I recently picked up a Katana cheap knowing that it had a non running motor. It had all the plastics and everything so I knew I could make my money back if I ended up not wanting to get it running. Today I started seeing what was up with the motor and quickly found out that there was about 3 gallons of gas where the oil was supposed to be. My guess is that it has a blown piston and all the gas just flowed into the crankcase??? Anyway, I assume it is not worth trying to fix and I should look for a new motor?

Flooding carbs, bad petcock, a semi open butterfly and valves will let fuel into the chamber, then it will get past the rings easy when cold ... 3 gallons may take say 1-3 weeks ... but it will get there.
I had 1/2 gal of gas, acetone, water, Penetrating fluid, wd40 and snot (yes for some reason I assumed it will lubricate) ... in my nighthawk motor cos I wanted to clean the chamber and rings off deposits etc. However ... I forgot about it, started the bike 3 months later and nearly fell down when I saw a steam powered bike ...
Drain of the oil revealed all this crap in the oil. So drain it, put some oil in the chambers and spin it with starter ... if oil comes squirting out of each spark plug hole ... you're pistons are not holed. You also put oil where it is needed and prolly has been washed out with gas.
So ... its just poor maintenance ... not a broken motor ... if it had fluid in the chamber and it was spun over with starter ... you can have hydrolock and it can bend the rods etc ... but lets hope that didn't happen.
Cool.
Buddha.

Don't be so quick!

It could be as simple as a stuck float needle flooded the engine with gas.  You could have a bike in perfect running condition after you unstick the float needles and go though the carbs.  Then again, it could have severe mechanical problems.  Only an experienced eye can determine what is really going on, but you can find out soon enough.

Do not immediately start the engine or even attempt to crank it over when it is full of gas.  Gas isn't a lubricant, but a solvent that degrades oil.

Begin by draining all the gas out, removing the oil filter, and flushing the remains out with a quart of cheap oil. Drain the crankcase into a clear white bucket.  Look for metal chips. Then, ensure all the cylinders are drained of gas and spritz some oil in the cylinder walls and around the piston crown with a syringe and a bent needle.  Replace a spin-on oil filter or simply reinstall the housing cover of a cartridge filter.  

Have a look at the Katana manual and see if you can pre-oil the engine though a pressure gage port.  If so, get a pressure pot and pre-oil the engine with a couple quarts of oil at about 10 - 15PSI.  Alternatively, ground out all the spark plug wires, remove all the plugs, and motor the engine over with the starter while watching an oil pressure test gage attached to the test port.  Motor for 20-30 seconds after the needle moves off the peg.  It will take time to fill the oil filter or filter housing, so do this in a couple bouts to prevent overheating the starter.

Drain all the oil and install a new cartridge filter, or simply leave the new spin-on in place.  Re-fill with good oil and proceed to diagnose the fueling problems.

The only reason I am dooming this motor so quickly is because the person I bought it from said that when they bought it, it was blowing smoke and they found oil in one of the cylinders. When I got it the fairings and all the parts were off the bike in boxes. I currently do not have any of the wiring on the bike so I can't turn it over with the starter.....unless there is some way to jump the starter? I'm going to work on the bike all night....if I deem the motor to be dead, then it will be dropped out of the bike and I will be searching for a new one. I'll keep you all posted, I'll try and get some pics up.


BTW, I drained all of the gas/oil out of the motor. I think next I will try do some more diagnosing. I am definitely going to have to clean the carbs since when I got it, it had been sitting for three years with no tank connected, no airbox connected....so that gas has been in the motor a loooong time. I've definitely got a project on my hands.....it would be nice if the motor were good but I won't hold my breath.

Carbs can leak into the chamber and as that gas dries, it can look like oil. it overflowing as its running can also look like its blowing smoke ... You may just have a case of redneck diagnosis ... followed by redneck maintenance ... as in take all the stuff off and put gas in it and let it sit for a few years ... If I had a nickel for every time some clown told me a story like that, I'd be rich ... only problem is, they will attempt to sell it to me for 1500 bucks. needless to say, I have brought a few home ... but now my wife keeps a tight lid on my $$$ .. 
Cool.
Buddha.

lol buddha, so the gs-parts whore has to curtail purchases?

I really really hope that it is just a stuck float or something simple. If that's the case then I got a good condition Kat with 4000 miles on it. I just need to put all the wiring back on so I can try to turn her over. I also need to get a oil filter wrench....all the ones at my house are too big(cars). Can't really do much diagnosing without being able to crank it over.

I took some time today and cleaned the carbs. They had some gross thick gas in them, it smelled horrible. Definitely been sitting awhile. The left most carb looked like it had been letting gas flow by as the intake boot near the cylinder was very wet. It is looking pretty likely that the Bike sat awhile, owner tried to run it and it started smoking, he let it sit and all the gas drained into the motor.....That being said, would the gas sitting in the motor for 3 years cause it any harm? Should I just make sure it is all drained and then fill it with oil and a new filter? Let me know what I should do...thanks

I'd suggest before running it, do a compression test just to make sure its in spec.  I doubt gas in the oil for awhile would harm anything, but what do I know?