Bike not starting after dying a couple of times on cold engine

[Sc9700]

Hello everyone,

Last week I bought a used 2009 GS500, my first bike and I'm still learning..

this morning while starting the bike I didn't used the choke properly and after 30 sec the RPM dropped and the bike died.
I tried to restart it a couple more times and the same happened.
I was distracted and didn't realise the choke was only halfway on.

Then I made sure the choke was all open and tried to start the bike, but after pressing the engine start button, the bike did not start.

I could hear the starting noise but nothing happens.
I tried 4 or 5 times but then I stopped as I don't want to ruing anything else.

Does anyone have a suggestion on what to do?

Thanks in advance

[The Buddha]

Fresh gas ? Clean spark plugs ?
Cool.
Buddha.

[Sc9700]

Hi Buddha,

Yes, the gas is fresh and the spark plugs were checked by a mechanic before buying it.

I also read something about Carburetor flooding, but I don't really know if that's the case

[The Buddha]

Shake the bike vigorously side to side and front to back. Then take out the plugs and clean them. They can get gas fouled. While the plugs are out hit the starter a few times. That will spit out any flooded gas. And prevent hydrolock. Cheap insurance.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Sc9700]

Thank you for the suggestion, I could not try it as I still don't have the right tools to do it.

But this morning I tried to start her with full choke on and she finally started and after a couple of mins the RPM were at around 5k. But once I closed the choke she stalled and she did not start again.

What do you think it could be? Something wrong with the carburator?

[The Buddha]

Probably, most likely your float is high, next time you get it started get it warmed on choke, and if you had to take it to 1/2 choke do that, and get on it and ride a few miles and get back home before shutting it off.
If its again not going to start most likely your float is too high.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Sc9700]

I bought a carb cleaner similar to seafoam and apparently it worked as the bike did not give me any problems.

I'll now take it to a mechanic to so they can check better.

Thanks a lot for your help! 

[mr72]

But this morning I tried to start her with full choke on and she finally started and after a couple of mins the RPM were at around 5k. But once I closed the choke she stalled and she did not start again.

What do you think it could be? Something wrong with the carburator?

Starting with choke, it should idle at 5K rpm. That's normal. This is the "fast warm up" idle mode. Whole purpose of the choke. You can let it run like this for like 15 or 30 seconds and then turn it to half choke to go ride, it should idle at like 2K on half choke. If you turn the choke all the way off before it's warm enough, it is normal for it to stall. It can take 5+ minutes of actual riding before it's warm enough to run with no choke at all.

What may be exacerbating your problem is if you have a vacuum leak, and the petcock may not be opening all the time. Next time it refuses to restart, try turning the petcock to PRI for a few seconds before starting, see if that fixes. If so, you need to check the vacuum. And on that note, a vacuum leak will cause it to run bad anyway.

Go follow the link in my signature if you want to get a quick primer on how these carbs want to work.

Full disclosure: my choke is not working right on my own GS500 and so it's very hard to start and it runs pretty awful until it's warmed up, but after 5-6 minutes it is ok. IDK but somehow last time I had the carbs off I got the choke screwed up. Could be just a cable adjustment. But the point is, the choke is critical to correct starting and cold running. Too many people seem to either think the choke is some kind of emergency band aid for a bike that's not running right, or the choke should only be used while actually starting and then turned off.

[Sc9700]

Thank you very much fo your suggestions!!