Alright well i have a 2005 GS500F and recently i paid someone to clean my carbs. I want to start off by saying that the bike was runing when i got it, it was runing ruff and sluggish but thats why i got the carbs cleaned.. moving on! 

So we cleaned all the jets on the bike as well as the bowls and all the other components in the carb to the point where there was no more dirt and was nice and shiny agian. We did not adjust anything on the bike just simply cleaned everything out and put it back together. We got the bike to start up and it ran for about 5 min or so then we turned it off and didnt bother anymore with it because i was repainting the gas tank and didnt want to go through all the trouble of putting the tank back in it just to take it off.. My mistake should have done that and test drove the bike.. but hey you live and learn!

Sooo i painted the tank and did all the body work, now it was that time to put everything back together and go for a ride.. right? bhaha so i though, well this is what happened! I had to jump start the bike of my car, (battery was dead from just sitting there, brand new battery) with the choke all the way down. Got the bike to start and run for about 10 min.. but this is the part that baffles me! when i tried to give it gas the bike would die out every time, also it sounded like it was running lean but that could have been just because the engine was cold.

After fail and fail agian, i put the bike back in the garage and checked the float hights (after doing hours of research on GStwin.com of course ) the left side was just a hair under the float bowl, and the right side was about a quarter of a inch or so below.

(HOW DO I ADJUST THE FLOAT HEIGHT??? CANT FIND ANY INFO ANYWHERE ABOUT THAT PART OF MY BUILD!  PLZ HELP)
(separate note: Also need to know a good link where it explains how to change out my chain)

Since then i have took the carb apart my self since its really not that hard and im a very well mechanically inclined, at least when it comes to cars lol. But when i was taking the top part of the carb i noticed that my diaphragm had a hole in that the dork that was working on my bike forgot to mention!!! Well the new ones will be here in 2-3 business days!

My next question will be, how much of an impact does the diaphragm have as far as getting the bike to start???

Well i think thats enough questions for one time, ill post a few pics up of my carbs and some other thing to get an opinion on in a hour or two.

Thanks to everyone in advanced!

Please keep comments like "take it to the dealer" or "you shouldn't work on things you don't know" or etc to your self! The only way you can learn something is to get your hands dirty! and besides if i had the money to take it to the dealer and pay 80+ an hour in flat rate i wouldn't bother posting this on here lol! Thanks again

HOW DO YOU INSERT IMAGES INTO THE FORUM.. I CANT FIGURE IT OUT AND GOT TONS OF PICS TO SHARE!

Gs is a good bike to hone your bike maintenance on,although my 89 is one of the most reliable in twenty years of bikes.When you fix/service your bike,you know exactly where its at.
Check your battery`s  healthy as really low voltage will make it run bad.Will only really run on one cylinder with dead diaphragm.If you`v had the tank off checked you turned fuel tap on.Also sounds like blocked pilot jets,i`d maybe see how it runs with a new diaphragm and don`t lose small o`ring under carb top.
Float height is changed by bending the metal tab on the float (in the centre) that push`s the float valve shut.
If you use the site search should be lots of threads on chain/sprocket swaps,i usually cut chain off with a grinder.Cheaper than a decent chain breaker.

So i do i push the pin up or down if the bike is running lean? I think its down right???
an i guess i just have to wait untill the new diaphragm are in so i know for sure but for right im just trying to get the float levels right so i can eliminate that from the equation.

Like i said above i have some pics i would like to put up, do you know how to post pics on here? do i have to do it through photo bucket then just copy past the url? 

Photobucket works well. You can't directly upload a picture to this site.

thats the hole in the diaphragm 

an the level of fuel in the right float cover.. It looks very low to me, but let me know what yall think


thats the left side, its a little low but its right under the top of the float bowl

A man with a camera....


haha, anyway...


To adjust the fuel height, bend the tab highlighted in pink (yeah, pink)(mine naturally wanted to bend at the 'thick pink' spot):


Assuming that right carb level pic was taken level with the earth, yes, it is low.

For measuring the float height for closed needle... throw away the tape measure (or save it for when you need to cut 2x4's or build a deck), and get a micrometer.  (haha i say that now, but i set mine initially with a ruler just like you and then kept adjusting with the clear tube method, so...)  (it 'looks' like you're checking it there with the needle open... but who knows...

My guess is you're not getting fuel to that carb for some reason (hence the lean 'sound') and poor running.  Could be float adjusted wrong... or something else...

The one pic looks like a pic of diaphragm, with a tear in it.... not good.  But hard to tell from the pic.

Have you checked your intake runners (between carb and head) for cracks/issues?

[i'm a noob too, so any of the above info could be wrong, user discretion advised]

For measuring the float height for closed needle... throw away the tape measure (or save it for when you need to cut 2x4's or build a deck), and get a micrometer.  (haha i say that now, but i set mine initially with a ruler just like you and then kept adjusting with the clear tube method, so...)  (it 'looks' like you're checking it there with the needle open... but who knows...

lmao dude thats funny as hell! and yeah i just kinda put that that tape measure there because i read somewhere that its supposed to be 13mm clearance. but i wouldnt take no one word on that one lol, im just gonna keep taking this thing apart until i get it just right by measuring it with the clear hose.

And than you for showing me exactly how to adjust it, i thought thats how you did it but wasnt to sure and didnt want to break it lol!

Also that pic with the crack in it is the diaphragm and i have new once coming in!
also all your advice has been on point! there are no cracks in non of these hoses. 

(FINAL THING I DO WANT TO MENTION TO EVERYONE ON HERE, IS THE FACT THAT YOU SHOULD WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN YOU USE CARBURETOR CLEANER!!!!!
I GOT MY SELF IN THE EYE AND I SWEAR I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THIS  MUCH PAIN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE MAN! LOL THINK SAFETY FIRST KIDS)