Motor wont turn over

[SecretAgent]

New to the forums, wasn't sure if this has been stickied anywhere..any help is appreciated.

Bought my first bike 1998 Suzuki GS500E (9,000miles) in July of 2010.  Put about 100 miles on her, everything ran fine.

Last ran her in Oct since the winters here in Cleveland, OH are pretty brutal.

Turns out when I went to start her up in April, there was still about a half gallon of gas left in the tank 

The lights turn on, so the battery is fine.  I drained the remaining gas out of the tank with a siphon and put a little bit of high octane in it and it still won't start.

Do I need to drain the gas out of the carbs? or should I try getting new spark plugs? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Oh yea and here is  a pic in-case you are curious.

[IMG=http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/691/p1012192.jpg]http://[/img]

[IMG=http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/8647/34868124531104257399100.th.jpg][/IMG]

[utgunslinger13]

How did you winterize the bike?  If you left gas in the carbs with no treatment then chances are it broke down and the carbs will need removed and cleaned.  You can check if any gas is in the carb bowls and its condition.  If that seems ok, try switching to prime on the frame mounted petcock for a minute, then try starting it again.

[SecretAgent]

How did you winterize the bike?  If you left gas in the carbs with no treatment then chances are it broke down and the carbs will need removed and cleaned.  You can check if any gas is in the carb bowls and its condition.  If that seems ok, try switching to prime on the frame mounted petcock for a minute, then try starting it again.

Thanks for the reply,

I changed the oil/filter, gave the bike a decent cleaning to get rid of the road gime/bugs, drained the gas (or so I thought), put on center stand, covered in garage....I guess I should of double checked the tank, and drained the float boats? 

Oh yea, checked out your project - looks good man!

[ivany]

Doesn't turn over, or doesn't fire up?

Doesn't turn over -> probably dead battery. Try jumping it with a car battery (DON'T turn on the car for this; keep the car off, jumper cables are fine). If it fires up quickly doing this, then your battery is dead - try charging it, but you might need a new one anyway.

Doesn't fire up? Try putting a few drops of fuel in the fuel filter. Also, you might need to put it in prime for a few seconds. ALSO, the GS doesn't flow fuel very well when the tank is low. Put at least 1 gal, better 2, of fresh gas in there. If this doesn't work, put the petcock back to normal, and pick up a new set of plugs. I had starting issues recently, and throwing in new plugs appears to have fixed it. Although I do suspect one of my cyls might be running rich, and killing the plug in this manner.

[SecretAgent]

Doesn't turn over, or doesn't fire up?

Doesn't turn over -> probably dead battery. Try jumping it with a car battery (DON'T turn on the car for this; keep the car off, jumper cables are fine). If it fires up quickly doing this, then your battery is dead - try charging it, but you might need a new one anyway.

Doesn't fire up? Try putting a few drops of fuel in the fuel filter. Also, you might need to put it in prime for a few seconds. ALSO, the GS doesn't flow fuel very well when the tank is low. Put at least 1 gal, better 2, of fresh gas in there. If this doesn't work, put the petcock back to normal, and pick up a new set of plugs. I had starting issues recently, and throwing in new plugs appears to have fixed it. Although I do suspect one of my cyls might be running rich, and killing the plug in this manner.

The battery is fine, It doesn't fire up.

Thanks for the reply.  I will try getting another gallon or two & new plugs this weekend

[mike__R]

IF you get it started without cleaning the carbs then run some seafoam in your gas it will help get them clean without having to take things apart.

[Twisted]

Cool looking GS. I have never seen an orange one. Looks kinda retro. Hope you get it started.

[SecretAgent]

Blew out the carbs and put some more gas in and it turned over.  Put some new tires on too, running good   

Thanks everyone for all the advice.