No start, no clue (longish)

[Guest]

Hello all, Thanks for the warm response to my intro post! I guess I am in my initiation phase now, bike will not start! Started out last fri. with "Im gonna ride" mentality and would not start, so I spent the whole 3 day weekend trying the following... (1979 gs425 in Reno, NV) - Tried electric start several times - Tried kickstart several more times - Tried every combo of throttle/choke position - Drained bowls - Looked at points, seemed to be o.k. (sprayed WD-40) - Repeated first two steps - Sprayed brakekleen on points and wiped points down completely - By this point, have pulled plugs at least 3 times to de-fowl by wiping or taking lighter to 'em. - Poured gas in right cylinder, SUCESS, for about 10 seconds then died. Retried in both cylinders and no luck. - Take carbs off, take apart, completely soak & clean, put back together. - Inspect following: on/off switch, main fuse and bullet connectors (put dielectric grease on 'em) - While carbs off, make sure to knock gas tank off of counter and scratch paint (very important!) - Put carbs on, repeat first two steps. no luck. Short of putting bike in trunk of old non-working mercedes and shoving into lake tahoe, what else should I try?

[rustybronco]

Hello all, Thanks for the warm response to my intro post! I guess I am in my initiation phase now, bike will not start! Started out last fri. with "Im gonna ride" mentality and would not start, so I spent the whole 3 day weekend trying the following... (1979 gs425 in Reno, NV) - Tried electric start several times - Tried kickstart several more times - Tried every combo of throttle/choke position - Drained bowls - Looked at points, seemed to be o.k. (sprayed WD-40) - Repeated first two steps - Sprayed brakekleen on points and wiped points down completely - By this point, have pulled plugs at least 3 times to de-fowl by wiping or taking lighter to 'em. - Poured gas in right cylinder, SUCESS, for about 10 seconds then died. Retried in both cylinders and no luck. - Take carbs off, take apart, completely soak & clean, put back together. - Inspect following: on/off switch, main fuse and bullet connectors (put dielectric grease on 'em) - While carbs off, make sure to knock gas tank off of counter and scratch paint (very important!) - Put carbs on, repeat first two steps. no luck. Short of putting bike in trunk of old non-working mercedes and shoving into lake tahoe, what else should I try?

NO gs deserves that fate! send it to me...

[rustybronco]

first things first, stick a good spark plug in a spark plug wire and ground it on the engine, crank it over do you get a nice blue spark?

[computronic2040]

Ah! forgot that one. No. Tried last night and no spark in either plug. Could it be a coil issue? I love the clymer coil testing method "put in one that is known to work and try again". Is this the reason it's so hard to find a mechanic that doesnt work on the replace, replace, replace method!

[rustybronco]

no and you're not going to do it either! wiring connections are a bugger on old bikes (they corrode), next step... get borrow or find a volt meter and a wiring diagram (look in the back if you have a clymers) do a search on this site if you don't have a wiring diagram.