After a little fiddling with fuel lines, a vacuum line and an oil change I attempted to start the 1981 Yamaha 250 I just bought. It refused so I did the unthinkable and opened up the carburetor to see if it needed cleaning. It had scale and corrosion the likes of which I had never seen before. Every hole in the carburetor was plugged with black gook and required spray Carburetor Cleaner or a safety pin through it to be opened. After that it still needed starting fluid sprayed in the carburetor to start. It eventually ran enough for me to ride it in the grass field next to the house and for me to see what else was wrong with it. It will need clutch cable work, a new front brake switch and a few other odds and ends to make it legal but at least it's running and that's a start. Oh, and a muffler. It's making a terrible racket from its rotted exhaust and I have an accessory pipe on order. Once that's on I'll take it further from the house and see how it runs. Stay tuned.