cold hard starting = valve clearance checks ?

[Guest]

Hi everyone

I have a new to me 1979 suzuki gs850g, I just got a new battery in it, cranked it over and its crazy hard to try to start.

I received the bike in December, was told by the PO that it was very hard to start cold, and that he believed that the choke on the bike was not on "right" and that fill choke on the lever did not equal actual full choke position.

He himself had the bike for a year but did not do anything with it at all (he has 7 other bikes) until he needed to sell for some quick cash.

The only things done to the bike are:

Added 1/2 can of Seafoam to the tank (which had 1/4 tank of new gas when received)

Replaced the ignition switch with aftermarket

replaced battery (inserted acid to fill, added tiny bit of distilled water to max fill mark, and charged battery on a smart charger until went to maintainer mode, and attached to bike

Wiggled a wire near battery (to get power to stay on - see another thread here where I asked about replacing the harness or fixing wire or connector)

The power stays on, the starter cranks, begins to catch multiple times, then finally earlier was able to idle for a while.

After being warm the bike fires up and starts in half a second.


I am thinking I should likely muddle my way through a valve clearance check and (likely) shim replacement before looking into the carbs.

Am I correct in this ?

Thanks


sean

[Nessism]

Check the newbie mistakes thread in my signature. It will guide you though some of the common pitfalls.

And needless to say, you have a bike with unknown maintenance history so YES, check the valves.

[chuck hahn]

Valves
Timing check
Rebuild the carbs
Rinse and flush the tank
Put new orings in the intake manifolds ( carb holders )
Put in a new clean air
Oil change and filter
New plugs
Inspect and service the calipers and master cylinders and put in new fluid


Just a few of the things I always do to any bike i get because theres no proof of anything being done unless you do it yourself..sellers words mean squat to me.