So, I had a sort of abortive attempt to fix my Savage a few times, but I've got basically nothing else to do, so I'm pretty dead set this time.

History (Feel free to skip)
I have a 1998 Savage that worked okay for a while when I got it in 2008.  Then I went away for a few weeks and when I came back, had a dead battery.  I bought a battery minder and eventually a whole new battery to get the thing working again.  Eventually I needed to clean the carb, and I just sort of left it for a about a year never quite finding time to clean it out.  Anyway, I eventually cleaned it out and found my old petcock had gas in the vacuum line.  It's been about 4 months since then and I finally replaced the fuel line.

The fuel tank has a coating in it, but I'm somewhat uncertain if it's still effective.  The fuel seems to be flowing okay through the new petcock.  My battery is also freshly charged, and not very old.
End History

Anyway, The actual problem is that when I try to start up the bike, I can hear the initial engine turn over, but instead of revving I get a sort of scraping sound.

I'm going to hazard a guess this is probably a sign the carb is gummed up and I should clean it out again.  Which I probably need to do anyway, but I'd like to know if there are other issues I should be aware of.

Serowbot wrote on 07/15/10 at 15:01:33:
 Yes, replaced the petcock.  Sorry, thought I mentioned that.

Serowbot wrote on 07/15/10 at 15:01:33:
Hrm.  Okay, listened to it a couple more times.  I'm just being dumb...  I guess the starter without the revving just sounds really harsh to me. (Sorry for the miscommunication)  I can hear the engine trying to turn over, but not quite making it.

...Ugh, guess that makes my title wrong too.

Serowbot wrote on 07/15/10 at 15:16:51:
Okay, need to go buy a spark plug wrench, then.

Quote:
This seems simpler.  The spark plug needs to be done first? (I guess the  reseal needs to happen anyway?)

Serowbot wrote on 07/15/10 at 16:34:49:
Eek, will do.

Quote:
I was having trouble with it revving up and dying without starting before (the petcock problem), so it's possible that this is indeed the case.

The lawnmower section of lowes/ home`despot has plug wrenches, thin walled ones.
Nows the time to9m modify the head chrome to let you get the plug w/o pulling the tank

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/15/10 at 21:06:26:

Do you have a link to the procedure?

I did not see where you actually checked the battery or push-started - so it could still be your battery is not cranking the starter hard enough to start.   A new lead-acid battery that sits for a year will sulfate, and will not accept a full charge.  If you can push-start it then the battery is crippled.

Serowbot wrote on 07/15/10 at 15:16:51:

Should I be doing these with the gas tank on?  Also, is the WD40 intended to clean things out or is it a matter of lubrication?  I have some actual carb cleaner I could always spray in.  Not sure what this procedure is doing, really.