GS1000GT Difficult to Start

[cmroche]

I have a GS1000GT that is being a real pain to start. Sometime it goes, sometimes it does not. Got it working this afternoon with minimal effort, only took a few attempts to get her going, and this evening, no ball... it would not start. It sounds like it is trying to, infact the engine turns over without the starter for half a scond to a second before it stops.

I can smell gas, so fuel is getting delivered. The engine did get started today and runs really good when it is going which rules out problems with compression, or general mechincal failure with the engine. I tried using a fully charge car battery, which rules out the battery being weak at this point.

I also took the plugs out, they don't appear to be fowled, they are a dark brown which looks good. I clean them off with a wire brush, set the gap back to approx 0.70mm and put them back in, didn't make a difference.

I have been advised the carbs were cleaned on the bike recently, and being as there is no trouble with running or even idling, doesn't seem like much of a carb problem either.

Any ideas?

[SqDancerLynn1]

I would start by cleaning the run/stop thumb switch on the RT bar, clean the coil connections, check for resistance ign switch

[cmroche]

You mean clean the kill switch? I am not sure that would actually accomplish anything. I will do it, but perhaps you could explain to me why this would effect anything?

And by cleaning the coil connections, you mean the connectors in the plug boots or the points? I have considered doing this, and will. I need to get a safe discharger for the points condensors, I don't want to electrocute myself (I never touch large capacitors without testing and discharging first). I will also be testing the spark strength tomorrow to make sure everything is fine, but I am not sure how to tell what is good for a spark or not, though I have a pretty goos idea of what to expect.

I also intend on checking the air filter, a badly clogged filter might make starting difficult.

I am not however sure how to check the resistance on the ignition switch. Rather said I am not sure what resistance to expect on the ignition switch and how much. The actualy key part of the switch was rmeoved, since it was damaged and would not turn with the key, the switch is still there, and is simply rotated to close the switch which turns the bike on. Could you explain possibly what do to and what to look for?

[cmroche]

As an interesting note, when I got the bike to start today, it took a few attempts to start before it would finally kick over, every time I tried it got a little bit closer until it worked.

It was probably about 20-21C outside this afternoon, with fall approaching this evening when I attempted to start I think it dropped to about 17-18C and than it would not longer work.

The first time when I got it started, if I hit the kill switch to stop, and than attempted to restart the engine it went almost immediatly. Sounds like it just doesn't want to go when it is cold out.

I don't think it is a mixture problem, after attempting for several minutes to start it, I pulled the plugs out and they were on the dark side, but otherwise looked good, bordering cold... likely to occur with a rich mixture from starting. I will look tomorrow into purchasing new sparks. Can anyone tell me the correct sparks and gap for a GS1000GT?

While it is possible for it to be the spark, doesn't seem likely, because I can get it to start.... I was advised when buying the bike that the carbs were recently cleaned, if all above fails, should I see about getting a carb rebuild done? I am not so sure I could complete this task myself, seems involved.