June 2, 2012

Installed today: grips, front blinkers, kill switch, blinker/horn/brights switch. Threaded the throttle cables through to see how that works as I've not done something like that before. Wasn't too bad.

June 9, 2012

Adjusted the throttle cables so they feel right. Put the clutch cable on, but though it looks correct, it's very very loose. Put the new chain on and adjusted the tension.

June 10, 2012

Tried to kick start the bike. It tries to catch, but won't run. Fuel is leaking from the carburetor, so my guess is that it is flooded. Removed the carb, drained out the remaining fuel and pulled the float bowl off which is where the gas was leaking. The main seal appears to be pretty much flat, so I'm going to try and get a replacement for it. Then I'll reassemble it, put the carb back on the bike and try again. I also need to put a small hose on the carb drain so it doesn't leak all over the engine.

June 11, 2012

On the advice of my friend Pat at work, I bought a gallon of carb cleaner and soaked the carb for about an hour. It's amazing how much cleaner it is. Of course the main hope is that it got in all the small places and cleaned off any varnish that was there from sitting unused for so long. Everything looks okay, but I definitely need to replace the float bowl gasket as it looks pretty flat. Hopefully I can get one this week so I don't have to order one and wait a week.