GS500 will not start

[curtis]

Alright! So I'm on a 1300 km road trip. I've got 300 km left to go and I wake up this morning and the bike won't start. When i hit the starter the first time, it cranked once and stopped like the battery was dead. Tried it a few more times and similar results. Battery is brand new as of last week and I just drove 1000km so I believe it's fine. Now here's the weird part. I wiggled the clutch lever a bit while trying to start it and it will turn over now but not fire up. Battery seems good, i'm getting some spark(I grounded spark plugs to the block and saw sparks.) Any suggestions?

More history:
-Bike was sitting in my garage for a couple years and barely was ridden.
-Replaced battery, drained gas from tank and carbs and replaced with fresh gas, oil change BEFORE road trip

-----> Battery terminals are tight
-----> Checked 20 amp main fuse. looks good, besides minor corrosion
-----> Kickstand safety switch seems to be working normally

[J_Walker]

did you unplug it and plug it back in? 

CHECK FOR LOOSE CONNECTION ON THE BATTERY TERMINALS.

Check the clutch safety switch under the clutch lever, two prongs stick out and connect to two black plugs.

Check the main 20amp fuse. connected to the starter relay. I've seen them "half" fail before

Check kickstand safety switch?

[tobyd]

Also voltage over the battery terminals.

[Argyle]

Your battery might be good, but it could still be drained. If you've got an issue with your charging system, the battery might not be recharging properly when riding. It may have enough juice to spark the plugs, but not enough to turn the starter motor with sufficient torque - turning the starter requires a lot of juice, a lot more than anything else on the bike.

Definitely check battery voltage. If it's low, charge the battery and check the charging system - it should have 14+ Volts across the terminals in neutral at 4k rpm. If it doesn't, check the alternator and rectifier.

[curtis]

Air box is full of gasoline. DIDN'T SEEN THAT COMING wow

[ricmant]

This happens to me when the gas tap (gas petcock) fails to stop the flow or when I leave the gas tap in Prime position. Gasoline overflows the carbs and chocke the engine and you end up with gasoline everywhere.

To run the engine, I check if the gas tap is in ON position and then I press the start while rolling the troutle until the engine runs. Then I leave it running for a while so the gasoline in the carbs get back to normal.

Once, the overflow was so bad that I ended up with gasoline inside the oil reservoir and had to change oil and filter.

In my case I had two problems:
1 - The fuel petcock diaphragm leak
2 - Carburator float stuck

Check your oil level and check if the oil smells like gasoline. If it does, do an oil and filter change before running the engine again.

[AlinLET]

Hi guys! I have a similar problem, generated by the fuel petcock. Basically My mechanic managed to find only one position on which the bike was running fine and it was half way between on and res. Yesterday I changed this position (please don't ask why, it was just fool's curiosity) and now the bike is hardly starting and runs only for a few minuted then dies.
I would like to change the petcock and found one at a local "scrap yard", but it is from a newer bike >2001 and my bike is from 92 so the petcock looks a little different.
Can you please tell me if it will fit and will work on my bike or should I buy a petcock identical with my current one?

http://gs-500.info/index.php?title=Petcock_and_petrol_hose_routing

[Watcher]

Hi guys! I have a similar problem, generated by the fuel petcock. Basically My mechanic managed to find only one position on which the bike was running fine and it was half way between on and res.

Between on and res is the "PRI" position, it bypasses the vacuum and flows fuel.  Either the petcock needs to be replaced or you should trace the vacuum line back and make sure it's actually pulling.

[AlinLET]

PRI is on vertical position. The position I mentioned is 45 degrees between Res and ON.