Suzuki GS550ES all kinds of issues

[mzeffex]

Would it turn off due to a dead battery?

I just plugged the battery in to charge.

Absolutely yes.
One of the things to check is whether the battery is being charged when running at mid-upper RPM.
Voltage on the battery should read about 12.5V at idle but come up to higher at higher RPM.
Charge the battery on external charger before doing the voltage regulator test.

A lousy battery can give some bad running symptoms (though never high idle).

Why was the bike parked? Was it running well at the time? (or do you know?)

Ok, that's something I'll look into. When it died yesterday the battery was not dead, but it definitely was not fully charged. I'll check with a multimeter later. I was driving it to get a VIN inspection so I can either get tags, or at least put it in my name so I can sell it. Haha. I'm just so frustrated with it. Anyway, it was running well. Perfectly actually. Though the idle was a little high, around 3k.

[GS_in_CO]

Undervoltage might mean your ignition system wouldn't fire properly.

Doesn't sound like it was running perfectly. 3 k high idle isn't perfect.
So it sounds like the high idle condition predates storage/parkage.

[mzeffex]

Well it ran perfectly since I charged the battery and played with the boots between the airbox and the carb. I don't have high hopes yet, but it seems good to go. Put 20 on it and it ran really well. Idle between 1200-2000..

Thanks for the help

[GS_in_CO]

Things are looking up.
Be sure and check battery charging voltage. And check water (distilled only!) levels in the cells and clean, tight terminals.
Batteries are pretty foundational and need more attention than most people understand.

[mzeffex]

Ok so it's running well, idleing right, except it dies under hard braking? I think that might be related to gas moving forward and not getting to the petcock, but not sure.

[GS_in_CO]

Ok so it's running well, idleing right, except it dies under hard braking? I think that might be related to gas moving forward and not getting to the petcock, but not sure.

Sounds pretty good.

Gas in the tank won't affect idling for awhile. The gas in the fuel line and the carb float bowls has to be consumed first.
It might be the gas in the carb bowl is sloshing or the float is shifting so as to put more gas in the bowl and richening the mixture so it dies.
Which way are the floats hinged? Does that seem like a possible cause?

Misbehavior of carbs while being tilted around was an issue in offroading when carbs were all there was. Tall narrow carbs had fewer problems with tilt angles than low, flat ones. Of course fuel injection removed those issues (and replaced them with inability to fix fuel pumps on the trail)

[mzeffex]

Ok so it's running well, idleing right, except it dies under hard braking? I think that might be related to gas moving forward and not getting to the petcock, but not sure.

Sounds pretty good.

Gas in the tank won't affect idling for awhile. The gas in the fuel line and the carb float bowls has to be consumed first.
It might be the gas in the carb bowl is sloshing or the float is shifting so as to put more gas in the bowl and richening the mixture so it dies.
Which way are the floats hinged? Does that seem like a possible cause?

Misbehavior of carbs while being tilted around was an issue in offroading when carbs were all there was. Tall narrow carbs had fewer problems with tilt angles than low, flat ones. Of course fuel injection removed those issues (and replaced them with inability to fix fuel pumps on the trail)

Yep, the orientation of the floats could definitely allow that to happen. Maybe that's just how it is. Kind of annoying, anyway, but at least it runs well now!

Thanks for the help!

[GS_in_CO]

Yep, the orientation of the floats could definitely allow that to happen. Maybe that's just how it is. Kind of annoying, anyway, but at least it runs well now!

Thanks for the help!

Well, you're in the ballpark of rideable so now it's smaller changes that need to be made.
I expect that stalling under hard braking was not a feature of factory-new bikes so perhaps the float settings need to be revisited or the needles and seats changed so they really, really shut off fuel. But that's nearly undoing much of your progress because you'd probably have to remove the carb to reset floats. So it would be understandable if you learn to live with it.

But there IS a small hazard with living with it. Picture a near panic stop in traffic where you just barely don't hit the vehicle in front of you. After putting your foot down the next thing to do is watch your mirrors, put it in 1st and be ready to get out of the way of the guy behind you who didn't notice that traffic stopped. Oops. Your engine died so you can't scoot out of the way. This is a longshot but it's something to consider as you weigh whether or not you should pursue the problem.

[mzeffex]

Yep, the orientation of the floats could definitely allow that to happen. Maybe that's just how it is. Kind of annoying, anyway, but at least it runs well now!

Thanks for the help!

Well, you're in the ballpark of rideable so now it's smaller changes that need to be made.
I expect that stalling under hard braking was not a feature of factory-new bikes so perhaps the float settings need to be revisited or the needles and seats changed so they really, really shut off fuel. But that's nearly undoing much of your progress because you'd probably have to remove the carb to reset floats. So it would be understandable if you learn to live with it.

But there IS a small hazard with living with it. Picture a near panic stop in traffic where you just barely don't hit the vehicle in front of you. After putting your foot down the next thing to do is watch your mirrors, put it in 1st and be ready to get out of the way of the guy behind you who didn't notice that traffic stopped. Oops. Your engine died so you can't scoot out of the way. This is a longshot but it's something to consider as you weigh whether or not you should pursue the problem.

That is true, I'll probably fix it next week or something. I'm tired of smelling like gas. I can easily get it started again, either by the start button or by letting the clutch out it will turn on. So it's not the end of the world.