If it hasn't been cared for the fuel system is probably in bad shape.  Drain all the gas out of the tank and inspect for rust, etc.  You can fill the tank with marbles and shake them around then shop vac/rinse all the debris out if you see rust/crud in there.  That would be my first step, might consider doing the petc0ck conversion described in here as well.  11-year old vacuum diaphram may not be trustworthy...

You will have to experiment. neverdul works sometimes,ooooo steel wool gently! or nolox ( in a green bottle) and lots of sore fingers,LOL.covers should clean up pretty well. good luck and happy rubbin!

I replaced my 02 bent forks with some scratched and
corroded ones from an 86 ( e-bay ). I used wet and dry
sandpaper, 400 to 1500, then went with rubbing compound and finished with polishing compound. They
came out almost like new. try the compound first and see how it goes.  These bike are a lot of fun to fiddle
around with. Get a Clymers manual, the best thing I did.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to try bead blasting the engine covers next week...I'll post up some pics of the before and after. I disassembled the carb, did the spacer mod and cleaned it...running a LOT better. Found a pretty big oil leak where the previous owner had the rocker cover off...he didn't have the bolt grommets in the right places. I'm going to also install one of my take-off mufflers from my Dyna Superglide...hopefully it will sound better than the stock can...it's wimpy! I also bought a Sportster seat and Dyna handlebar off of eBay, so I have my work cut out for me! Anyway, again thanks...lots of good info here!