SV650 won't start

Ok, so my girlfriends bike won't start, here's the story:

The bike sat for a few months. It was running really rough. I took the carbs off and took them apart. One problem was that the slider return spring on one side was all bunged up, so the slider wouldn't open. This was probably the cause of the rough running. While we had the carbs off, we took them apart (leaving the floats on) and cleaned them all up. Great. While we were in there, we change the plugs too.

We put everything back together (except the airbox), and tried to start the bike. It wouldn't start. We finally got it to start when I dialed the idle WAY up, and it idled at 7000...but when I turned the idle down, it died, and wouldn't start. Lots of gas smell. Also, when you let off the starter, there is a lot of "sucking" sound coming from the carbs, and it looks like gas is flowing in. This happens for a couple seconds after realeasing the starter.

So, anyone have any ideas for me? The bike started and ran (although poorly) before we cleaned stuff up. Now I might get it to start and run for 20 seconds or so after it sits, but then it won't start again...almost like it is flooding.

[embee]

Originally Posted by spmorgan

.....Lots of gas smell...almost like it is flooding.

sounds like it's flooding

2 things spring to mind, dirt/object under the float needles, and sticking choke slides/cables.

I'd have the carbs off and check everything out again.