Starting problems

[Wilee7]

To start off this is my first bike all i know about them is they look cool and they can be loud. I have and 82 gs550l when I bought the only known problem was gas dripping from one of the bolts on the petcock, easy fix changed out the packing no more leak I tried to start it a few days later and the battery was pretty much dead i charged the battery and it started but it ran for about 30 sec and stopped. I tried to start it again and nothing i checked 2 of the 4 spark plugs i could reach (lack of tools) and they sparked with my lack of bike knowledge i'm stuck. has anyone else ran across this? I can't legally ride yet so its not that much of a let down but to have these problems is a little bothersome

[northwoods]

1. is your petcock letting fuel through? take one of the drain bolts off of the bottom of the carb and see if fuel leaks out.

[Wilee7]

I tried to start it prior to checking the drain bolt and it back fired I took out all 4 spark plugs and clean them tried again and nothing I pulled the plug on the left carb and fuel came out with oil or something at first then it was clean fuel. The guy i bought it from said the tank was rusty and he cleaned it out with carb cleaner and gas. im not sure if its at the bottom of all of the carbs but i'll check tomorrow

[mighty13d]

Drain off all the carbs like that. you don't want that crap in the system. Check the tank and see if you can see anything in the fuel in there. If so, you're going to have to clean it.

[Wilee7]

if it comes down to it how hard is it to rebuild the carburetor

[BassCliff]

A little TLC

Hi Mr. Wilee77,

It sounds as if you'll have to clean/coat the fuel tank too. There are lots of posts about how to do this. Use the search feature. Check the "In The Garage" section for carb and charging system information and read all the stuff on my little BikeCliff website to gain a better understanding of the TLC necessary to restore these classic bikes to their former glory. Once you've replaced and/or fixed everything necessary, you'll have a reliable bike that you can ride and ride. If you don't have a manual for your bike, I suggest you get one. The Suzuki Shop Manual is best but Clymer and Haynes are better than nothing. Get all three if you can. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Wilee7]

I checked the rest of the drain bolts all but one let fuel out if you're sitting on the bike its the second one going from left to right i used a jeweler's screw driver to see if anything was blocking it i got a little fuel to come out then i plugged it back in and it still didn't start i checked the drain again and it still no fuel i was hoping not to touch the carburetors but no dice. my trouble shooting continues

[Big T]

Actually, it's more of carb cleaning, but you should replace the O rings (cycleorings.com) inside the carbs and the O rings between the cylinder head and carb boot while you've got the carbs pulled. You may have to replace float bowl gaskets.

A set of metric wrenches and a couple of screwdrivers should be all you need.

Check the In The Garage section for the how to info.

Post some pics (see the Bass Cliff website) and members will talk you thru it.