Must choke to start, idles at 1500 with choke.

[bobthetart]

Hello all, I am new to this forum and new to riding in general. I picked up a '93 gs500 and while it predominately functions to my liking, I am not sure if it is normal for the RPMs to be so low when I use the choke. When I move the choke the slider near the carburetor appears to function normally.

If I try to cold start the bike it doesn't work, starts right up with choke every time and idles around 1000-1200 RPM with choke engaged (almost sounds like its fighting for life). After 5 minutes I can remove the choke and the bike idles around 1200 RPM and drives fine, if I cut the choke before then it dies. The bike will move but barely with choke on, paired with cracking noises from muffler.

It may be useful to note that the only modification to this bike is removal of the secondary petcock for 2 simple fuel cutoff valves (reserve and primary) that merge and feed the carburetor. I am assuming there is some sort of lack of fuel because when I drive with primary cutoff in the on position and reserve off, it will pull whatever remainder of fuel is in the reserve line (after about 5 minutes of city driving).

So to sum up my question(s);
Is it normal for my bike to idle so low with choke engaged.
If it is not normal should I go back to the OEM secondary petcock and buy all the OEM hoses, or is there another issue that may cause this? (I don't know if the previous owner removed the secondary petcock because it was defective or to alleviate a different issue, so I am scared to do this without consulting others)

Thank you for your time and any insight!

[Big Rich]

Welcome to the site Bob!

I can't help you much with the petcock / fuel flow problem. But to me it sounds like your choke / idle problem isn't that big of a deal (yet). Sure, a little bit higher of an idle would be nice with the choke on. But if it idles and rides fine otherwise, I'd try and run some Seafoam thru the tank first to see if it helps (not likely). Ultimately, your carbs will need cleaned by pulling them off the bike and dismantling them.