Motorcycle Repair: bike that wont start after replacing the cam, kawasaki dealer, ninja zx7

Question
Hello, I just purchased a 95 ninja zx7 from a friend.  It broke on him about 3 years ago. He told me that he had the head redone and the valves were serviced by a dealer. Then he discovered that a cam bearing was bad, so his grandfather disassembled it and sent the cam off to be redone.  After reassembly, the bike wouldn't start.  He took it to another kawasaki dealer and they said that a "coil" wasn't getting power and they wanted to tear down the engine and redo everything before fixing the coil. The estimate was $1000-$1500.  He said the bike would turn over and almost start, and his grandfather followed the shop manual for setting the cam timing.  The bike has been at this dealer for over 8 months and has racked up over $1000 dollars in storage fees. They said if I had them fix it they would drop the fee to $160 and $320 if not.  I personally don't have much faith in this shop, but they are the only ones near here that will look at it.  What do you think could be the problem or where would you start in diagnosing the problem?  I have the shop manuals and a small amount of mechanical knowhow, and like to work on things, but I don't really have the confidence to tear into an engine.  The bike has 9500 miles on it and the previous owner raced it from time to time.  Any input on this is greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Bryan.

Well to start with, it sounds to me, based on what you are saying, that the shop is trying to take you for a ride.  Get the bike out of there and start going over the ignition system, fuel system and check compression.  Chances are, the problem is in either the carbs, the electric or both.  Three years of storage would have left varnish in the fuel system (tank, fuel lines, carbs) and it needs to be cleaned out of the carbs, the fuel line replaced and the tank resealed to keep out further contamination.

You have the shop manual, which will have everything that you ever wanted (or not) to know about the bike; you also said that you like to work on things mechanical, so you have all of the basics.  You may need some specialized tools, but those can be purchased as you need them.

Let me know how it goes.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON