going insane trying to fix.

[wickorz]

ok. this is my first bike, and im very new to riding.
its a 1999 katana 600.
i just got it about a week ago. i rode it around the day i got it everything worked great, i suck at riding at the moment, so i dropped it. picked it up , waited a few minutes, started it back up and rode it home fine. came out the next day and it wouldn't start. it turns over, backfires (rarely), but won't start. i checked all the basic stuff right away. cutoff switch is in the right position. kickstand is down, bike in neutral. ive tried starting it with the choke on and off.
a friend of mine came over to help, the first thing we thought was spark plugs. so we checked those. they seem fine. they smelled strongly of gas though, so we gave them a good wipe down and let them air out. we checked all the electrical wiring, the coils, the battery's charged, we even took out the carbs and gave them a thorough cleaning. put them back in, and its still doing the same thing. it just wont start.
im getting to a whole new level of frustration trying to figure this out. its been almost a week since i've been able to ride, and that was my first ride ever. im tweaking to get back out there.

[arsenic]

get new plugs, wiping them off and letting them dry off does nothing. It's not a backfire, that's an after fire

[GSXfs600]

The stand should be up! not down.

[wickorz]

the stand doesn't have to be up to start it. as long as its in neutral. i'll try getting some new plugs tonight. should i take the old ones out and leave them out for a bit to let it all air out before i throw the new ones in?

[arsenic]

won't hurt

[wickorz]

well i've tried starting it when the stands up too. doesn't change the response i get. i'll try new plugs.

[GSXfs600]

the stand doesn't have to be up to start it. as long as its in neutral. i'll try getting some new plugs tonight. should i take the old ones out and leave them out for a bit to let it all air out before i throw the new ones in?

Of corse, but its one less safety to deal with.

[mustangracer42]

Sounds like a float stuck maybe. Can't figure out why it ran after you dropped it nut not the nest day. Check to make sure it's not on prime(Do 97+ have prime function?)

[kevin2502000]

In my opinion, once plugs have been flooded, they are junk. I would start there.

[arsenic]

[DumbLuck]

wouldnt crank at all if the side stand switch was bad. plugs, set to prime for 30 seconds, back to on unless the tank looks to be less than half full, then try reserve.

[md86]

DL nailed it .
And for the record , I've gotten gassy plugs to work before . But it makes things SO much easier if you don't mess with that .

[7thrifty]

if youve left it on prime then the bores could have flooded and leaked through to your cases, check your oil level

[Superloki24]

I had a similar problem with my 96 750, ran fine then the next week when I tried to start it up the thing flooded on me and fouled the plugs. I tried drying them out and it did nothing, had to break down and buy some new plugs. I would definately try that first.

[jdm5770]

Well, I want to give you a different idea to try...maybe you should try new plugs?