1982 GS550l trouble starting

[Lemorte]

First off I will say I assume I am in the correct spot for this issue, if not, please let me know and I will move somewhere else.

After replacing the battery and the starter motor, I finally got the bike to turn over. That was a pretty huge milestone for an absolute rookie, but now I am at a lose of where to go from here. As you can see from the video, it turns over but will not start. I removed the air filter and when spraying starter fluid into the carbs I was able to get it to actually start for a little bit as long as I was turning the throttle, but anytime I let it drop down it would die. I've been told multiple times that an engine needs Air, Fuel, and a Spark to run. It seems to me that the Spark and Air are fine, so the problem may be the fuel. I had to remove the petcock to get to the starter motor so I may have messed something up there, but I just don't really know what to check from here. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

This video probably isn't helpful in the slightest,if anyone wants anymore picture or videos just let me know and I can show whatever you would like.

[hillsy]

When was the last time the bike was running? If it's been over 6 months or you don't know then you will need to take off the carbs and clean them. The fact it fires with starter fluid means (like you suggested) that there is speak, but it's not getting fuel.

Also, fresh fuel? Does the fuel flow out of the fuel tap? Are you using the choke when you are trying to start it?

[Lemorte]

I was told it has been a little over 6 months since it was running. I was told the carbs had been cleaned and when I had them off to replace the starter motor I inspected them and from what I could tell (and research) they seemed fine. The fuel is from my garage and I am assuming it is fresh. I could be wrong though. I am trying the choke when attempting to start it and I have no idea how to check if fuel is flowing out of the fuel tap.

[tom203]

Unstabilized ethanol fuel is bad news if it sits in carbs for 6 month - it gums up the small passages. This means hard to start, poor idle,etc. .You'll need to remove carbs again and clean them the right way. You might get lucky by draining tank and fuel bowls, adding fresh fuel treated with Seafoam (or equivalent), and let it sit in carbs overnight. It might sorta start/ run after that if you are a lucky soul! The hard part of carb cleaning is removing them from bike- something that you have already done.

Understand and check your petcock for correct operation..

Assuming it's still the stock petcock...... This has 3 positions: "pr ", "on " ,"res" : in "on" and a "res" ,fuel should only flow when engine is running (engine vacuum is applied to the petcock letting fuel flow). The "pr" spot lets fuel flow at all times - this is used after bike has sat idle and fuel has evaporated from carbs this spot quickly refills carb. But you don't want to leave it in " pr" when bike is not running,as carbs will likely overfill - if this happens, fuel will run into crankcase diluting the oil.

[Redman]

I suggest finding the "Carb Cleaning Series" on GSR homepage.

Cant really see carb problems, since the problems are inside some of the very small passages inside the carbs.
And spraying carb cleaner here and there probablyy not get it either.
Get a buicket of carb cleaner.
Need to completely disassemble and carb dip each one for 24 hours.

Look for Cycle O Ring for a replacemnt set of carb o-rings..

[Lemorte]

Understand and check your petcock for correct operation..

Assuming it's still the stock petcock...... This has 3 positions: "pr ", "on " ,"res" : in "on" and a "res" ,fuel should only flow when engine is running (engine vacuum is applied to the petcock letting fuel flow). The "pr" spot lets fuel flow at all times - this is used after bike has sat idle and fuel has evaporated from carbs this spot quickly refills carb. But you don't want to leave it in " pr" when bike is not running,as carbs will likely overfill - if this happens, fuel will run into crankcase diluting the oil.

Ah I was wondering what the "pr" setting meant on the petcock. Should I set it to "pr" since it has sat for a while? If not, what is a situation where "pr" should be used?

I suggest finding the "Carb Cleaning Series" on GSR homepage.

Cant really see carb problems, since the problems are inside some of the very small passages inside the carbs.
And spraying carb cleaner here and there probablyy not get it either.
Get a buicket of carb cleaner.
Need to completely disassemble and carb dip each one for 24 hours.

Look for Cycle O Ring for a replacemnt set of carb o-rings..

I am going to be majorly bummed if I end up having to take the carbs out again, but I guess it is what it is. I was told by the seller that the carbs were cleaned recently. For the sake of argument lets say he wasn't lying to me, is there something else on the bike I should check that may cause the same issue?