Carb help, Again !

[Anonymous]

The bike is a 1980 GS550L with 7k miles on it that has been sitting for a few years. Over last winter I removed and cleaned the carbs, using the carb cleaning info here, great instructions. When I put it back together I now have the following problems, (the bike ran fine before it sat):

1) hard to start
2) if you give it trottle when not completly warmed up it will die.
3) once it gets running it will cut out at about 6k rpms.
4) It does not run like it did before it sat.

I was thinking it was not getting enough fuel and maybe the petcock was the problem, so I mounted a small lawn mower gas tank and shut off and tried that but same problems.
What would be the next thing to check, I actually thought about taking it to a bike shop but then figured that the bill would probably be more than the bike was worth, besides I don't give up easily.
I also just noticed that the shut off I bought is more like a slow down since the gas tank is now empty which means the gas is most likely in the oil now, which is interesting since I tested the float valves on the bench before installing the carbs and it did not seem to leak.
Anyway, please help !!!

[lhanscom]

How's your battery? I've had this happen when the battery was dead, and therefore giving a very weak spark. Pull the plugs and see what they look like.

[Anonymous]

The battery is new this summer, but could have been run down trying to start it the first time, I did charge it recently. The plugs have also been changed this summer after I first got it running again.
Thanks.

[lhanscom]

I'm wondering if the plugs are wet, or black, or white.

[Anonymous]

I will pull a couple of the plugs and take a look next time I am over there and let you know how they look.
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I pulled the plugs and they look pretty good (since they were just put in).
The plugs for #1 and #4 browinsh white and the #2 and #3 plugs are more black, not real black but more black than brown.
Not sure it this helps.
Thanks.

[lhanscom]

Try checking the voltage at the coil that runs 2 and 3. It's possible that it doesn't have quite enough juice to ignite the charge well, especially at higher rpm.

[AOD]

once it gets running it will cut out at about 6k rpms.

i had this same problem on my 79 that sat for a year before i got it.

i have ruled the problem down to two things. one, the passaged that take fuel to the bowls were clogged a bit...basically restricted. it could have caused not enough fuel to make it into the bowls above 6000 RPM. or second, i had a coil go bad.

old coils and old wires are just bad news. you have electronic ignition already, you may want to look at replacing the coils and wires.

~Adam