Motorcycle Forum / General / Yamaha / December 2004

The basics of reviving a bike are:

1.  If stored with dirty oil, change it.,
2.  Get a fresh battery.  You can try charging, but after a year, a battery
is toast or nearly so.  Just get a new one.
3.  Drain the carb (it is probably dry) and the fuel tank.  Clean any screen
in the petcock, then put in fresh fuel.
4.  See if it starts.  If not, try a fresh plug.  Still no go, then you
start the standard trouble-shooting stuff:  fuel, spark, etc.

A frequent scenario is tha tthe carb jets are clogged - it may start but
probably won't idle or it runs ragged in general.  If this is the case, then
you need to remove and clean the carb.  This is not something for the novice
as there are lots of small parts that need to be handled carefully and you
can really screw it up.  But if you have someone who can show you the ropes,
it's not that difficult or you can take it in and have a shop do it.

One thing that makes the whole deal easier is that it is a single.

- Mark