Stalling without choke

[George JOy]

My '94 GS500  bike only starts with choke fully open and stalls immediately if I close the choke or use the throttle. It doesn't rev beyond 2500 or so even with the full choke. When the bike was healthy it would usually be at twice that.
Some history -this bike has been basically garaged since '99. Last year my brother and I replaced the spark plugs, oil and gas and got it running briefly before the end of summer. However we didn't ride it more than a few miles.

The furthest I've got is checking the fuel hoses till the fuel chicken.
Any suggestions - am I looking at carb work (I haven't done this before) or are there simple things I could try first?

[Ry_Guy]

So it sat alone for ~3 years? Look inside the gas tank for any rust. That could be clogging up the fuel tap or carbs.

[DarkCyDE]

Gas could have carmalized in the bowls from sitting. Like mentioned by Ry_Guy check the tank, get fresh gas, If you have a can of carb cleaner handy you might want to remove the carbs and give them a good cleaning. Its not really that hard to remove them. When your spraying them out make sure to remove the bowls and spray them out as well. Just a few screws. make sure you are getting good gas flow from the petcock and give it another try.

[George JOy]

I shone a flashlight in, and there are signs of rust ; not huge amounts, but brown spots here and there. They didn't break loose when I stirred them around with a wire, but I suppose it doesnt take much to clog up the fuel system.
I did siphon out the old gas and put in a fresh tank last fall, but the damage could have already happened.
I remember seeing a posting about cleaning out the gas tank. I'm going to go look for it (but that's prbably more prevention than cure at this point) ..
Thanks for your advice.