Starting a bike up

[Tim]

agree with all of the above

if you can turn the motor by hand  justfresh fluids  if  you cant turn it over by hand 
remove plugs and give each pot a drink of wd 40  and let stand for a few hours
good luck

[melbxs]

I'd pop the rocker cover off and slather some oil over the top end. Any damage will be done in the first few seconds.

Before starting check for fuel leaks/overflows (especially out of the airbox). If a carb float has stuck you could end up with a fireball like Eddy's.

[Jonesy]

alternative to pgnz kick starter method is to undo the left side cover where the vac advance/pick up coils are and turn over with a 19mm open ender on the square lug on the timing plate.
If it has been sitting 5 years theres a good chance the carbys will need a strip and clean, but give it a start first to decide that one. the hand turning is the most important one to make sure you haven't got any sticking valves

[pgnz]

you can take plugs out, ignition off, put kickstarter on, fuel taps on, crank the engine over heaps of times.  Put plugs back in, fuel taps prime then on hit the starter button with no choke lever,  should fire up,  choke lever to stop it conking out.  Or just start the damn thing like it's only full choke hit the button see what happens 

[XSIIE]

Hey Steve,

First check that all the timing is correct by hand.  Clean the carbs and put in fresh fuel.  and change the oil.

I started mine after 12 years and neglected to do any of these important things...result 8 bent valves and the bike burst into flames.  This of course was the catylist for a wheels up rebuild.

Cheers

Eddy

[steveh]

Any tips or procedures I should follow before attempting to start a bike that has been sitting for 5 years?