Ran fine yesterday. I washed it and now it doesn't. This is a 96 that has sat for years and was given to me. I probably will not keep it (too afraid to ride on the road). I changed oil, fuel tank was previously drained, and aired up the tires. I've put a whole 7 miles on it. No license, no tags, no insurance - just around the block a few times.

 

Kickstand safety switch

 

Make sure you fix it and not disable it. Here's what happens when you disable the safety switch and the kickstand spring fails. This is one of my buddy's Soldiers.

 

You don't think I would actually be stupid enough not to think of that do you?

Yes, that was it.

/dumbass

 

Perfect example of why I don't ride on the street. I would love to there are too many things that can go wrong. I was telling a friend about the Rebel and he told me about using pliers to pull his fingernails out after his last wreck. He laid it down hitting a little bit of gravel on a corner.

 

Damn, too late. But yeah, always start with the kickstand safety switch when this problem occurs.

 

Honestly, I had no idea such a thing existed. I guess I've never been stupid enough to try to put it in gear with the stand down. My excuse is the problem I had keeping the thing at idle (again, it had not been started in years) kept me messing with jumper cables and the battery.

FWIW, I did fix a non-running leaf blower yesterday and a non-running Yamaha 1000 generator today without screwing up too much stuff. This has been a productive vacation - 12 days off work. Going back tomorrow...