Hard/no start after 2 weeks+

[4dub]

I’ve owned my 76 for about 1.5 yrs now. I’ve noticed if it sits for more than 2 weeks (fuel petcock turned off) it’s either a hard start(prolonged cranking) or no start, as in it’s flooded. If I wait 30 min or so after, it’ll pop right off and good to go.

I imagine(guessing) there is some fuel evaporation in the carb bowls during the layup that may be contributing to the hard start, and maybe some carb bowls fill faster than others….if some bowls are full and already dumping fuel into cylinders, while other bowls are quite there yet, I suppose it’s possible to be flooding some cylinders, causing the hard start/sometimes no start condition.

Does any of this sound plausible or relatable to what others experience after a couple weeks without riding? Bike sits on the center stand when stored.

Carbs were completely rebuilt last year. Bike runs/idles flawless after it starts. If I ride it the bike a day or two after I rode it last, it’ll pop right off on a cold start, no issues.

Any great sage advice would be great. Thanks.

[Fred Camper]

What kind of fuel pump? If electric, seems strange. But if mechanical OEM, then it does take some cranking just to fill the bowls, but with the choke properly set it should not flood before firing. But starting fine the next day discounts the choke.

[redglbx]

What Fred said ! I find that if my bike sits for very long w/o running the carb bowls dry out and it takes a bit of cranking to get it to start. So normally I’ll turn the petcock on and loosen the fuel cap so that the fuel can flow free’r. I let it sit that way for 15min to 1/2 hour to let it fill the fuel bowls.. it’ll generally start easier doing this… I do this on my CBX’s as well which are a bit easier because the fuel tank is over the carbs so it flows easier.

I should add that since the GL’s have the fuel tanks under the seat that this works better with a full or near full tank. Also I keep my bikes on a battery tender when not being ridden to keep the battery fully charged. Cranking the bike a lot after sitting for an extended period is really hard on the battery plus keeping it on a tender seems to really help with the battery life.

[cfairweather]

An electric fuel pump is one of the best things you can do to make the GL1000 a better motorcycle. Here is a picture of mine and please note the black button on the clock mount. If my bike has been sitting for a few days, I just press the button for a few seconds to fill the carbs before starting. You can hear the change in the fuel pump when the carbs are full. The bike will then start quickly. Zoom in on the picture and you can better see how I mounted the fuel pump. I have instructions if you decide to install one.

[4dub]

Yes, mechanical OEM pump that I replaced last year due to torn internal diaphragm.

The electric fuel pump is a good idea but I kind of like the OE look, even tho your setup looks great.

I like the idea of opening the fuel petcock and loosening the fuel cap for a little bit before starting. I’ll give that a go. Appreciate both of your inputs.

[redglbx]

Dub, just keep in mind for the bleed down , open petcock, open cap to really work well you need to have 1/2tank of fuel or more to build sufficient head pressure. Let us know how you do..