Motorcycles Need Gas?

This post is hard to write. Obviously, I put it off for awhile. But I am going to be honest even if it pains me to do so.

The good news is that I got Lizzy started. The bad news is all that frustration, binge romance reading, and tears were for nothing! All I needed was fuel.

*taking a deep breath and writing on..*

So, I got so freaking frustrated that I joined the CB125 yahoo group (which by the way is awesome) and posted a short description of my woes. It was titled "trouble starting".

I got two responses back in less than 24 hours. Both folks suggested I look into stale gas. I was less than convinced because the fuel I put in there was less than a month old. But whatever, it wouldn't hurt to dump the contents of the carburetor fuel bowl and refill it.

So I dropped the bowl and noticed, um ... it was, um... empty? Yeah, empty. What the what? So I started looking for obstructions in the fuel line. Nothing. Then I looked into the tank and saw fuel and really started scratching my head.

The petcock (thing that controls gas flow) has three settings: off, on, reserve. When it was on, nothing came out, but in reserve it gushed! What happened, you ask?

Turns out the take-off for the "on" position is above the level of gas that I could clearly see in the tank. When I was away in Austria, Gabe reported riding the bike around in a parking lot and that it became increasingly hard to start. Well its because the gas level got too low! I put the petcock over in the reserve position...

I let fuel back into the bowl and seriously was wincing when I kicked...

She started right up. Oh the sweet sting of humiliation!

I had to write back to the CB125 guys that posted responses and all I could bring myself to say was "putting fresh gas in the bowl worked"

The real mystery is why the plug smelled of gas when I pulled it and mistook it for being "wet".

The recovering Catholic in me requires that I come clean. So I am.

The pain was almost worth it as I blasted down the street, to the nearest gas station, and filled up my bike for the very first time (see the receipt for proof)!

I had to take a class in small engines, study CB125 books, work my ass off - only do discover I needed gas.

Life is freaking awesome.