Starting Trouble

[stossboss_gaming_and_news]

Love it when things work out good, congrats...Remember to put the pet-cock back to the "ON" pos. leaving it on PRI. is a big NO,NO.

So, leaving it on PRI and running it and sitting for a couple weeks wont lead to fuel gushing out of the air filter and an inability to start right?

My cousin who is a mechanic volunteered to help get the bike to idle properly. He claims to have cleaned the carbs and got it running great, that all it needed was new ignition coils. When I got my hands on it, petcock was on PRI and wouldn't start. So I charge up the battery and try to start it fresh. Turns over for a couple seconds but then fuel comes gushing out from the air filter area about a cup's worth and it dies down.

I only blame myself for being lazy and letting someone else work on it, he is unlikely to admit to anything (when I first dropped it off, I informed him the PRI was for priming when he insisted it was "primary", but he seemed to ignore that) so I'm pretty much on my own now with the bike in a worse condition. I guess the question is where to start? Taking the carbs and rebuilding?

And if those are indeed symptoms of leaving it on PRI - is there anything else I should check to confirm and consequently fix any issues from that?

[rphillips]

Well, we know your cousin is not a bike mechanic. PRI is prime, if you run out of gas and carb bowls are empty, or low, turn to PRI to fill (prime) fuel bowls, then back to ON. In a perfect world and none of your needle and seats were leaking, at all, PRI may be OK, but that very rarely happens. Never an occasion to leave Suzuki GS on PRI. My opinion, get a repair manual for your bike. Tons of stuff in there you need to know or, and, look up.... most everything explained in them, well worth the $30.

[Rijko]

So, leaving it on PRI and running it and sitting for a couple weeks wont lead to fuel gushing out of the air filter and an inability to start right?

Not necessarily, but you are right PRI is only to prime the carbs when dry and to fill the evaporated fuel in the bowls after sitting for some time.
Like rphillips said BIG NO,NO to leave that for hours let alone for weeks on PRI.
That's asking for problems.

I guess the question is where to start? Taking the carbs and rebuilding?
And if those are indeed symptoms of leaving it on PRI - is there anything else I should check to confirm and consequently fix any issues from that?

Start with taking off the oil filler cap and sniff for gas, petrol could have made it into your engine oil.
Elevated oil level in the looking glass is a red flag, replace oil when there's gas in it.

I helped a buddy with a GSX600F recently, it had been standing on PRI for 10 years without leaking.
But as soon as we started the bike, crud came loose, and gas came gushing out.

With the carbs off, run the petcock line into a bottle or something.
Check that it flows well on PRI.
Check no gas comes out on ON and RES unless sucking on the vacuum line.

If your buddy cleaned the carbs properly, i'd check/clean the float needles and seats, if there's a bit of dirt there
that may be all that's needed.
Did he just spray carb cleaner through passages or did he replace o-rings and soak the carbs ?
Check the fuel and air screws while at it, settings are in below pdf.
Proper carb cleaning is a precise job, there's a nice manual here : http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...rb_rebuild.pdf