So I just got my first bike, 1993 gs500e with 5,250 miles on it for $460.  Wasn't running when I got it a couple of days ago (hence the price).  The guy said he had a mechanic look at it and the only real problem was a bad stator coil. The carbs had been cleaned and there wasn't gas in it when I got it. The battery was dead so I charged it and now the bike acts like it wants to start and almost turned over once or twice, but can't quite make it.  I just wanna make sure its the stator before I put $100 into a new stator.... So would a bad stator cause such an issue???

Thanks!

Stator is for charging. It has nothing to do with running or starting (some racers remove it for reducing weight and the bike runs off the battery for the duration of the race).

Put petcock in PRIME to be sure gas is in the carbs. Otherwise, gas only flows when engine running (it is vacuum controlled).

PS: You can test the stator with a volt meter (measure resistance between each 3 pairs of wires. Should be a little under 1 ohm for all). Test it before you buy a new or used one.

If you have access to an ohmmeter you can try steps 8 thru 11 in the following document to test the stator yourself:

http://bbburma.net/Documents/JohnBates_ChargingCircuitTests3.pdf

You can find corresponding photos in Steps 8 thru 16 in the following FAQ post:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=38480.0


Just in case your battery isn't fully charged, is there any way that you can connect a car battery with jumper cables? (With or without disconnecting the motorcycle battery.)  I recently got my bike running after it sat for 2 years, and it acted like yours.  I was concerned about running the battery down, so I attached a car battery.  That made a big difference in the bike's "eagerness" to start, and removed any uncertainty about the bike battery as a possible factor.

Having said all that, I don't believe the stator contributes much to starting the bike.  It has more to do with recharging the battery (and running the various electrics) once the bike is running.

At this point, if the bike still won't start with a car battery I would wonder more about fuel delivery.  For instance, even if we assume that the carbs are clean, what do we know about the fuel enrichener (choke) circuit?  Does the choke cable properly open and close that circuit?

There are other things to be checked of course, including the state of the spark plugs.  But let's take things one step at a time.

So I can now get the bike to start when the petcock is set to PRIME and if I give it a little bit of gas.  However, it won't idle... it just cuts off unless I'm on the throttle.  I'm thinking it could be too rich or lean, or it could just need a solid carb cleaning, but I could be WAAAAY off! Any suggestions of what to look for? 

Don't expect miracles too soon.     It's a very good sign that the bike starts at all!  Go ahead and let it run for a while with some throttle -  but not too long, unless you have a good-sized fan that can blow air across the cylinder fins.  (You don't want the air-cooled engine to overheat.)

Speaking of rich vs lean, go ahead and pull the plugs to see what they look like.  Here's a chart that may be helpful, from the Haynes manual:
    http://bbburma.net/Scans/Haynes_SparkPlugChart.jpg

Yeah, I was really encouraged that it started! Ok, I'm gonna try to mess with it tomorrow, but I'm done for the day unfortunately.  I'll definitely post tomorrow how it goes! Fingers crossed

Quote from: crobwolfpack on May 31, 2012, 02:21:53 PM
So I can now get the bike to start when the petcock is set to PRIME and if I give it a little bit of gas.  However, it won't idle... it just cuts off unless I'm on the throttle.  I'm thinking it could be too rich or lean, or it could just need a solid carb cleaning, but I could be WAAAAY off! Any suggestions of what to look for?

You have the choke on, correct?

It won't start with the choke on.  Only with it off, and even then I have to give it some gas.  Haven't pulled the plugs yet.  Thoughts?

If you take the airbox drain off is there gas in the tube?  In my experience the needle valves on these bike are sensitive little buggers.  Sometimes they allow too much gas to flow into the bowls and need to be adjusted.  Check the gas level with a clear U-tube connected to the carb drain.  The level should be even with the bowl at the top of the gasket.  My guess is that it is too high, and that you need to make the float height in the bowl higher by bending the little tab that the float needle hangs from.

Ok, I'll give that a shot.  I'm not 100% sure if I know exactly what you're talking about but I'll give it a try lol

Here's how to do the "Float Height Check":

    http://bbburma.net/FloatHeight.htm

If the float heights are way off, we can walk you through the process of tweaking them ... but let's cross that bridge when (and IF) we get to it.

So I tested the floats and both of them were about 1/2" to 1" below the gasket of the carb.  I starts now and it will idle at around 500 rpm so I messed with the idle screw both directions and it had pretty much no impact.  Thoughts?  I'm not really sure where to go with it now.

That is definately too low of a fuel level, if the test was performed properly.  At that low of a fuel level, the jets, both low and medium/high are probably not submerged in the fuel and thus, the bike would act fuel starved.  But I am not sure that it is acting the way I'd expect it to, from the low fuel condition.  I just find it strange.  Better for you to wait for a few more replies.

I does sort of make sense that you would have to start and run the bike in the prime position because that way, the pressure of the fuel in the tank is probably overriding the notoriously weak seat/needle valves, causing fuel in the bowls to rise above the float settings, (which test as low), and this would cause a normal, to very rich running condition.  Did you say it stalls out or runs very badly when you set the petcock to the run position?

I do think you'll need to make sure that the fuel level is set nearer to the correct level, before this bike will begin to run as it should.  Carb cleaning and needle/seat replacement is often the cause of improper fuel levels within the fuel bowls so it wouldn't be surprizing if that is what happened.  Now the question in my mind is to verify your test results a second time, and then adjust the levels to the proper fuel height.

Stupid question, but my fuel switch has the following positions: no text at 6 o'clock, RES at 9, PRI at 12 and FUEL at 3, but the fuel switch doesn't turn all the way to 3 (Should it???) How would I set it to "RUN"?

Run=6:00  And no there are not 4 positions, only 3.  Start in prime, then turn handle 180 degrees.  Only use the 9:00 when you run out of gas.

Thanks.  Yeah it starts but it idles really low in the run (and prime) position.  So adjusting the floats is probably the way to go?

cheetahman is right on all counts:

• The FUEL marking on the petcock plate is just a generic label to tell you the purpose of the device.
• Recheck your Float Height results.  I neglected to mention on that How To page that the bike should be in a vertical position.  (Same for checking your oil level.)  I usually put mine on the centerstand for this procedure.
• If your retest truly shows your float height to be .5" to 1" below the float bowl gasket, I'm surprised that the bike runs at all.  The next thing task would definitely be to adjust the float heights.

PS - Is your battery OK after all?

It seems like your fuel levels are too low.  The idle adjusting screw should however have some effect.  Especially if you turn it in far enough.  How far are you turning it?  Like half a turn, or several good cranks?

Thanks! I would have no prayer of getting this thing running without this forum haha 
Yeah the battery seems to be fine.  I had the bike on the centerstand for the test, but I'll retest just to be sure.

I turned the idle screw several good cranks, but the bike really seems like its struggling to get the fuel it needs.