Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...

I'd noticed over the course of a couple days the bike getting boggier and boggier. No acceleration, lousy starting, as if the bike hadn't been tuned at all just a week previously. It was annoying, really. I rode it to work one night and when I got ready to leave, the bike wouldn't start. No matter how much starter spray I put in, it refused to turn over. This was 3:30am, freezing cold outside, and I was tired. Well, I finally got it started, but by then I had done something to it because the bike ran horribly. I hobbled home, and shut it off, leaving it to sit for the entire next day.

When I attempted to start it again, it was seriously resisting my efforts. I drained the battery trying to get it going, and had to jump it with my car. It finally started, but it was horrible! Absolutely no pick up, the throttle was sluggish and it sounded like it was trying to move a ton. I took it back home and decided to pull the carbs and see if they weren't clogged.

The first one I pulled (#4, I believe) exposed this little beauty. There is a tiny puncture in the diaphragm and will need to be replaced. While not entirely crippling, it does affect the vaccum, therefore affecting overall performace of the bike. The good news? Yamaha still makes the part. The bad news? $100.25
IN this period, I also broke down and ordered a carbtune system. Yes, it's expensive, but necessary. I am sure the bike is out of tune already, what with new jets being opened and more gunk being forced through the system. I have been pummeling the system with seafoam and it is my hope that by the time winter gets here, the seafoam will have done its job.

Well, I remembered that the socket wrench I had wouldn't fit the well, so I had to find one. I tried several different auto parts stores, and while they all carried spark plug sockets for cars, none had one for my bike. I was becoming increasingly frustrated, and finally decided to try Menards. Surprise of surprises, they had one.

I'll need to figure out a better way to remove those park plugs. The clearance is pretty small, and it took me much longer to remove them than it should have.

Guess what? Completely fouled! I must have soaked them in gasoline the previous night, flooded it out, and ruined the spark.
They smelled like gasoline too, high test octane. :)
So, I changed the plugs, armed with my new deep well, 18mm socket. While I was at it, I did an oil change (having the foresight to pick up a couple extra oil filters only days before) . I also changed the filter housing bolt. I was happy to get that old one off, rounded though it was.

It was getting late at this point so I filled the bike with oil, crossed my fingers and tried starting it up. Viola! It fired right up, with some gentle coaxing from me, of course. I took it up the street and it was as if it was a brand new bike. Amazing what something like properly conducting spark plugs will do for an engine.

I bought a cool blue flaming skull decal for my bike, applied it, then realized it doesn't really go with the burgundy color scheme. Oh well, I hung it on the window.

Beautiful day today. Took a short ride on the highway just to test him out, and he ran beautifully. Bill called me earlier and asked if I wanted to ride with him, alas, I was busy with other things, so I missed out. Perhaps there will be a few more nice days before the snow falls. However, they are forecasting rain and possible snow showers for Thursday. I'll need to burn off that tank of gas in the next couple of days, I guess, in preparation for the tank paint.