I have a friend who is not as fortunate as us to have an R1. He has a 89 Katana. He asked me if I could help him work on it. I am far from a mechanic. He told me that he hasn't started the bike for like 2 years. Knowing him, he didn't drain the oil or gas or anything. The bike probably has just sat. Could anyone give me some brief step by step instructions on what I should do before we try to start this thing....

Oh good god,no storage maint.:n0t
OK first change the oil,then pull off the carbs and drain the tank.You will have to tear apart the carbs because the gas has turned to varnish(youshould be able to smell it) anyway the varnish has plugged up all the jets and galleys in the carbs. Get a carb kit and be careful to remember whaere everything goes.If you have never done this or are not 100% comfortable doing it please take it to someone,it should be about 150.00 or so to do a carb clean on it.

I don't know shit about bike maitenance...but I was at my mechanics yesterday... he charged me 40$ (can) to empty my carburators (the four screws !?) and he said...if I don't do that... well I could (it's not a certainty) have to pay close to $300 to have the carburators cleaned... What does this have to do with you you may ask.... Absolutely nothing, but what I meant to say was, if you and your friend don't know shit about bikes... well you might want to take it to a dealer... might cost you 50 or even 100 bucks more...but hey... think of the time you'll same and headaches you'll avoid.

Good luck !!!

Instead of cleaning the carbs yourself, take them to a dealer and ask if you can leave them in their carb tank for about an hour. ( a 24 of barley pop sometimes helps with this ) This works alot better than scrubbing them yourself and there's no chance of breaking any delicate parts.

Also, make sure the fuel tank has no rust it in that could get into the carbs. If it does it'll need a product called Kreem to clean it out. The cylinder walls might be all rusted, in fact the whole motor might be seized.