first startup of season problems

[perfdrug]

welp, i thought i'd know how to get it started, but alas.

first startup of the season (first time since, prolly, october) isn't going so smoothly.  I can get it running, only by starting it with no choke.  if i choke it or twist the throttle at all, it immediatly dies. it idles really rough, jumping from 1500-3k. i've run it out of fuel before, and it's a different kind of death when it dies. there's no sputtering, begging for fuel. it just shuts off.

i thought the airbox might be clogged, but i pulled it, started it, and it still died.
any other suggestions?

[scratch]

How did you store it?

Oh, and delete your other thread with the same topic, you must have posted twice.

[perfdrug]

garage stored, non-heated garage. in Wisconsin
full tank of gas. oil at full line.

i forgot to mention, i also drained a bit out of each carb too, before starting it up.
pulled the plugs and they looked fine (don't /really/ know what i'm looking for, but no terrible discoloration)

[nisus1]

yeah, gas could be bad... since it's been sitting so long, any humidity would have condensed and gone straight to the bottom.   Personally i'd go ahead and clean atleast the external moving parts of the carb with carb cleaner and replace the plugs too.  Would be a good idea even if it's not the issue, but you'd be surprised at how many issues are the simplest ones.

your previous post wasn't there when i started writing, so sorry for a bit of a repeat...

[scratch]

Your carbs are gummed up from old gas, you will have to pull the carbs to clean them. This is what is giving you a lean condition and causing the rpm's to vary between 1500 and 3k. It stalls when you add choke because that is also clogged (the fuel enrichener circuit is supplied from the floatbowl; AND air which is drawn from somewhere I can't remember, but it acts like a vacuum, so actually you're just adding more air (because of the clog) and it dies).

(Gosh darnit, I need a pair of California spec carb bodies, off the bike, in my hands here at work so I can look at them and so I can trace all the little passages!)

[starwalt]

I think the online motorcycle repair course guy said it best,

"Gas rots"   :lol:

It makes sense if you think about the chemistry. Volatile stuff is not stable and changes fairly quickly.

[allmtrslut]

so you didnt turn ur bike on at all through winter?

[perfdrug]

i live in west lafayette, goin to school. kept the bikes at the parents, in WI, bout 200 miles away.


i'm actually back at school now, cause i've got an internship near-by this summer. i'll clean the carbs in about 2-3 weeks. hopefully that's what it is, otherwise this thread will return!   :nana:  

[RedShift]

One word for you next time you store it -- STA-BIL.  It's carried by all fine hardware stores...

[scratch]

Read both my posts in this thread: http://gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4354&highlight=storage