Problem starting in cold

[saddlewarmer]

Get battery charged up, Spray a LITTLE bit of starting fluid on each pod filter, choke only, no throttle, hit starter. bike may hiccup and try to start, if doesn't start, spray a little again (1/2 second burst or less) on pods and hit again. doesn't start this time , then take choke off and try one more time. if it fires, push choke on quickly and hope it stays running. May take several times but if bike ran and started good before this should do it.

[DickV]

I recently had a similar problem with my 82 GS450 when I wanted to take one last ride before putting it away for the winter. After much cranking, backfires, and starter fluid shots I installed a new set of plugs and it started immediately.

[jknappsax]

O-rings on 1978, etc. 8-valve motors

Did the bike start and run OK before the cold weather? Every winter my '78 GS 750 would get a little hard to start. The 8-valve motors have an o-ring between the intakes and rubber manifolds, and when they get old, dried out, or cracked, let air get into the post-carb flow, leaning out the mixture and making them hard to start, especially when the cold causes everything to shrink a little. I'm in the process of replacing the boots and o-rings, which I believe will solve the problem. The job isn't complicated, just a PITA getting the air/filter box and carbs out of the frame to get to the manifold screws, which are usually seized enough to need to use an impact tool, but there isn't much room to swing a hammer to get to the bottom screws on the inner two manifolds. I ended up removing the battery, battery box, and r/r to get a clearer shot at the inner two bottom screws. If the manifold boots look good (aren't dried out,cracked, etc.) you can reuse them, but replace them if in doubt. The boots are available through alpha-sports.com or bikebandit.com. The o-rings are cheap, and available from Suzuki, or here on theGSresources from Robert Barr. You might want to search the archive for threads about this, it's been brought up many times before.

[ShirleySerious]

There's too many things to go wrong with this bike now, but the boots look fine. The bike ran fine until about a couple weeks ago, and now it won't start at all. I tried using starting fluid, but that didn't do jack, except get my hands all greasy. I don't get what's wrong with this damn bike. Cranking will not start it, so I'm thinking the engine is flooded. How can I tell? What size spark plug socket do I need? I need to get it home, even if that means renting a trailer. Too bad mechanics don't make house calls, because the nearest Suzuki dealer is 12 miles from my storage area.

[jknappsax]

O-rings

Even if the boots are fine, odds are that after 20+ years, the o-rings are shot. They're not expensive, just a pain to get to. The round rings are usually flattened and hard, looking more like a fiber washer. They are in a groove on the side of the boots where the base aluminum plate screws to the head. It should be a lot easier with pods on the bike, but it's well worth doing.

[ShirleySerious]

I went to U-Haul, expecting to get a trailer to take my bike home. Apparently my friend didn't have the right equipment on his truck, so they wouldn't let us rent the trailer. We went back to my bike to see if it would start one last time before I had to walk it home. I don't know what happened, but it started right up. Maybe the ghost of Fonzie was there. But I managed to get it up and running and got it home. Thanks for all the help.

[bradleymaynar]

Woo Hoo!!\\/ Could be that it was a bit warmer today! Whatever, don't question the GS Gods!![-o<:-D

Brad bt