interesting startup issue

[scottp8113]

Yesterday was pretty nice around here, so I thought I'd bring the bike ('79 550) out for the first time of the season. When I tried to start it up, there was nothing but more and more cranking/kicking, so I thought I'd give the plugs a check. I pulled the #4 (i think, it was the rightmost one) plug, touched the starter and it fired right up and ran fine for about 15 seconds until I shut it off. Then I put the plug back in and after a longer touch of the starter, it came back to life again and ran great. Shame on me, but I didn't check the other 3, but the plug I pulled wasn't burned, but wasn't clean either.

Any guess what the heck is going on? Thanks in advance!

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Were the float bowls empty? Did you set the petcock to prime for a minute before you tried to start?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[scottp8113]

sorry, forgot to mention that part. Yes, i did prime first. I've never had a fuel flow issue before either and I don't believe that was the case.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

What's your voltage at the coils?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Sandy]

It was magic. Actually it could have been a combination of bad gas and slightly flood. All that cranking probably loaded the cylinders with too much fuel initially and the time you took to remove the plug was probably enough time for the fuel to dissipate and it would have started that time whether you removed the plug or not. Either that or as BassCliff suggested it could have just gotten fuel due to the petcock not being turned to prime and it just got enough fuel to fire up when you removed the plug. Removing the plug probably had nothing to do with it other than being coincidence. Do check your coil voltage though, it's a known issue with these old Suzuki's. You'll probably need to clean up the connectors and switches and maybe consider doing a relay mod for the coils.

[scottp8113]

not a clue what the voltage should be and can't measure it since it's out at my grandparent's house for storage. actually, i'm not really sure how to do it even. can someone point me in the right direction?