Introduction and Plea

Good Afternoon,
I recently purchased a 1982 XJ650.
Condition:
1. Running, and idling
2. Carb intake boots had some dry rot
3. Petcock was set to Prime, always
4. No air box to carb boots.
5. PO said starter clutch should be replaced
While in my care:
1. Biked tipped over(yes I know), after upright it leaked fuel from second to left(as seen from clutch side)carburetor; took me a while to figure out, I just turned the petcock to ON, and it stopped.
2. Battery got drained, key in ON position, when I left for work.
Last Update:
1. Got new battery and biked started up, no major problems
2. Replaced oil and filter and installed air box boots.
3. Then bike wouldn't idle and now it won't start at all. When on choke it seems like it's going to start but engine won't turn over.
PLEASE Help.
P.S. first motorcycle and learning to ride.

 

While looking for a quick fix may be tempting, not knowing the condition of things you can't see leads most folks to doing some pretty standard maintenance.
For running issues, valve adjustment and carb re-build (and probably petcock rebuild from what you're saying) would be on the table.

http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/airhead-valve-adjustment-with-pics.14827/

http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/

http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/xj-parts-catalog-section-c-fuel-system.44642/

That's just a start. I'm going through a bike myself and have done all of the above (well, paid someone to do the carbs) and much more (brakes at the moment).

Welcome and get ready to do a lot of reading!

 

^ what he said. Despite the condition that you got it in, the safe bet is to assume that mone of the regular maintainance was ever done, or if it was, it was done wrong.

Your journey to having a safe and reliable motorcycle begins with reading The Information Overload Hour

 

I appreciate all your support, I'll dig deeper into the Overload Hour and the Carburetor Gospel.