first bike, first problem

[mrgrits]

ok, i just bought this bike and learned how to ride it in 10 mins which is great. but just the other day i was riding and i had a loss of power. it didn't suddenly shut off, i felt a flutter in the power the saw it  on the gauge it dropped really slow and wouldn't start for about 15mins. i got back home and took the gas tank off with the knowledge learned on this website. turned the bike on and pull the throttle and found that the throttle's screws were loose. after I tighten them i adjusted it so that the bike wouldn't idle so high(3000 rpms). the gas that was in the lines ran out so i connected the tank but every since then i cant get it to crank. i didn't mess with anything else when i was working on the bike.  Is there a way i need to prime the carbs to get it back to going, if so please educate me. :dunno:

[Kerry]

You should have an ON / RES / PRI petcock on the left side of the frame.  Turning it to PRI(me) will fill the fuel hoses and carburetor float bowls even when the engine is not running.  Once you are able to start the bike, turn the petcock back to the ON position.  (So that if/when you run out of gas you can switch to the REServe position.)

You didn't mention the model year of your bike.  On the 1989-2000 models the petcock lever points straight UP.  I believe that on the 2001+ models it is the horizontal position.