Bike wont start!!

[jh_husker]

Ok i posted a thread alittle earlier about a new battery and i got one and put it in and i have power but it wont kick over. it makes the starter sound but nothing else. any ideas about what it could be. i have 3/4 of a tank of gas in it and the pet cock is ON. i do not know what it could be. I just changed the spark plugs on it yesterday too.

thanks

[saindon420]

How long since its been running?

[jh_husker]

oh sorry i just rode it yesterday by push starting it. ran it for about an hour at one time and about 30mins the second and then would not start when i tried last night to go home from work. my lights were really dim when i just turned the power on but the battery was about 3 years old and i had it trickled charged the day before so thats why i bought a new battery. . the idle when i ran it was really low and if i did not play with the throttle at a red light it would die. It also if i reved it up to 4000 rpms and then let go of the throttle it would stick there for a couple of seconds and then start going down. dont know if that has any thing to do with it not starting. And when i take off it is like it delays for a second and kicks in the power. if that makes sense. i just wish i knew more about bikes.

[GSBuilder]

oh sorry i just rode it yesterday by push starting it. ran it for about an hour at one time and about 30mins the second and then would not start when i tried last night to go home from work. my lights were really dim when i just turned the power on but the battery was about 3 years old and i had it trickled charged the day before so thats why i bought a new battery. . the idle when i ran it was really low and if i did not play with the throttle at a red light it would die. It also if i reved it up to 4000 rpms and then let go of the throttle it would stick there for a couple of seconds and then start going down. dont know if that has any thing to do with it not starting. And when i take off it is like it delays for a second and kicks in the power. if that makes sense. i just wish i knew more about bikes.

When I had problems like this, it was carb related. (Excluding the bad battery, of course.) Have you touched the carbs recently? The sticking at 4000 suggests a vac leak I believe. The delay could be a couple of things, first, if you have VM carbs, if you thwack the throttle open, it will bog. CVs aren't as bad. I know there are other things, I can't think about them now. What year and model?

[jh_husker]

1983 Suzuki GS550E, and yeah i just re built the carbs about a month ago, and how could i test to see if is a vacuum leak??

[J_C]

Little equation I picked up somewhere (no idea where. Some book I had but since lost?)

Anyway: Fuel Mixture + Spark + Compression = Run

Compression is easy to test if you have s compression gauge. I'm no expert by any means, but I'll throw out a few other possibilities that others might be able to comment on. (Keep in mind, I have no idea how the fact you were able to push start it strengthens or weakens any of these possibilities)

1) You might have a signigicant voltage drop to the coils, producing weak spark
2) Your battery could be toasted and not holding a charge. If it's a new battery and toasted you might have charging problems with the stator / rectifier regulator or a phantom draw somewhere in the electrical system
3) There's something wrong with your pilot circuit, your idle setting, or your choke circuit, or something else (like a vacuum leak mentioned above)