

Compression.

Wow, I must be going nuts. The first time I checked compression it was 95% on a cold engine. After exhausting every possibility including pulling the dynamo cover and checking the pickup coils, (they were mounted just fine and ohmed out correctly) I rechecked the compression and it was around 15 PSI in both cylinders. I am now in the process of tearing it down to adjust the valves. But the funny part is when the valves (overhead Cam) start to tighten it usually goes through a period of slowly getting harder and harder to start before crapping out altogether. This time it started good one day and not the next. Go figure!

[GLoweVA]

Could it be that the timing chain is slipping?
This would cause a loss of compression as the valves would be out of sync with the strokes and then it would run like cr*p or not at all.

Just like many here have said about troubleshooting,
First check for spark, then fuel, then compression/timing/valves.

Pull the plugs and crank, Do you get spark? if so, then your problem is not electrical. (unless it's an electrical timing issue) (timing light will check that)
Are the plugs dry or wet? Dry, you're probably not getting fuel. (shouldn't be an issue if you're using the choke)
Pull the Valve cover and check the timing marks. If the timing is off, then chain is slipping teeth, check you tensioner.

Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

[GeezyRider]

GLoweVA

Though the gas station owner swore up and down that their gas was good and had no other complaints, that's exactly what caused the problem. Fresh gas cured the problem. I had previously gassed up there many times, but not anymore!!!

[3Phase]

Mmm, yummy. Nothing like a little unleaded alcohol with extra watery goodness to keep your engine cool.