Bike won't fire up after carb cleaning

[RJordan09]

Hi guys,

So today I took possession of my 1982 GS850GL. The previous owner had mentioned carb issues, so I took them off for a full cleaning (and they really weren't too bad!).

Now that everything has been put back together, I hit the electric start but don't get any response from the engine. I can hear the carbs clicking, so I know it's trying..

I'm guessing I forgot something really simple here. Does anyone have any ideas?? The only things I really did today was the carb cleaning, new battery, new gas in the tank. Had the tank and seat off to pull the carbs/air box.

Thanks,
Rich

[chuck hahn]

Carbs do NOT click. what your hearing is the starter selinoid. Under the carbs is a hatch. Inside is the starter. Take cover off and tap the starter motor with a hammer as I suspect its stuck. If it doesnt crank..or cranks real slow or weird like your starter is on its way out.

[chuck hahn]

Ssave these in your favorites for future use.......

http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS850_Manual_HiRes.pdf

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/mc_maint/GS_CV_Carb_Cleaning_Series.pdf

[RJordan09]

Carbs do NOT click. what your hearing is the starter selinoid. Under the carbs is a hatch. Inside is the starter. Take cover off and tap the starter motor with a hammer as I suspect its stuck. If it doesnt crank..or cranks real slow or weird like your starter is on its way out.

Thanks, that could definitely be it. When I try to start it right now I am only hearing the click from the starter selinoid, it is not trying to turn over or crank at all otherwise. Still worth the hammer tap?

[chuck hahn]

yes..take the cover off and tap the end of the nstarter motor as you hit the start button and see if it tries to crank. take a look at the fat wire leading from the selinoid to the starter as well and be sure the connections are tight. Dont go apeschitz crazy as you can snap the studs loose and break stuff.. but be sure they are good and tight.

[850 Combat]

You might consider shorting the two connections on the starter solenoid in case it isn't making proper contact. Pliers handles work well for this. You might also see if the motor is stuck, if you haven't hears it crank before. I would put it on the center stand, pull the plugs, put it in 5th, and turn the motor with the back wheel.

Or you may have a battery that doesn't have sufficient power in it to turn the engine, but it can click the solenoid.

[RJordan09]

OK so I have identified one problem, solved it, and am on to the next.

The big wasn't trying to start b/c it has a kickstand safety mechanism that has corroded away. I have figured out how to fix it for now.

So now, the bike is trying to start. Issue is, it's not starting..

It appears that fuel is making it to the carbs but it's just not getting going. On the plus side, the carb leaks that prompted the cleaning seem to be fixed.

Any thoughts?

[RJordan09]

You might consider shorting the two connections on the starter solenoid in case it isn't making proper contact. Pliers handles work well for this. You might also see if the motor is stuck, if you haven't hears it crank before. I would put it on the center stand, pull the plugs, put it in 5th, and turn the motor with the back wheel.

Or you may have a battery that doesn't have sufficient power in it to turn the engine, but it can click the solenoid.

I can confirm that the motor is not stuck, I did the 5th gear trick. The starter issue seems to be resolved (it was the kickstand safety thing) but it's still not turning over for me

[roeme]

Any thoughts?

You need Compression, Spark, Mixture.

If you haven't seen the bike running before:
Drop a teaspoon of gasoline into each cylinder. If she fires afterwards, your compression and spark should be fine, then you need to look at the carbs and everything around them.
If she doesn't, it's either bad compression or spark.

If you have seen the bike running:
Well you screwed something up We can assume the aforementioned three factors were more or less good, at least good enough to have the engine running somewhat.
You can try the teaspoon trick as well; it will tell you wether you screwed up the carbs or something electrical while working on the bike.

Note that for example worn out spark plug caps can finally give up the ghost by being disturbed during maintenance (Happened to me).

[tom203]

Ok, so the starter motor is cranking. Do you understand the "choke" system on these bikes? It's actually a fuel enricher..make sure the "choke" is activating fully at carbs. And don't apply any throttle. When you cleaned the carbs ("that really weren't that bad"), did you make sure the choke passages were clean? Otherwise extra fuel won't make it up to carbs' throats as you crank. Did you bench sync the carbs after reganging them together? The throttle plates will appear almost fully closed sitting on idle stop screw- if open too much there won't be enough umph to pull extra fuel into carb throats at cold startup