Took carbs out to clean, now bike won't start?

[CyberEye]

 Bike was idling erratically, and getting lousy gas mileage, so I decided to take the carbs out and give them a cleaning.

Carbs ended up being squeaky clean, so I put everything back together. Bike started up, but stumbled and stalled with a quick twist of the throttle. Light throttle and i could get the rpms up. Tried to ride it today, but keeps stalling at low rpms.

Took everything back apart, made sure the o-rings in the carbs were in place, springs and needles were all set right, etc. Made sure all vac and gas lines were hooked up properly. Figured out my gas lines to the petcock were hooked up backwards. Other than that, everything is in it's proper place.

Now the damn bike wont even start.
Really starting to piss me off.

I swear, next time I take it a part, when i put it back together it will just explode.

[The Buddha]

Explode looks like you got the exact opposite problem ...  ...
Anyway, fuel hoses routed right
Tank petcock open ??
That's the easy first 2 ... past that its getting more complicated.
Cool.
Buddha.

[beRto]

Before attempting to start the bike, did you turn the petcock to PRI for a couple of minutes? This is required to refill the carb float bowls.

[cd]

actually if you crank a bike long enough without priming it you can start it up without doing that......but it takes a while. hahahahahaha

i know, thats how i started this ex500 this weekend, i was curious if it would start, and i always overamp old cruddy bikes by jumping them from a car....youd be surprised how much easier it is to start a nasty ignored bike by using a car to jump start it.

you didnt do something right, thats all there is to it. either you didnt get everypart, or you didnt prime your shaZam!, or you didnt route your hoses properly.

[CyberEye]

I'll let it sit on prime for a while, see if that helps out.
Pretty sure fuel hoses are routed properly. Hose on left of spiggot goes to right side of petcock, hose on right of spiggot goes to left side of petcock, hose on back of spiggot goes to bottom tee of carbs. vac line on back of spiggot goes to port on the inside of left carb.

[beRto]

I'll let it sit on prime for a while, see if that helps out.
Pretty sure fuel hoses are routed properly. Hose on left of spiggot goes to right side of petcock, hose on right of spiggot goes to left side of petcock, hose on back of spiggot goes to bottom tee of carbs. vac line on back of spiggot goes to port on the inside of left carb.

Your description sounds right, but you probably want to check against a diagram to be certain:
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Main/HoseRouting
http://www.bbburma.net/FuelHoseRouting.htm

[dchrist]

are you sure you're getting fuel to the carbs? open the float valves a little and see if gas comes out. after you re-routed the hoses, did you remember to turn the on/off valve under the tank back to the on position? I personally have been burned by that one 10 times.

d

[beRto]

are you sure you're getting fuel to the carbs? open the float valves a little and see if gas comes out.

Float valves? As in take off the carb bowls? Or do you mean open the float bowl drain screw?

Checking for fuel could be combined with verifying that the float height is set correctly:
http://www.bbburma.net/FloatHeight.htm

after you re-routed the hoses, did you remember to turn the on/off valve under the tank back to the on position? I personally have been burned by that one 10 times.

Good suggestion. You definitely want to verify this.

[dchrist]

As in take off the carb bowls? Or do you mean open the float bowl drain screw?

no, no... I meant the little screw that are down there on each float bowel... now that I think of it I think they are called bleeder valves or some such thing...

[beRto]

As in take off the carb bowls? Or do you mean open the float bowl drain screw?

no, no... I meant the little screw that are down there on each float bowel... now that I think of it I think they are called bleeder valves or some such thing...

[dchrist]

Presto! drain screw   

that'll tell if the tank on/off valve is in the wrong position or if a line is crimped either way if nothing comes out of there the bike will no go.

[CyberEye]

let the bike sit on prime while I was at work and it fired right up. BUT it's still running like crap. Idles fine, but if i lay on the throttle quickly, it stumbles and coughs. Quite a bit of white smoke coming out the tail as well.

I really don't want to take it to a shop. I've built several race cars, but i can't figure out a 2 cylinder carb'd bike. Ugh.

[beRto]

let the bike sit on prime while I was at work and it fired right up. BUT it's still running like crap. Idles fine, but if i lay on the throttle quickly, it stumbles and coughs. Quite a bit of white smoke coming out the tail as well.

I really don't want to take it to a shop. I've built several race cars, but i can't figure out a 2 cylinder carb'd bike. Ugh.

Keep trying... you'll sort this out! 

Here are some threads that may help:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37013.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41453.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37503.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=28415.0

[The Buddha]

let the bike sit on prime while I was at work and it fired right up. BUT it's still running like crap. Idles fine, but if i lay on the throttle quickly, it stumbles and coughs. Quite a bit of white smoke coming out the tail as well.

I really don't want to take it to a shop. I've built several race cars, but i can't figure out a 2 cylinder carb'd bike. Ugh.

Send me your carbs. Its weird but they talk to me ...  ... $45 for the full treatment, trouble shooting is free, O rings or other stuff extra.
Cool.
Buddha.