Hello all,

First of all: Merry Christmas / Happy holidays to you all.

Second of all: I tried searching but I couldn't find anything that seemed related. So now I ask for advice from guys while I am stuck at work today.

For some background info, I've been building / rebuilding a GS500 over this past year for my Girlfriend and I'm at the point now where I wish I had just bought a running bike, but I've sunk enough time and money into it that at this point I might as well try a bit more to get this GS running.

I started with a 2001 frame with a busted motor that a friend gave me, and I got a 97 motor that was in mostly working order (ended up needing a stator, which I salvaged from the busted motor, and a pickup for the newer electronics).

Electrically, everything is from a 2006 or newer bike except the turn signals and headlight, the pickup on the motor is from a GS500F. The carbs came from a running bike, not sure what year, but it has sensor hookups.

After months of spending way too much money, I finally had the bike built, but it never ran quite right, at least to me. I could be used to the much higher torque of my SV650, but it course of testing the GS500 I had issues with taking off from stops without killing the engine. Most of the other issues I can recall were resolved.

Since its now winter (again) and too cold for us to ride (no winter gear currently), I figured I might as well get around to checking the valves.

In the course of doing so I found the right side exhaust valve had less than 0.02MM of clearance and the bucket doesn't want to turn like the others, and the left side Intake was a bit loose.

The other two were within spec. Per the recent forum posts I've read and some I hadn't read until today, it seems like its not a bad idea to run the exhaust valves a bit loose.

I ordered two shims and swapped one from an intake to an exhaust and now the clearances for the intakes are within spec ( I don't have the exact numbers handy for those), and the exhausts are 0.12MM. I made sure to recheck them after cranking the engine a few times by hand before putting everything back together.

That was a few days ago and late at night, so I couldn't try to start her. Today, I finally had the chance to see if she ran better and after trying off and on for 10 minutes, she turns over, but refuses to start. Currently the bike is at home and hooked up to a trickle charger.

At this point the only think I haven't done that I can think of is to rebuild the carbs, should I try that? Any other suggestions?

TL;DR / Notes:

• 
  Bike turns over, won't start.
  Spark plugs are nearly brand new NGKs with a few miles on them and came pre-gapped to spec.
  Intake valves are within Suzuki Specs, Exaust valves are running 0.12MM
  I am using a stock air filter with a stock airbox as well as a stock exaust.
  I've made sure that there are no leaks around the airbox boots by spraying carb cleaner around the boots with the bike idling.
  The Gas in the tank is probably 2-3 months old at most but has fuel stabilizer in it.
  

Can be those "new" plugs ... they may be trash ... I fought a week with ginovega's bike - that I saw run in columbia SC, then I get a call from him just hours later, wont start wont start wont start ... he carts it to my house ... 1 week I kill myself ... then I say I am going to return everything as I saw it run last ... out came the crappy new plugs ... hey they looked nice and shiny ... he had tossed the old plugs.
I yanked em out of the other GS I had and instantly vroom vroom ...

Cool.
Buddha.

Well they were brand new from O'Reilly's when I bought them 3 months ago. IIRC bought 4 then, and I'm pretty sure I have the spare set of plugs at home unless I used them and forgot. I'll see if I can find the spares tonight.

Thanks!

Did you turn the gas tank valve back on and let the bike sit on prime for a bit to refill the carbs? Any vacuum hoses come loose?

Well I feel dumb.  I did that earlier today, but only for a few seconds. After I let it prime for about a minute tonight she eventually started and idled with relative ease. I took her for a ride down the highway and she ran better than before thanks to the valve adjustment. Now I need adjust the idle air mixture when it's daylight and I can see better so it idles at the right speed. That and I don't want to annoy the neighbors too much.

Side note: my legs are numb because I was wearing jeans and its 44 degrees F here. 

Thanks guys! My GF will likely be pleased by this news.

Sweatpants over jeans or thermals under jeans work wonders.