Getting my 86 to start is a time consuming process, takes about 5 attempts until it finally starts, sometimes more.  Once it starts and warms up, it restarts no problem.

I adjusted the valves, & checked the decompression setting.  Today I pulled the carbs and found they needed cleaning.  Some of the jets were plugged.  All the parts are soaking in carb cleaner for the night.

I noticed the float bowl has some small holes in it, what are they for?

Holes? In the float? If you stick it in gas & see bubbles, thats baaad. If you shake it & hear stuff shaking in the float, that's Baaaad.

Bowl drain. You should have a small screw on the bottom of the outside of the bowl, that is to drain the bowl prior to removing it.

When you close the valve on the tank, doesn't that stop the fuel from running down the line, due to the vacuum created?  Kind of like sticking your finger on the end of a straw and drawing liquid out of the glass?  That doesn't tell you diddly about what might be wrong with the carb, but it might explain why the fuel sits in the line.

I'm a newbie, and won't give out advice, but the symptoms (leaking carb when fuel is being gravity-fed) sound alot like many threads on the site that discuss the whole petcock problem.  Absent any ideas from one of the folks that know what they are talking about, I would treat it like a bad petcock and do a search of the site.  That will lead you to discussions of carb trouble.

Based ONLY on what I've read here, it sounds like your float is either not floating, or your needle isn't seating.  My opinion and fifty cents will get you a cup of coffee, though so...

I suspect the same thing. I put the float in a bowl of gas and it floated so no leaks in the float.  The needle looks worn, so time to replace it and the valve seat.  Darn things are pricey from Suz $35.00

Thanks, just sent him an email.