Fazer struggling to fire up

[Birdster]

Hi all, 

I've only just joined this forum and are also pretty new to biking so pls forgive my lack of understanding around certain things!

I brought a Fazer FZS600 (2000 model) privately back in early March and up until recently it was running pretty good. The guy i purchased it from claimed he had done an engine rebuild on it but when i went through the paperwork it looks like he'd replaced a couple of things on the engine (i forget what exactly) to the cost of about £70 so doesn't sound like much of a rebuild to me.

In the last few weeks the bike seems to struggle to start in the mornings in the sense that it turns over fine, but struggles to fire up. After turning it over for 2-3mins (using choke) eventually it seems to fire up and then is fine. 

Also, i'm noticing from time-to-time when attempting to start it in the morning, fuel is pissing out the bottom of the bike i assume from me twisting the throttle when trying to start it? 
Then the fuel stops leaking after about 30-45 secs.

I've checked the spark plugs and they seem ok, although (according to Google) the spark gap should be about 0.8mm and the plugs in my bike have a bigger gap so not sure if thats anything?
The spark plugs in the bike are NGK CR8E ones which appear to be the correct type.
My father reckons i could make the spark gap smaller using a hammer but i'm not sure that sounds correct to me!

Also the fuel gauge doesn't work but i'm planning to remove that and clean it up and see if that helps.

One more thing to note - the guy i brought it from said the carbs need balancing off the back of the 'rebuild' but when i got mechanic to look at it he said that wasn't the case and it was running ok albeit a bit 'lumpy' at 2000 RPM.

Any help or advice will be much appreciated.

Hello and welcome.
What sort of mileage is up on the bike?

Many of the problems of older bikes relate to the carbs, particularly if the bike's been left to sit for a long time.

The starting issue sounds like the carbs may have been sitting with petrol in them and gummed the innards up a bit.
The petrol overflow may again be an issue inside the carbs - the float needles are meant to rise and shut off the petrol flow.
The sub-2000rpm low running speed running issue again points to the carbs, the 'lumpy' suggesting the idle circuit has issues. 

Although a bit of a pain (and expense), I suspect if you took the bank of carbs off and then had them ultrasonically cleaned, most of the issues would either disappear or be reduced.

I'm sure the experts will arrive soon, but don't be too disheartened, sounds like it's all fixable!

Hi Kebab19,

Thanks for your reply and the bike has 36,000 on the clock.

Yes, the bike was sat for a while hence the guy decided to sell it so makes sense what you're saying.
A mechanic guy i spoke to said the carbs could probably do with an overhaul and it would cost around £200, but then he also said the rubber bands that seal around the carbs are looking old and cracked and could do with replacing and these are £90 each and i'd need 4!!

So all-in-all i think it would cost around £600 but if i could get that cost down a bit then i think it's worth doing.