Chapter 1 ok just kidding but it is kind of a long thread
A while ago I found that my bike was idling very high (at about 3-4k rpms).
I adjusted the idling speed without giving it much of a second thought. It kept taking a second or two to fall to 1.5k rpms. It got me home without much trouble though (thank you bike!) so I didn't pay much attention to it other than thinking it was getting "old" now.
The following day, early in the morning my bike started up but didn't seem to be getting any fuel or seemed like the choke wasn't functioning. It was on but wanting to shut off at any second. And sure enough, it did (despite the fact that the choke was on all the way down). I powered her back on and kept her on using the throttle. I got a short distance away before it shut off (despite the throttle). I went back, skipped work and tried troubleshooting.
I've checked the following:
-Battery seems good
it's been recently put on a battery tender on a trickle charge. It'll go down to about 10.9±.2 ohms while attempting to power on but otherwise it reads 12.8 if the key is "ON". I've had the battery for nearly 2 years now and I've heard they can start to go bad. It's a maintenance free battery BTW. While checking around it I guess I moved something because the lights went out after I checked the battery.

-Fuse box
Noticed I had a 30 fuse in place of a 10 opposite of the 15 but none of them were broken. I've had the bike for about 3+ years and those have never changed.

-The starter solenoid was a little corroded but I cleaned it up and it seemed to power on everything ok.

-Starter was cleaned up too
I opened the starter and it had quite a bit of soot inside. I sanded the armature down and cleaned it up; but I suppose it could use a bit more. The brushes were adequate length according to the Haynes Manual I'm using. I noticed the ground was missing from the starter so I installed one and after reattempting to power it on the starter sounded different (I guess stronger or newer).
It powered on and sounded really strong. Had it on for about a minute and powered it off. Immediately retried happily but same thing happened as before. It would slowly feel like it's running out of fuel (which it has a full tank of). The 3rd attempt left it like before. The bike will power everything but the engine.

-Spark Plugs replaced
I checked my records and found that the bike was past due for a spark plug replacement and an oil change. Replaced the spark plugs yesterday and thought that I would power it up today to warm up the oil and change that too but no luck. It still doesn't start up.

Ok so I guess the question is.......why me? ajem I mean what do I do to get her back up and running? Throw her off a cliff or pay the mechanic? I'm kind of bent on doing this myself but I don't know what else to do. I need help~!

Thanks a lot in advance guys

 

-Crap in some of the fuel hoses
-Crack in some of the fuel hoses letting air in
-Ruptured vacuum valve membrane in the fuel petcock
-Cracked or dislodged vacuum hose hindering the petcock operation partially or completely
-Possible aftermarket fuel filter clogged.
-Crap in tank clogging the petcock

-when has the carbs last been cleaned and synced

My bet is on the petcock.

 

Mattson covered it well.

I'd say first clean & sync your carbs. While you do that check for vaccum leaks and cracked/collapsed hoses. Frequently a cause of slow return to idle.
Then check your petcock, they go bad. Also check the filter in the tank above the petcock.

And put the proper fuse back in.

 

Batteries can go bad at any time for any reason. They can go bad intermittently too. But it sounds like you've got a loose connection or a broken wire. Check to see if anything has been rewired or any accessories were added.

In F2, a bad reg/rec can fry a battery quickly. If you still have the old style reg/rec, it's well worth replacing it with the updated one. And a bad battery can overload a reg/rec too. These 2 things are common failures on F2.

Starters and starter solenoids rarely ever go bad. I doubt either of these is the problem.

 

well it turns out I did have a bad connection(s) in several parts. I cleaned all of the corrosion I could see from most of the wires and that quickly solve the power issue
I'll empty the fuel and check the petcock. I've never cleaned or synced the carbs myself but it was last done about + - a year ago so I don't doubt it's in need of one. the reason I haven't looked into one is because I asked around at a dealer and they suggested it wouldn't need one unless it needed one (no duh sherlock!) I discarded the idea but I'd like to do it myself. anyone know any good guides? the one with a sticky has no pictures anymore

 

There are lots of carb cleaning guides on the internet I'm sure you can find. Read a couple different ones. You'll get the general idea. It's mostly all the same regardless of the actual carb. You can read all you want, but to really understand it, you just kind of have to dive in and do it.

1. remove float bowl and clean all jets
2. check float, set float height.
3. make sure diaphragms aren't ripped
4. spray out all passages in the carb (especially the air bleeds up top on the F2, they seem to clog and don't forget the choke passages too)
5. blow out carb passages with compressed air.
6. reassemble and set the idle mixtures back to where they were or 2 turns out if they were all over the place.

also, you don't need to split the carbs apart from each other to clean them. If you decided to do it, take cell pics as you go, they help a ton when you're putting things back together or have questions.

 

I addition, be neat and organized. Keep parts separated and laid out how they came apart.
Its a good idea to leave 1 assembled until the other 3 are done so you have a reference if you forget how it was before, at least on your first go around.

 

Just one thing of note, f2 floats are non adjustable. But on reassembly check and double check to make sure your float seats the needle. Sucks having to do it again because of a stuck open float needle. Dont ask how I know. There is a really detailed sticky here that has plenty of pics to help get you along also

 

thanks a lot for the good input you guys. I'll get it done the coming weekend for sure. For now we'll go ahead and clean that petcock

 

so after many a weekend, I cleaned out the petcock and then the carbs
it was actually much much easier than I had anticipated but they sure could use a good cleaning (and got one too!)
I know I shouldn't ever use the same o rings and seals and what not, but I hadn't bought a carb cleaning kit so I was wondering what the downside to using the same stuff was (if any)? another thing that i couldn't quite figure out was how far to screw in the Jets. it looks like something adjustable so i just don't know.
I also opened up the right side crankcase due to a crack on the top right side of the cover. as soon as I pop it open a piece falls out and I thought the stator boss had improper contact between the starter and the stator but I couldn't find out where the piece came from. The boss is cracked and all but just by making a quick visual inspection it seems like the cog will hold out for a while without many issues. That's not to say that I won't fix it but just that the piece that I found has no visible origin :/ and if it was the cause of my bike not starting then I gotta make sure it doesn't happen again