sorry guys I messed up the first posting and I think I erased all I had written. Anyway, I have an 03 classic 500 that I've had since new. It has been very dependable until yesterday. I live in the city so during the riding season the Bullet lives under two bile covers. Yestereday, after being parked for a week I attempted to start her. Like always, she started on the third kick. She ran for about 30 seconds, sounded fine and then she shut down. No back fires or anything. It was as if I had switched her off. Checked the petcock it was in the "on position" and there was plenty of gas. Kill switch was OK also. I went to kick start her again, no compression! I never use the compression release but I looked at it and it was OK. I next examined the tappets , they spun easily at tdc. However, I noticed something while checking them. I have a pancake filter and can always hear the intake hiss, this time, the hiss did not stop during the compression stroke. The pitch changed, but it continued. There was little Resistance during the compression stroke. I was wondering if there was a history of intake valves getting stuck open in these motors? I've not taken the valve covers off yet. This bike has never been over revved and it has been serviced regularly. We have also had several days of rain here. I think the stock guides are iron, not sure if there was enough moisture to rust up the intake side . Thanks Cochi