1982 XJ650 Wont start without starting fluid

Just bought a 82 XJ650, it ran great (except a high idle at 2k rpm when warm... if anyone knows how to fix that issue please let me know aswell...) but it was sitting for about 5 days and it wouldnt start without spraying some starting fluid into the intake box. If anyone knows whats causing this please let me know!
I was going to buy a new fuel petcock but i dont know if thats the issue. its obviously not getting any gas even with the choke wide open on cold start.

Thanks in advance!!!
-Nick

 

High idle is usually a vacuum leak or carbs are out of sync.

Your starting issue is most likely the enrichment jets in the carb bowls. The choke is an enrichment circuit instead of the typical choke plate in the airstream. There are tiny tiny jets in the bowls that plug easily and make it hard or impossible to start cold.

 

Thank you for the reply. You think i should buy a carb rebuild kit and replace those parts? Id rather replace instead of fixing what it has bc its so old. Plus it has 50k+ miles....

EDIT: I just bought a carb rebuild kit lol might as well bc im sure its never been replaced in its 50 years on this earth.

 

I'm of the mindset that if they're coming off, then they're getting rebuilt. Parts are kinda pricey if you do a full proper rebuild but cry the hardest cry once and be done. You'll need to vac sync once done.

If it runs okay and you don't want to spend the $$ and time, then pull the bowls and clean the enrichment jet. Might be enough.

Here is a pic (not exact carb but you'll get the idea).

 

All of the above but also, I think worth checking the petcock. Does the 650 have the vacuum-operated valve with the Prime setting like a 750? I seldom need to prime, but it's worth checking/trying. Fuel should flow freely on Prime and not at all without a vacuum on On or Reserve.

 

After fiddling with my XJ650 a lot this year, I feel that unless you did a total rebuild of carb and understand all the functions of the throttle and chock/fuel enrichment cable, how it works and such, there are a number of possibilities.

1) When you get it to start, does the fuel enrichment lever actually do anthing to the RPMS? When you move the FE/Choke lever, it will pull up on these plungers on the top front of the carbs to let more fuel in. When you release the FE/Choke lever all the way to the right, it should go all the way back down and even leave a tiny gap between the plunger and the fork pulling it up so that its fully seated back down and no longer enriching.
2) As Jarodoh points out, if the passages of the FE circuit on the bowl cover are not clear in all the carbs, that will keep it from working. That is a common problem in aged XJs. There is also a passage on the carb body that can be clogged too.
3) High RPM, Know how to set idle RPM using the Idle screw. Improperly vacuum sync'd carbs will make it very hard to hold a low idle.
4) Yes, you could have a rich idle mixture and a vacuum leak causing high idle. but I would look at 1-3 first if it were my bike.

As weather warms up a carb normally run richer as the air gets thinner.