Low spark? Compression? battery? Confused

hey everyone,
The beast is down again, 3 weeks ago it died, did not want to start at all, checked the plugs and it was flooded out........
Checked the petcock (which i rebuilt last year with a rebuild kit) to see if there was something jamming it open and found out that the spring that keeps the gasket closed was on the wrong side keeping the diaphram open ALL THE DAMN time not sure how i managed to put 1000kms on it since last year's rebuild.
So now still wont fire up, i was able to bump start it on the weekend , rode up and down the street a couple of times and decided to change the oil just in case there was gas in it, as it flowed out it seems that no gas got in , oil changed and tried starting and no go....... checked the spark plugs last nite and she is getting fuel to the plugs because they are a little wet, but no spark on #1, tried another plug on the same wire and there is spark, so i switched the #1 plug with an older back-up that has a little spark.
Q's - how much spark do we need to fire? could it be a compression issue? When i crank the starter the battery shows 11.97 volts, is that enough?

notes:New battery installed in the spring, carbs were cleaned 6 weeks ago, however, the PO had FUBAR'd the #1 mixture screw :evil: so i could not get it out, and after discussing and showing another biker friend, it was concluded that it was better to leave it alone ie: machine shop fix only! So i did pull the rack apart and took out everything possible and soaked in Simple Green - BIG PLUSES on that stuff, after soaking for a few hours it is amazing how clean it comes with no effort. :wink:

Last item i promise for this thread;
After seeing how bad the #1 mixture screw head looked i decided to buy a used set of carbs, got them yesterday, came off an '81 max xj550, mine is an '83, the description said it should be good for the '83, how interchangable are the parts, my thinking is to tear down both sets completely keeping them seperated of course, clean, then examine the parts and assemble a rack with the best parts - is this possible? 8)

I have to say that after reading many stories on this website it gives me great confidence in my lack of skills, the bravery to take on any task, and the assurance that one day in the not too too distant future i will have a mean running machine.

 

will it start with starter fluid? if so, then more than likely your enrichment passages are still clogged. while Simple Green is great for cleaning stuff, it's not gonna do much for all the tiny passages throughout the carb bodies without some ehm.. intervention.

your spare set of carbs will do just fine. there should be little (if any) difference between the carbs sets you got. double-check the jet sizes, though.