Starting failure and loss of power

[Guest]

Hey guys so I'm new to the forums here. I just bought a 1982 GS400T which after going through a bunch of COVID-19 hurdles I finally got my license and bike on the rode. Was working well for a bit but i noticed that I had a charging issue. so I put a new battery in to test it today and all I got was a click (from some i don't know but i think it came form under the gas tank) and then I lost all power to the bike. Several minutes later of checking a few things like the main fuse (which is fine) the power came back, so i tried it again and the same thing happen ( lost all power) i then noticed fuel coming out of my carb air filter which was probably due to me forgetting my petcock turned to prime from trying to start it yesterday on a dead battery. Tried jumping the trigger wire on the starter solenoid to no avail. when I went to check my battery to see how the charge was doing I was reading millivolts across the battery terminals (which I assume would indicate that 12 volts is present on the frame, which would mean that it through a coil due to the fact that its not short circuiting. I know enough to get me in the right direction but i'm not familiar enough with bikes to know what to try changing and probable causes. Hope you guys can chime in on any ideas you have.

[tom203]

Welcome to Suzuki electrical fun....poor connections and charging issues are normal .....till you sort them out.
have you seen this wiring layout?

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=2370B62DDF9F0C6B&id=2370B62DDF9F0C6B%211033&parId=2370B62DDF9F0C6B%211030&o=OneUp

[Redman]

Lossing power after changing battery: Check battery connections.

Good that you have a meter. I suspect some problem using the meter, because I cant imagine measuring millivolts across battery. Unless left the headlioght on for a day.

Yes, leaving petcock in PRIme position for hours can cause gas dripping out the carbs. Will be difficult to start then. And should consider that may have gas in the oil, so probably need to change the oil.

The clicking but not turning over, could be battery low charge, or could be starter motor not working. Starter motor did work before, so I suspect the battery low charge.
You have a small charger (1.25 amp or less)? Try charging the battery and see if things different (even though you said is new battery).

[Big T]

Cylinders could be hydrolocked with fuel