[glas482]

Thought I'd take a minute and give an update on my barn find 96.

So this past winter I bought a 1996 with just over 1K on it from the original owner. He bought it and apparently didn't like commuting on the interstate on a 250 so he parked it in his dads barn and left it. (I also picked up a '72 CB350 from him)

Anyway the first order of business was getting the fuel tank open. That's how I found this site. After drilling out the cover plate I was able to get the cap off and realize what a mess it really was inside. I've had dealings with many old gas tanks but this was by far the worse, and the smell was horrible. So after every home remedy I could find to clean it I bought a reline kit and gave it one more going over before recoating the interior. I tried to clean and rebuild the pet cock but the screens on the tubes were missing so I just ordered a new OEM one. It was expensive but so many of the aftermarket ones didn't look like they really fit correctly. Then it was on to the carbs. After much frustration getting them off I found them to be surprisingly clean, or at least I thought. I sprayed out everything I could and replaced the gaskets and reinstalled them. It ran, sort of. So off they came again for another clean up and go over. After the second go round and it still wasn't running well I finally broke down and sent them to Ducatiman for a complete over haul. After the third reinstall I had it down pretty well and it fired up and evened out with just a bit of idle adjustment. Why didn't I do that first.

He also recommended I delete all the California emissions stuff which I did. Right down to removing the brackets. (Anyone know why a bike sold new in Ohio would have the Cali emissions on it?)

So now it's just cosmetic stuff getting the grime and corrosion off and replacing the front tire.

I had no intention of keeping this bike, was just going to be a flip and move on but after riding it a bit I've found it light, nimble and fun. This may stay around for awhile after all.

Thanks for a great site and all the informative post.