Not enough fuel getting to the carbs imo & when starting full choke - hands off the throttle period.

I'd rig a fuel bottle and attach directly to the fuel line line - I'd also blow a little
ether in there see if she's sparking at all !

The 20 year old one I got last year and restored took 20 mins of coaxing to get her to fire up

 

Okay maybe not enough fuel I can see but why no spark? and why did it fire up and run great the day before? Reviewing what happened in between when it ran and now it got loaded into my truck with a tractor, unloaded by a few guys and myself (at no point was it dropped), and in the middle it got rained on but not hard. I think something shook loose or got wet.

 

I think you should take a deep breath and get right back to basics. It's very easy to go off on a tangent unless you do things methodically.

I'd deal with the spark issue first and once that's cured, if she still won't start check the fuel again. Trace back from the plugs, if you don't get spark after charging. Make sure the battery is good, always a good idea to hook up a boost battery as these bikes need a lot of juice to get started,

 

Hawkwind is right (as always), it is very easy to get distracted and start chasing gremlins that aren't actually there.

1) Lots of volts, a fully charged battery.

2) If still no spark, you obviously have the competence to use a multimeter (I usually find that frightens electrical things into submission. I think they assume I know what I'm doing when I break out the nasty, pointy, electrical probey things. Little do they know). Download a manual and work your way through that side of things.

Sometimes what appears to be terminally bad sh1te like this can be as simple as a dodgy spring on the side stand ignition interconnect.

 

I agree whole-heartedly. My plan was to work my way back from the dud plugs. I fully charged my battery last night and it is resting on my workbench all day (in the warmth).
My wife is so used to me doing this it's not even funny anymore. Every vehicle I currently own I have had some electrical gremlin with over the last few months and as she says "you always freak out and eventually stumble on the problem". I just wish it wasn't always electrical! That's my least favorite.
Oh, and I downloaded that manual last night! Good call.

 

Could it be as simple as the kick stand switch got drenched and it's why it's a no start?

I ask because it came to mind as it's cats and dogs here today !

Check the KS switch

 

At a guess I'd say the starter damper is on the way out, if the battery is full and she cranks over like a lame duck.......................
There's a thread on it..............
Don't forget that when
she's cranking slowly she's not getting the fuel through the vacuum hose either.
Try bump starting the bike and if she fires right up with fuel in the bowls, you may have to do the damper.
It CAN be done with the engine in place - it's on the end of the alternator shaft. There's a full how to, and a number of us have done it, with care it's a 6-7 hour job - fiddly but doable.

 

Sprock - kickstand was one of the duh things I thought at first but when that's shorted out it would only prevent me from starting when I'm in gear or the clutch is out. I'm in neutral and I even pulled the clutch in for kicks. I'll check it anyway simply to eliminate it.

Shadow - I think the damper is a possibility. I found an old thread on here discussing that. When you say bump start you mean push start? That still wouldn't explain no spark though...

 

When you say bump start you mean push start?

Yup !

Lack of spark could be something simple like a bad earth or something like as has been suggested, a sidestand switch, the kill switch faulty etc etc.

 

Ok, I'll give it a shot. Heavy thing to push start!