after a fwe months of workin' on it, and a whole bunch of tryin,

new engine, new a  whole bunch of things, 3 weeks of every night in the garage workin', and A WHOLE BUNCH OF CHEMICAL BURNS FROM GAS AND OTHER STUFF IN MY WOUNDS/EYE,

I GIVE UP ! ! !  yea, it sux, but I just can't get it to run.  I tried everything, and it's still a no go.. so

Anyone need parts off a '98 gs500e?  or 2k1 engine??

OK what is it doing when you try to start it ... giving up early is cheaper and less painful by a loooong way ... Parting it out you're gonna have to endure all that pain again ... might be easier to fix it ...
Cool.
Srinath.

When I try to start it, it winds up, and I can hear chugging from the muffler. but it won't turn over...  Then my battery just ends up dying...

I got so frustrated earlier... so angry, and so upset that I couldn't get my bike to start,

That I fixed the problem...  Went to the dealer close by and bought an '02 CBR F4i...  so I guess the bike's gonna go up for sale, unless I decide to make it a project.

Take the spark plugs out and try to start it. Also did you open the left case and check ... you may have magnet bits jamming the thing if your magnet is busted. You gave up rather quick for 5 months of working on it. You bought a motor that was running right ... Then oil in chamber is my first guess ...
Cool.
Srinath.

is there spark at BOTH plugs? are both coils operating correctly?

i'm about to start the same swap, '02 engine to a '96 bike

I'm the one who said to put some oil in:

Quote from: Rema1000I'd put a half-teaspoon of oil into each cylinder (and some on each valve shim, if you can); leave the sparkplugs out, put the bike in 4th gear and turn the rear wheel with my hand.

The goal was to help get the pistons moving after they'd been in storage or whatever.  Sorry I didn't mention that the oil will not help with ignition... my bad!

First thing: get the excess oil out!   If you didn't have the plugs out when you tried turning-over the engine, do that now.  This will let any extra oil/goo come out the plug holes (and make a mess... put some newspapers under the bike!).  Also, that is a good time to check for a good spark.  

Check the spark:  Leave the plug wires dangling for a minute, with the sparkplugs attached to the ends.  Try to lay the plug wires, so that the sparkplugs are touching the frame or engine.  Try starting the bike, and look for a fat blue spark on each side.  This is best done at night, when it's dark out.   For a better test, you can make a spark tester.

Ditch the battery! Until you have the engine running, I wouldn't bother with the puny GS500 battery.  They sometimes have enough oomph to turn the starter, or to give a nice blue spark, but not to do both at the sime time.   Take out the battery; lay a piece of 2x4 lumber across the frame of the bike, and screw the +12 and Ground terminal wires down to it with sheetrock screws.  Then clamp jumper cables from them onto a car battery.  If the car battery is in a car, leave the car turned-off.  Using a car battery will let you try to start the GS for hours on-end, and will give you a better spark.  Just be sure not to run the starter so long that it overheats.  Let it cool off now and then (like, 30 seconds trying to start, 30 seconds cool-down).

Clean the plugs:
It may be that the plugs are now oil-fouled.  After letting the extra oil spray out the plug holes, put in fresh plugs.  If you're cheap, wash the old plug tips in gasoline to get any oil residue off, then blow dry with compressed air; maybe run some folded sandpaper (400 grit) between the contacts, then regap.   I would undergap the plugs at first: that will make them fire easier, even if there is a little oil fouling happening in the cylinder.  You can fix the gap back to optimal size later.

Gravity-feed the gas.  Until the bike has run, the carb bowls are usually empty.  Also, you may have a vacuum leak.  I'd put the petcock on PRI (gravity feed), while you try to start the bike.  Be sure to change it back to "ON" when you leave the bike unattended, though, or it is possible for the fuel to drain out onto the ground while you're away.

Heat the plugs:  This is one I've never found necessary, but have heard that it can help: heat the electrodes of a sparkplug with a propane torch, until it is too hot to hold; then put it in the engine quickly and try to start.  You can probably only do this with one plug.  But the GS will actually start and run on just one plug, so that's enough to get the engine started.

Give the gasoline some help.
OK, this is an extreme measure.  Many people have used ether, or "starting fluid" to start old engines.  Propane is safer, and is easier on the engine.   I have used a propane torch like this:
.
Just open the valve to let the propane start hissing out, then put the tip of the torch down into the air filter an inch or so.  I wouldn't bother with this, unless the other steps have not gotten the bike to start.

It's possible that any one of these steps could get your GS started.   If you get a good spark, fuel and air, then the !@# thing really should start.

Just some tips on shop work: get a box of latex surgical gloves from the drug store; they keep your hands clean and in one piece.  If I cut myself anyways, I peel off the latex gloves, clean the cut and apply "Liquid Bandage."  That stuff is amazing.  It sterilizes the cut, and holds your skin together, well enough to let you put on another pair of gloves and get back to work!

I keep some Liquid Bandage in my motorcycle tankbag, because, well... you can skin a knuckle doing lots of things, and nodoby wants to have to ride home, chafing and bleeding inside their gloves.

Also, when I'm wrenching, I wear a rainproof top with the hood up, which keeps most gas and oil off me.  I wear lab goggles when I'm working with stuff that sprays (fuel hoses, brake bleeding, PB Blaster).

Spark plugs are sparking blue..  I konw that, I've tested..
It could be a vacume leak.. not sure.
Coudl be that there is oil still in the cylinder..  this is most probably.
The battery idea could be good..  I hsould try it..
Someone told me, push come to shove, to spray the carb cleaner into my airbox..  I'm about ot try that tomorrow as well.. I'm still trying to get her started, well, up until she sells or she starts.. whichever one comes first.

Not all carb cleaners will act like starting fluid, most will burn but not enough punch in the mix. If you DO use somthing to give it a kick, use super small amounts, like breath spray ammounts. the engine could cough and then you have burning stuff in your airbox.

I'd use propane before trying Ether ("starting fluid")... and long before tring carb cleaner or WD40.  The problem with ether (or carb cleaner or WD40), is that it starts out as a liquid, then evaporates (which is when it help the bike start), then it dissipates.  So there are a few seconds when there is a mess of flammable liquid (dangerous); and a few seconds when it will help starting; and then after that, it won't help.  So timing is important.  

The propane is simpler: it keeps flowing near the air intake.  It won't flood anything.   You don't have to keep respraying it.  And it isn't as explosive (this is both good and bad... I think it's not quite as effective as ether).  

Earlier this winter, I had parked the bike for a couple of weeks, and after that it wouldn't start.  I tried to start the bike using propane... and it fired right up.  I waited a few seconds, then pulled the propane tank away from the air cleaner... and the engine killed.  It turned-out that the float bowls were empty, and the petcock was ON (I should have used PRI to fill the bowls after leaving it parked!).  It was actually getting no gas.  It seems that I was able to start and run the GS on nothing but propane for about 10 seconds.

The way I caught onto the bike battery problem, was that sometimes I would try to start the bike, and if I held down the starter button, it would chug and chug, but not fire.  Then, finally, I would let go of the starter button, and right at that moment, the bike would fire-up.  This happened again now and then: no firing as long as I held the starter button, but right when I let go of the starter: Vroom!  Since then, I don't bother holding the starter very long; just a couple of seconds, then let go, and see if it starts.

My theory was that while the starter was turning, the spark was weak.  But that right when I let-go of the starter button, on the last compression stroke, there was a strong spark, and the bike fired-up.   When my battery was "iffy", I always had better luck starting the bike from a boat battery (which, lucky for me, sits next to my bike).