Cold starting

[limax2]

This morning I waited for the carbs to fill.. ran for 3 secs then stalled. Ignition off. Ignition on again, the pump ran for another 5-6 secs as if the carbs were empty.  Not sure if that's normal. I feel the battery is on it's way out but there's something else going on going to lift the tank up and see what's going on, but at the mo leaving and arriving home in the pitch black !

I think there is a safety cut out for the fuel pump so if the engine is not running the fuel pump cuts out after about 5 seconds or so. If the bike has been stood for several days this may not be enough to fully fill the carbs. Turning the ignition off and then on again gives it another go. When the carbs are getting full the pump usually starts to click slower before stopping. If the pump stops abruptly it could indicate the cutout has kicked in and carbs may not yet be full. I'm not saying this is your problem because when the engine was running for a few seconds the pump should have been energised, but easy to try turning the ignition off when the pump stops and then on again to see if the pump does a few more clicks before hitting the starter button.
Another possibility in cold and damp weather is carb icing. This doesn't usually stop tickover but causes cutout or very bad running when you try to pull away. The solution there is to let it warm up a bit on tick-over. There are some small bore pipes under the carbs that carry the water and are meant to prevent icing in very cold weather. These are prone to getting blocked but don't do anything anyway until there is some heat in the cooling system so I don't think these are anything to do with your particular problem.