First off, the rear brake: It was a problem so simple that a child of three could have fixed it. But, seeing as how I didn't have a child of three handy, the solution eluded me...until I realized that the rear exhaust bracket was on the outside of the frame, and not the inside.
I pulled the carbs and opened them up. Turns out that it was number one that had over-flowed. Nothing was stuck or clogged, so I closed them back up and hoped for the best. This time, she fired on the second try and idled with the choke fully pulled - all four cylinders, no overflowing. I couldn't get it to idle/run with the choke pushed, however...but I was able to take a few runs up and down the street, up to 3rd and back down. Seemed to bog down a bit, but this and the choke issue might have to do with the old air filter in there. Thoughts?
Also, she smokes like a 70-year-old woman in Vegas, but nearly all of that is off the engine housing and pipes, so I suspect that's just the crud, oil and spilled gas.
Other than that, I'm not sure which sounds and performance issues are normal (since they are all very different than my v-twin) and which ones might be problems. For example, as I was making the third-gear run up the street, I heard a slight high-pitched squeal. I hesitate to call it a squeal, really...it was barely more than a whine. Since I wasn't at speed long, I wasn't really able to get a good listen on it. Also, as hinted above, I have to roll on the throttle seemingly more than I'm used to, but this throttle has a lot more range and less resistance than my Vulcan (perhaps this is just a factor of the difference of 20 years of technology.)
I know I didn't have any blatant questions above...this was some-way stream of conscious,...but obviously there are some things that I'm wondering about. Any input would, as always, be appreciated.
