How to start without cleaning carbs

[vedder37]

All right I bought one of these bikes and love the looks but just can't seem to get to start.  I know it has been sitting for a at least a few months in a garage.  The bike itself has 18k with a recent rebuild.  I charged the battery, changed the oil and changed the gas.  The old gas did not smell too bad although I wanted fresh gas in the tank.  I tried to start it without luck. 

My question can I try to start it by push starting or should I just take it to a shop and let them clean the carbs. 

When trying to start I did not get any sign of firing.  No spit no spat no spudder.  Just the starter turning over the motor. 

It is about 48 degrees here right now so I though about waiting till it gets a little warmer then trying.  I know my KLR takes numerous kicks when it is cold but only a few when it is warmer. 

Any tricks would be appreciated.  I wish I could do the carbs myself because I would have tackled that long before I even tried to start the bike.

Thanks for the future input .

Kyle

[centuryghost]

Start with the basics: Did you check the choke cable and make sure it's working?

[gsJack]

Jump start it with a car that's not running.  Will spin it fast with a good connection with spark to spare and quickly purge any left over old gas from the carbs.  I've jumped every bike I've owned a few times each winter including my 2 GS500s except this winter it's started every time temps down to 30F after sitting a couple of weeks with a new AGM battery I put in last spring.

[MXFun86]

Start with the basics if none of that works.  Fuel, spark, compression.  Pull a plug out and ground it to the head.  Basically just lay the metal part to the head with it connected to the sparkplug wire.  DO NOT TOUCH IT!  Turn the bike over.  Did it have a nice bright spark?  No: Spark problem.  Yes: check compression while the plugs are out.  If your compression is good your last option is fuel.  With the plugs out, turn the bike over a couple times.  Do you smell fuel in the cylinders now?  I use a grill lighter to check usually, but I wont tell you its the thing to do.  I'm too lazy to do anything else.  If you suspect that its a fuel problem, spray a little starter fluid or pour a very small amount of gas into the cylinder, replace the plugs and crank it over.  It should "glug" a bit now.  If it does, spray some starting fluid into the intake while cranking it over.

[vedder37]

OK this may be a stupid question...  It has good spark.  I'm not smelling fuel at all.  The gas on the tank and the gas on the external switch is all on.  I pulled the external switch off and can blow through the outlet that goes to the carbs and it comes out of the inlet that comes from the tank.  This happens both on the ON part of the switch and the RESERVE part of the switch...  When I blow on the inlet part I get nothing out of the outlet that goes to the carbs.  From the ON part and the RESERVE part of the switch.  That does not seem to be right?


Thanks to the tip of jumping bike from car battery with car off that helped....

I pulled the switch apart and cleaned it but did not help.

[BaltimoreGS]

The GS petcock is vacuum actuated, it only flows gas when the engine is running in the ON and RES settings.  It should flow gas with the engine off in the PRI position.  If fuel flows out of the petcock in the PRI position, try cracking open the float bowl drains on the carbs to see if they are getting fuel.  If the float bowls have fuel and you aren't smelling fuel you probably have clogged jets in the carbs.

-Jessie

[MXFun86]

Do GS500's have a diaphragm in the petcocks?  If its got a diaphragm you aren't going to get anything blowing in it unless its broken which is a whore all unto itself.  Put it all back together but leave the plugs out.  Take them right off and lay them aside.  Crank it over and give it some gas.  See if its getting into the cylinder.  If its not, go back to your petcock and remove the outlet hose at the next joint.  I.E. From the 'chicken look at the hose, follow it down to where it connects to the next part and remove it there.  Are you getting fuel out?  If not you may have a clogged or broken petcock.  They have little filters inside.  Try to drain the fuel out by removing the tank and either pulling the petcock or turning it upside down over a bucket.  When its done draining clean up any fuel on your tank promptly.  Pull the petcock off if you haven't already and check the screens/filters for rust build up, dirt, debris.  Clean it off with brake cleaner, or kerosene, or gas but be gentle.  If theres nothing on them you may have a bad petcock or diaphragm if it has one.  They're cheap to rebuild.  Carbs are pretty easy too btw.  I can walk you through it in a PM if you want.  Now to check the carbs, remove everything from the intake side of your carbs.  Basically remove the airbox.  Pour a small amount of fuel into each cylinder, replace the plugs and put all that bs back together.  With a friend there to help, spray some starter fluid into each intake while trying to start it.  This will also tell you if its a fuel problem.  If it starts or trys to atleast then you have a fuel delivery problem.  Starting fluid is not the greatest thing for your bike so don't do this all the time.  It wont hurt anything for the sake of testing though.

These are just guesses at a diagnosis based on what you've posted so far.  I'd have to see it to give you better info.  Sorry man.  PM me if you have any questions and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. (tmrw at the latest)

[MXFun86]

High five Jessie

[vedder37]

Thanks as I was going over it in my head I realized why I couldn't blow through it.  I have a day of following what you told me so I will be tearing into it tomorrow thanks and I will keep you posted at my progress.  I would clean the carbs but I'm to chicken crap!!!!

[joshr08]

theres a how to somewhere on here on how to do the carbs they arent scarie at all.  IMHO its scarier to ride the bike in traffic then it is to work on this super simple gs500 that suzuki has put together for us all to enjoy.

[romulux]

Cleaning the carbs is easy if you take one simple step: the carbs separate into two halves, so separate them and deal with only one side at a time.  That way you won't mix any parts up at all.  Fully disassemble and clean one side, fully reassemble it, and then move on to the second side.

[jp]

I've been able to start bikes in the past after they've been sitting for the winter by draining the carbs, then switching the petcock to prime and letting the carbs flush for a few seconds. There should be no need to clean the carbs if they've only been sitting for the winter. If a quick flush won't do the job, then get some SeaFoam. Make a mixture of 1/3 SeaFoam, 2/3 gas. Pull the line going to the carbs from the petcock, and after draining the carbs, put enough of the gas/SeaFoam mixture in the line to fill the bowls. Then pull your plug wires, and run the starter for about 5 seconds. Let it sit  for 30 minutes or so, then connect the plugs and gas line, and try starting. Do this outside; the gas/SeaFoam mixture runs poorly and smells like crap, but it will flush out partially blocked carb passages. Add SeaFoam to the first few tanks of gas to finish cleaning the carbs out.  Disassembling the carbs for cleaning isn't necessary unless the passages are completely blocked, or the bike is old enough for the o-rings to need replacing.

[vedder37]

Thanks so much for all the feedback now I take it to a shop.  It is definitely the carbs they need redone.  I studied the post on how to clean them on this web site, reviewed the book and think I will stick with the shop.  Growing up around an automotive shop and doing almost all the maintenance on my KLR and cars, when it comes to carbs I run the other way.  I guess it is like the elephant that was tied up when little and never gets past it. 

[BaltimoreGS]

No shame in admitting your weaknesses, I hope you enjoy the bike   

-Jessie