Here is the long and short of it. We purchased a 97 savage knowing full well that it didnt start for $800.The bike sat for 4 yrs and  has been dropped a couple times but has no damage we can see other than scratches here or there. We put a fresh battery in it and it wouldnt start.so we replaced the spark plug and took out the carb and did a complete rebuild on it. Put it back in and tried it again nothing. along the way we founf out that there was about a teaspoon of oil between the crnk and the filter. We did a quick oil change on it. we ended up putting a little gas in the spark plug area, the bike started up and then went dead. Retried the same thing and it worked again. there is a large build up of oil on the engine on all sides that came with the bike. we are thing blown head gasket? Is it worth it to fix it? In such a quandry right now. thanks in advance for any guidenance you can give.

new fuel lines and petcock is working fine, I did read all about the petcock and anything other to do with the carburetor.

If it's starting with a little squirt of gas in the cylinder,... then that's the only way it's getting fuel... so it's a fuel problem.
Fuel problems are no big deal.
Recheck the whole fuel system... tank venting?...
Petcock flowing?... floatbowl filling?... jets and passages clear?... manifold airtight?... Intake valve opening?... then it's running, dangit!...

I think it's fixable for cheap if you want to do it... ...

Okay, youve got yerself a Science Project. You can have a bike out of it, if you do it right. Youll have fun & learn some stuff fixing it up. I saw "We" in the post, IF you guys can get together on the fixin it up part, then how cool would that be? Id go at it, especially if I could get my wife involved.

In my case, I know I couldn't get her involved, but if  you can get the fix-up on it to be a WE thing, then you already have a valuable bike, sitting there.

HI- if your guy isn't all that mechanically inclined, you might consider calling allpower or all sports in Granby.....since the Honda shop in Westfield has closed I believe.....maybee chuck $100-$200 of that $800. into having a pro get it running for you.

I say give it a go. This past winter I bought a Savage that didn't run for $500. I had never, ever pulled an engine on anything bigger than a lawnmower but that's what I did. I invested about 150 bucks into it (including some tools I needed) and sold it to my friend for 1500.00.
He's thrilled, I'm thrilled and now I'm looking for another Savage to do the same thing to.
If you go slow, act as if it's a learning process and have the time and space it is a great hobby. Worse case is you're out nothing and will have something you can part out here if you can't get 'er going...