Rebuilt carbs - still not working

[kolchin]

Hey guys, first off I'd like to thank ya'll for that wonderful carb rebuild walkthrough. Here's my first post.

I?m a college student with zero mechanical experience ? I bought this motorcycle as a way to teach myself how it works, so if I?m not doing the obvious, feel free to point it out.
Okay, so I picked up a 1981 GS 550L this past fall. It has about 9k miles on it.
The guy I bought it from claimed that he road it about a year ago for a time, but stopped when the carbs were giving him problems. It has good compression, and all the plugs spark well. A month back I was able to get it running on one cylinder.
Then I rebuilt the carbs using those kits on ebay, I think it was K&N. A week ago I put the rebuilt carbs back on the bike and tried to start it up. I got it running once with liberal use of engine starter fluid, but it still only ran on one cylinder.
I rechecked the plugs today and they spark alright.
So my question is why isn?t the engine starting every time (I have about a 1 in 20 chance of starting) and why only on one cylinder?

 

[Steve]

First of all, WELCOME to GSR.

Next, hate to say it, but you probably wasted your money on those carb kits (K&L maybe?). Usually far better off to get a can of Berryman's carb dip, strip the carbs down and dip them (one at a time) for a day, each, then re-assemble them with a full set of o-rings from GSR member Robert Barr. You can order his kits at cycleorings.com.

Even though the carbs might be clean, they still need to be properly adjusted for mixture and synchronization. Either one of those can affect operation badly enough to only allow operation on one cylinder.

Might be time to drop back five yards and PUNT. Just start over and do it RIGHT this time.

.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

First the CV carbs that you have need to be VERY clean to work like they should. They should be dipped in Berrymens carb cleaner for at least 6 hours- then flush with water, then spray brake cleaner to get rid of the residue
That includes having the air box installed and sealed for air leaks...
You may need to go back and clean them again Did you take the mixture screw out ??? (front side-intake) Start with them 2 turns out from lightly seated. It sometimes helps to jump the battery even if it is charged