My brothers gs500e

[uncleboob]

My brother has just bought a gs500e as a cheap winter hack, the one he bought hadn't been ridden or started for a while. On receipt, thinking that it might just be the battery we changed the battery for a good one and turned it over.

Initially it spluttered into life, sounded rough as a badgers behind but ran. Turned it off and came back to start it up again later after fiddling with the clutch push rod cover (on the left hand side) and has now it has conked out....havent been able to start it since ( a week ago!!!)

Now i had two thoughts about why it wouldn't start either:

1) all the crappy bits of crap and old fuel have clogged up the carb

2) I've heard that on some gs500's there is a clutch switch which stops the engine from starting when the clutch isn't in...i assumed that this would work like a kill switch and nothing would happen at all...but the engine turns over, the starter motor is fine it just doesn't start.

Plugs have been changed, carb has been drained, tank is clean, spark is good, battery strong and new fuel has been put in. Unfortunatly when i took the pushrod/ sprocket cover off the spring which makes it all work disintegrated so the clutch doesn't work until we get a new part!!

so i guess my question is, which of these is the most likely...or is there a possible other explanation?

once again any thoughts would be appreciated

take care

Jo
____________________
CBT (passed), THEORY (passed), Many lessons completed, Bike sold DAS nearly booked!...
My lovely ZZR sold to pay for DAS, bought a VT125cc and crashed it
Currently back to pedal power!..DAS money spend...twisted bike in garage!....CLR 125 bought- on the road again!

[Piker]

Have you checked the jets in the carb? Have you changed air filter? Also check coils are earthed and not shorting! I have a GS500 and there is not a lot can go wrong with them apparently. You seem to have checked most things, sounds electrical to me.

Piker

[hmmmnz]

the newer models did get a clutch switch (v models onwards) but as you assumed.. it goes through the kill switch.
so you can safely untick that box.

since you are sure that the spark plugs are sparking nicely (a good blue spark) then we can consider the coils and cdi to be fine,
the timing can't be easily changed, so thats not on the cards either.
so basically we can assume the electrical system isn't the cause of your problem,

that really only leaves.... fueling,
my guess is your carbs are clogged up with crap. or your fuel lines, or possibly the filter inside the fuel tank is full of crap.

so take the tank off, get rid of the old fuel, undo the 2 bolts on the botom of the tank and clean out the old filter (make sure you turn that on/off petcock back on completly, as if its not completly turned back on, it stops a lot of the fuel coming through)

now tank is off and clean, check fuel lines,
remove the airbox so you can remove the carbs,
clean the float bowl, remove the main jets and give them a blow out,
check your float needle valve is in good condition,

take the top off the carbs and make surre the rubber diafram doesnt have any holes in it,
put every thing back together put fresh fuel in and try again.

if you need any digrams or what ever send me a message and ill try and scan some pics for you
____________________
the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[Piker]

As above post make sure it is a good spark as i had a damaged plug (new) and although it was sparking this is not good enough to fire the engine. Replaced the plug and away we went.

Piker

[uncleboob]

hi there

i was kind of hoping it wouldn't be the carbs, but it makes sense really, already drained the fuel out, but as you've said i think we have already done the damage by initially starting with the old fuel in.

Whats the best thing to give the carb a clean with- to remove any old petrol residue?

cheers

Jo
____________________
CBT (passed), THEORY (passed), Many lessons completed, Bike sold DAS nearly booked!...
My lovely ZZR sold to pay for DAS, bought a VT125cc and crashed it
Currently back to pedal power!..DAS money spend...twisted bike in garage!....CLR 125 bought- on the road again!

[hmmmnz]

lol, you could use redex or something like that, but to be honest you better off taking the airbox and what not off and having a look,
its probly a bit of gunk stuck in the main jet, redex wont sort that
sorry,
but first of all make sure its sparking nicely,
and get a new battery (not really needed as the bike will run without a battery once started )
____________________
the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[stinkwheel]

As said, clean out the carbs first.

Don't be afraid to use some EZ start spray to get it fired up initially, just don't make a habit of it.

Oh yeah, don't touch the throttle either. It is tempting to try to 'catch' the engine as it fires by opening the throttle. In my experience, this is exactly the wrong thing to do. If it's been sat a while, just press the starter. When it fires, don't touch a thing. It will stop again, just restart it.

What I find on twins that have been sat unused is they usually pick-up on one cylinder first and sound rough as arseholes. If you touch the throttle now it will just die. Eventually the second cylinder kicks in, still leave it. Don't touch the throttle until the rev speed starts to increase.

I sometimes jump them off the car battery too. Really throws the starter motor over.

You usually find once they've got the idea, they'll start off the button nae bother afterwards.

If none of that works, tear a branch of your neighbours privet hedge, call it a vicious bastard and commence a damned good thrashing on the count of five.

[yambabe]

If you take the carbs off and find that they have a coating of evil old petrol on them (it goes either like jelly or a sort of hard, brown, varnish-like substance) a soak overnight in Nitromors might do the trick.
____________________
Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[yambabe]

Oh and one other thing, might be stating the obvious but have you checked that the fuel tap is working?

Himself says disconnect it, put the tap on prime and see if any fuel comes out. (If you haven't already).
____________________
Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[stinkwheel]

[yambabe]

LOL I did wonder why he is so happy to let me ride to rallies on a Friday morning by myself!

Must make mental note to leave some kind of booby trap next time.........
____________________
Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[stinkwheel]

Or course the ideal thing is an ultrasonic bath. Just like the one that ahem 'fell into the boot of my car' at Christmas time.

[Grav]