Motorcycle Repair: 1999 xr100 wont start, pet cock, honda xr100

Question
hey chris, my freind has a 1999 honda xr100 that she got new in 1999. it has been sitting in her shed under a tarp for about two years now because she got a bigger bike. the bike looks brand new, and was never crashed. i tried starting it yesterday for about an hour and gave up. she said a couple of months ago she tried for the better part of a day to start it still with no luck. one thing i noticed when i pulled the bike out was the fuel pet cock was in the on position and she said it must have been on the whole time it was in the shed(two years). where should i start when i try to start it next time.  

Answer
Hi Brandon.

Any bike that has been sitting for more than a few weeks and was not properly set up for storage will have a lot of problems that must be corrected before you try to start it up.

1)  Any fuel that was in the bike has turned to varnish.  Replace the fuel line and rebuild or replace the petcock.  Drain and reseal the tank and clean the thoroughly carb.

2)  Make sure that the plug is new and there are no electrical problems like shorts or bad fuses.  Fuses can be bad without looking bad, so check the ignition and main fuses with a multimeter.

That will be what you need to get the bike running, but before you ride it, make sure that there is no dry-rot in the tires and make sure that the brakes are working right and that all moving parts are lubricated and moving as advertised.  That is a safety issue.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON