Yet another fuel pump question

[BSArider]

In the course of resurrecting my 78 GL1000 I have had the carbs done by Pistol Pete, new belts, changed all the fluids ect. After doing this it started and ran great once the float bowls filled. Have not ridden it due to it being the dead of winter in New Hampshire, and I took it off the lift, put a battery tender on it and said goodnight. Last time it was started was thanksgiving so I thought I'd give it a run the other day. It took MUCH cranking and a snort of starting fluid to get it going. Once running it was fine, and I can go back after a few days and it will fire right up. I'm assuming the fuel in the bowls evaporated and that the pump is most likely lazy or just plain junk? A common malady on the older non injected bikes?? If it matters there is about a gallon of fuel in the tank.
Thanks

[spiralout]

Completely normal on that 40 year old carbureted bike. I wouldn't worry about it.

[dingdong]

You are correct in your thinking. Fuel in the bowls will evaporate in about 2 weeks. Like Spiralout stated, completely normal. Some folks install an electric pump for this very reason.

[sfruechte]

A squirt of carburetor cleaner in the intake can help a lot after they sit for a while. They pop right off and gets everything flowing again.
Alternatively, cranking a couple revolutions with the emergency switch off and then turning it back on while cranking can enrich the mixture and not having lean mixtures fire before you have a good mixture can help get things flowing too.