Alright so i know i need to check the valve clearances and i accept that but i'm kind of confused and think i know what could be the problem. It seems when my bike sits outside in the rain it refuses to start. Easy temp fix by getting a cover which i was planning on doing anyways. But i'm really strapped for money at the moment so havent been able to buy one or check the valves. So to my problem, after it rained i went out to start the bike to go to work, but with the choke on it would start and get to 1500 rpm then just die after about 3 secs. Did this multiple times till it finally just quit doing it im assuming because the battery was getting weak. So, i think it could be either the spark plug/wires because i just replaced the spark plugs not long ago, or a fuel issue with the jets or petcock/water in gas tank? I would really like some input from someone who is more experienced than me. Sorry if i seem like im always asking for help, just like to learn so maybe i can pass on what i learn to others. Thanks for the help

How old is the bike? I'm wondering if your spark plug boots / wires are cracked, and the water is arcing on exposed wires.

Everything else is pretty water resistant (at least rain resistant), even the gas tank.

If the bike is starting okay it's not your battery condition that's the problem.
If it's starting well with choke on, experiment to see how the choke position affects it immediately after startup. Some bikes need choke to start, but then want choke shutoff pretty soon. Others like a few minutes of full or partial choke. Revs with the choke on I would think should be closer to 2000 - 2500rpm, maybe you're just not warming it up enough at the higher revs. Tickover speed is set for a warm motor, -when it's cold the tickover speed with no choke may be too low so you need to warm it up using twistgrip to keep the revs up. The carbs have a little lever/spring that kick up the tickover speed when the choke is on, it's possible that this may need adjusting.
It sounds to me as if it could be a dampness issue affecting wiring or a connector somewhere as Rich says, (but then you'd think it would be hard to start if it were a dampness issue). If it were a valve shimming issue it wouldn't want to start at all, and /or higher speed performance would be bad.
Same with fuel/petcock issues, they'd be more evident at higher speeds.
Try draining your carb floatbowls before you start it, -each carb has a small screw which you screw out to drain what's been in there since your last ride, and fill them with fresh fuel from the tank when you screw the screws back in.
Is it running well when warmed up? -It's just a warm-up problem?

It has been running great. I recently had the carbs cleaned and the needle replaced and im pretty sure they adjusted the float. Was leaking but is no longer leaking gas. Have no problems with running and other than maybe needing few minor things is pretty good. Its and 07 with about 14,5xx miles on it. Though that being said the last owner was really shitty. When the weather is nice to start i would put the choke on let it warm right up and take off no problems. But today when i tried to start it, with the choke on it would start get up to the 1.5k rpm then just die after about a sec. Usually it will start with the choke go up to about 4k and stay there till i turn it off. without choke today it will either not fire up or when it did the one or two times, when i touched the throttle it would die immediately. Hope that helps clarify. Side note, it used to start up in the rain about 5 or so months ago before the winter and i never noticed any problems if they helps some

Joolstacho, can you elaborate on the adjustment for idle speed when the choke is on, I never noticed that in the manual and mine does rev a little high when the choke is on.
Thanks
Bmf



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Update went outside this morning to try and start it up and she finally did though it's cold and raining. Gotta love the Midwest. So it finally started with the choke on and sat at about 4k rpm for a while but there were three things I noticed. 1) it was on the rear stand and the rear tire was spinning not at just like a snail pace I took a video I'll see if I can upload it and include a link. 2) there was quite a bit of smoke for the first 6 or so minutes of heating. 3) after the engine was almost too hot to touch, which is usually how I decide if it's warmed up, once the choke was off it would drop down to normal idle and then as soon as I hit the throttle at all it died. Everytime. Ideas?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8mPd26bjgY

Ah, you recently had the carbs cleaned... has the stall problem started after that? Your bike is a low mileage machine, I wouldn't have thought it would need a carb overhaul, but I guess it might have had a hard life. Quite often little probs like this surface after a component has been worked on, something has been badly adjusted, or maybe damaged etc.
It's normal for the rear wheel to rotate when it's running on the centrestand in neutral , but you should be able to stop it by putting your foot on the tyre gently. Your vid shows pretty normal rotation rate.
Smoking from cold is normal (I'm a Pall:cool:Mall man myself), mind you, 6 minutes seems a bit long, -it's the rich mixture caused by the choke being on and engine internals not hot and sealing 100%.
If it's dying when you open the throttle when warmed up, I'd lay odds that your mechanic has got something wrong when he did the carbs.

Yeah I don't know if it all started happening since it was in the shop but I know it wasn't happening last season. Yeah it usually doesn't take that long to warm up I think. Maybe it does but doesn't seem like that usually. What could be killing it every time I open the throttle. All of this has happened since the rain. Before that I had no problems whatsoever. Fired up all the time and the choke worked great. So I'm thinking its gotta be electrical? But where to start?