I'm really pissed that I lost this page during my disk crash, as I
am sure I won't re-create it with anything near accuracy.
After two carb cleanings we still were not able to get the bike
to start. I posted another note to the sabmag list asking for suggestions.
??michael recommended that I try starting it with starter fluid sprayed
into the airbox above the carbs. If it ran with starter fluid, the suggestion
was that I take one more look at the carbs. Now I'll admit that I really
couldn't believe that those carbs could be clogged after I cleaned them
*twice*, but it started with starter fluid and ??michael hadn't given
me a bad suggestion yet, so out they came
This time we left the needles, etc in place and just used spray carb cleaner.
I'll admit that there was some 'gunk' that got cleaned up. We let the
carbs sit on the bench overnight Monday July 21, 1997. Then on
Tuesday after work, we reassembled the carbs and reinstalled them. After
a couple of mis-steps(like leaving the throttle cable unhooked - dumbass!),
everything was buttoned up and we tried the starter. Crap! The battery
was run down and wouldn't run it over fast enough. I hooked up the charger
and we went inside and goofed around for an hour. And then at just after
9pm, July 22, 1997, we tried the starter. It started!! It ran for about
10 seconds before it died. And then we restarted it and it ran! I had to
put the throttle lock on to keep it running, but it ran!!!
Gabriel and I had talked during the project that if we ever got the bike
running, we'd do "the Walter Huston dance". Well it took us a few minutes
of screaming and shouting before we realized that we needed to do the
dance, but dance we did.