so i got my carbs back together i think.  put them back in the bike.  it fires, but won't idle unless i hold the throttle open.  chokes seems to have little or no effect.  it looks like there is fuel leaking from vaccuum hose that attaches to the inside of the left carb and the petcock.  i'm 99.9% sure i have my house routing correct.

background: recieved carb rebuild kits from partsnmore.  replaced the float valves, float needles, float valve o-rings, diaphram cover o-rings.  there are two more o-rings but don't seem to fit anything.  there are supposed to be some for the idle screws, but what i have left are definately not the right size.

the petcock is not on prime.

so what did i screw up?

Does the fuel leak from the vacuum port only when the engine is running, or only when it's turned off, or both, or...?

Have you done any kind of Float Height Check?

seems to be only while running.  i made an attempt at adjusting the floats when i had the carbs apart.

okay... i did the float height check with the bike on the centerstand.  the fuel is just slightly above the float bowl mating surface, but not much at all.  how close does it need to be?

also, it will leak fuel with the engine off and the petcock on prime.

Quote from: jiggersplatokay... i did the float height check with the bike on the centerstand.  the fuel is just slightly above the float bowl mating surface, but not much at all.  how close does it need to be?

Being just slightly off shouldn't be a big concern.  It may not be ideal, but it shouldn't cause MAJOR problems or anything.

Quote from: jiggersplatalso, it will leak fuel with the engine off and the petcock on prime.

These two statements seem a bit contradictory...?  The second statement seems to indicate a stuck float valve needle, but according to the first statement the needle is seating and sealing just fine.

Hmmm.    Did you get the same float height on both carbs?

Just for grins, try putting the petcock in the ON position and draining each carb until the fuel stops flowing.  If possible, drain them both at the same time.  (If not possible, doing one at a time should be good enough.)

If the fuel keeps on coming and coming and coming, then you may have a problem in the frame-mounted petcock.  If the flow stops after a short time, that's good.  Make sure the leak at the vacuum port on the left carb has stopped as well, then close the drain screws and refill the carbs using the PRI setting for 1 minute or so.

If any clues jump out at you during this process, let us know!

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I have a GS500e i beleive that one of the carbs is runing rich and one of the carbs is running lean. i dont know exactly how to adjust this situation but one of my carbs spits gas and air back out of the carb when i give is gas and the other doesnt when i try to go down the road it wants to die on me unless i have the rpms high. I dont knwo much about bikes like i do cars i am a new owner and need some help its a 91 bike

well we have a winner folks.  i took the carbs apart again tonight.  tweaked the floats a little.  it didn't look like the new float valves were seating well so i put the old ones back in.  that wasn't it though.  this time, i left the carb end of the vaccuum line disconnected, and sure enough there was fuel coming out of the hose, not the carb.  took the petcock apart.  diaphragm looked okay, but since i happened to have a spare petcock, i swapped in a good diaphragm and the bike seems like she's running pretty good for now.  hope it stays that way.  i gotta say, i really hope this is it.  i've had the bike for nearly a year now and have hardly gotten to ride it at all.  looking forward to getting some miles under my belt.