IT'S ALIVE... IT'S ALIVE.... IT'S ALIVE

It's not quite running like a champ but it is running.

I hooked up the fuel lines in the tank. The problem was that the hoses weren't over the little ridges. I use the plural because when I was trying to hook up the one that had come off the other end came off the hard fuel line inside the tank.

I then tried to start it, it didn't kick. I had not installed the air filter and top of the air box where the airflow sensor lives, so I settled in and put that back together very dejectedly. My wife had come out to water the garden and gave her condolences. After putting the airbox back together I tried again.

I hit the starter and it ground and ground, just as I let my thumb off the button it popped about three times, well the engine turned three times. I tried again and it rumbled then stumbled. The third or fourth time it caught and fired up. I thought it might have been fired up because of all the smoke but it was just exhaust.

The last Virginia inspection sticker on the bike is for 04. To the best of my knowledge it hasn't been started since then, nine years.

Of course, if I hadn't been so stupid, it might have started last year.

I went right up to advance auto parts and bought some Sea Foam, people swear by it. I came home and heated up the engine and pushed the bike into the garage. I'm going to change the oil and then hit it with the Sea Foam (back outside again).