Do these exhaust valves look bad or normal for 20k miles?

[86FJNJ]

Bike has almost 20k miles, took pipes off to do some service, how do these look compared to bikes mileage? I just got the bike so haven't ridden it yet not sure if it runs, but it does turn over.

[Paul.1478]

I just removed the exhaust from my bike a few days ago and looked at the same. It has 22K miles. It does not look like that. That seem to be very excessive to me.

[Pat Conlon]

Does the VIN # on the frame match the VIN # on the engine?
Do the other 3 exhaust ports look like that...or just that one?
Odometers can be rolled back.
That is not typical carbon buildup on a 20k mile engine.
Don't freak out, I'm not saying that something is wrong, you won't know that until you start the engine, warm it up and get some compression readings.

Keep going, get her running.

[86FJNJ]

Number on engine matches. Haven't started bike yet but taking the oil pan off and valve cover off everything looked very clean. Should I just leave it as it or is there some kind of spray I can put on there to help break some of it loose once engine is running?

[86FJNJ]

What would cause this, is it running really rich?

[Pat Conlon]

Do the other 3 ports look like that?

[86FJNJ]

Do the other 3 ports look like that?

yes they all look about the same. The reason they probably look wet is because the bike was sitting 15 years so I pulled the plugs and poured marvel mystery oil in the cylinders and left it for a few days then with the plugs out I cranked it over so it it pushed the oil out when I did that. But there still seems like a lot of carbon build up I would think since it's in all 4 it's likely because the bike was running really rich rather than all valve seals being bad. But I'm just guessing.

[Pat Conlon]

I wouldn't worry about it. Get the bike running. Do a compression test. The numbers will tell. Ride the bike for a couple hundred miles then add some Seafoam, see if that cleans things out. When you took out the old plugs, what did they look like?

[chiz]

For me I would try to dig some of that out of there with a shaped piece of Lignum Vitae and later on use marine Seafoam,

[fj1289]

X2 what Pat said.  Get it running first!  A lot of the "issues" you are finding will probably go-away once you get it running again. Then spend time and attention on any lingering issues.

I think it was Frank Moore (has "Brutus") that said "a man made it, a man can make it run again!"

Motivation is the most critical factor in any of these type projects.  Hearing it run is a huge motivator!