"78 GS1000E 3 and 4 not Firing when Cold

[OldVet66]

I have been wrestling with this problem for a while. I haven't rebuilt the carburetors yet, they were rebuilt a few years back. I did replace the spark plug wires, inspect the boots and replace the intake O-rings. When starting cold most typically number 4 the uphill carburetor won't fire but 3 will misbehave on occasions. There is spark to both cylinders and once they light with some popping and sputtering they run normally for the rest of the day as long as I don't let them go stone cold. The petcock is a dreaded '80 model new about 6 years ago and the gas has always had Star Tron in it. Any help would be appreciated.

[azr]

Clean your carbs. Do your valves at the same time and make sure your petcock is working properly. Also, how lod are your plugs?

[OldVet66]

The plugs were new with the wires and I really don't have enough miles since the last valve adjustment for another one but it's on the schedule of checks. I've been wrestling with rheumatoid arthritis for the last year and a half and haven't put a lot of mileage on the bike. That is changing because they have me on a medication that seems to be working nicely and I'm slowly getting back to normal

[azr]

Well with those things already taken care of it sounds like it's time to pull and dip your carbs for sure. Choke circuits are dirty.

[OldVet66]

That thought crossed my mind. I may have to start parking the bike on the center stand since the two carbs uphill of center are the ones affected. I have pods on the bike and a lot of fuel evaporation if I don't ride for a day or two.

[tkent02]

Just clean the carbs, they come off easily enough if you have pods.

[OldVet66]

That was on my list, I got the O-rings and dip several months ago before some little glitches turned into this PITA. I hate to tear it down during riding season but I wasn't in any shape to do it this winter. time to go back to the basics, check everything out fix the problems and do all the long overdo polishing.