Topic: Starting after sitting for years.

[VitSports6]

 Hi all.
 Just curious if any of you have any suggestions for starting my CB350F after it had been sitting for about 6-8 years?
 I have a new battery I will be putting in tomorrow after it charges, I replaced the spark plugs, added gas.
 Are there any useful links any of you could pass along here?
 Sorry for the newb questions, But I don't want to mess up my new acquisition.
 In the meantime I will be searching here...
 Thanks for any help.

[ekpent]

A carb clean is in your future I'm sure and gas tank also for starters.  Good luck on it.

[VitSports6]

 Supposedly the carbs were rebuilt prior to storage, But who knows for sure, I understand that time takes its toll on seals and what not.
  Also I don't have any manuals(still waiting to hear back from my uncle), What it the proper cold start up, ie. Choke setting(lever on the LHS carb?) throttle or not.
 Thanks again.
 Brian

[Grnrngr]

You made sure there's no crap in the tank, right? if they drained the gas from the carbs before storage, they may be OK, but if the tanks rusty and the carbs were full of gas for a year or so, they could be gummy, varnished, or full of rust...And.. Welcome to the club!! lotsa folks pulling the dead ones out of the woodworks nowadays...

[campbmic]

Lets see, aside from what you have already done I would;

-Change oil and filter, at least make sure it has oil!

-Take off the tank, pull the petcock and drain all of the gas and make sure petcock isnt full of filth.

-Take off the four bowls under the carbs. I use a socket with a phillips bit in it to make my life easier. Check to see if theres any rust or debris in the bowls. Then put the tank on fill it up and place a long skinny Tupperware container under all four carbs. Turn the petcock on and collect the gas thats coming out of the carbs. Check the gas for really heavy debris that could have been in the carbs. If theres a ton I would recommend you rebuilding the carbs before starting it up.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Fresh battery and plugs. 

[wrenchmuch]

Pull your plugs back out and remove the two outer exhaust side tappet adjustment covers . Turn it over untill you see oil at the tappet adjustment covers . Use short 10 second bursts on the electric starter or kick it . Once you see oil you know your engine is " wet ".

[VitSports6]

 Cool, Thanks all.
 I've got the battery installed, I tried it to see if it would crank and it wouldn't... I kick started it a little and the oil light turned off, Yes, I checked for oil a week or so ago  , So it seems to be making oil pressure.
 I will check the fuel tank and shut off valve for crud.
 One thing I have noticed is the motorcycle if really hard to push, I don't know if its the front or rear hub, But soon I will be getting around to it, Now that I think about it, This should be easy to figure out since I have it on the stand.
 I down loaded a repair manual so I will be going over that to see if I can find any issues.
 Thanks again.
 Brian

[ekpent]

Probably your front caliper,very common problem,almost have to clean them out yearly to keep them working well,not hard to do and rolls a lot better  

[VitSports6]

 Welp... I pulled the carbs to have a look inside, They looked pretty good for sitting for so many years, The fuel line from tank to carbs was gummed up with something so I need to replace it. I got it to spit and sputter for a second so all seems to be going in the right direction.
 I'm going to run some seafoam through the tank and crank case then change the fluids, I need to check up on lubing the chassis.
 Thanks for all the thoughts.
 Its been fun tinkering with it this last weekend.

[VitSports6]

 ITS ALIVE!!!

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/77197343@N00/4530816623

 I put on the aftermarket exhaust and tightened down the down pipes, It sounds quite a bit better, I do have a question, I have no idea what part I am missing, Now I could call it a muffler bearing(which is an joke on other vehicle forums) What say you?

 

 

 I also tried to polish the fairing that unfortunately had sat out in the sun for the 8 some odd years it was stored.

 

 

 I'm kind of mad at myself, I had over written the before pic's with the after pic's, I deleted the before pic's from the camera...

 I know I need to do quite a bit more maintenance, The 1 and 4 cyl don't seem to fire consistently, Which you can hear in the video, I'm not quite sure yet if its timing or a fuel issue, It is certainly a cold blooded old thing, Just like all my old rigs.
 

 

 

[VitSports6]

 I got another package from my uncle!
 I cleaned it up a little, But tell me what you think?!?

 

 

 

 Sorry for the dark pic's I just got finished with it, Its a "Triple-A" sissy bar, It had the rear turn signals attached, I also got a book rack of sorts and a front hoop/tip over bar and some saddle bags that I may need to see IF I can get them to work or not.
 
 Another thing, The muffler bearings I was asking about were custom made out of stainless steel, I may need to have another set made or search for some other mufflers.
 There isnt much left to do now other than get it running better change the oil, get it licensed and enjoy the summer.