Done and done. It is raining so I didn't take her out, but she ran for ten minutes in the garage without dying. The bike ran fine two months ago until I got a flat and my lazy a$$ took forever fixing it....and I live in Florida! Missed alot of riding. Anyway, I don't know what the hell the problem was unless it was merely coincidental-which I think happens far to often. When it rains it pours. Once I decided to clean the carb, I think I just got a little crazy with things that didn't necessarily need fixin'. Thanks much guys for all your info. I know all the info provided could be found on a myriad of threads, but I got three kids and no time to play on the internet...so thanks for you patience.
I'm super stoked that I fixed this with my own hands.
Savage Greg - Thanks for your awesome Carb Specs sticky
Serowbot - Thanks for the informative "Carb tuning for beginners" sticky.
Verslagen 1 - thanks for helping me understand the petcock.
Justin o guy2 - Thanks for TONS of info and also for recommending Berrymans, that stuff rocks!
Batman - thanks to you also for TONS of info and sticking with me with very helpful replies. The inline filter was an issue (not the original problem, but it added to the a$$pain.) Also, the JIS screwdriver debacle was very informative....I had no idea.
Island Road - I made two homemade "JIS" drivers based off your advise. I'm calling them Redneck Industry Standard and they have been promoted from the toolbox to the pegboard. Thanks much!
Lancer - Thanks for your detailed carb cleaning tips. It helped immensely.
Last but not least, thanks Dave for the physics and "common sense" class. I'm a career Soldier and not an engineer, so us knuckle-draggers need a little help now and then. I now have unobstructed fuel at the largest angle and shortest hose length I could manage.
My only remaining question is why didn't anyone tell me not to install float upside-down?
If you're curious, it causes fuel to shoot out the bowl vents. That was fun.
Thanks again guys. I learned ALOT and I enjoyed it. You make it enjoyable for a novice mechanic to have a project bike.
-Rick