The situation: I bought my new (to me) bike with aftermarket carburetors and pipes on it. I decided I wanted to change these out in the interest of reducing noise and increasing fuel efficiency. Saturday, I finally managed to get the stock carbs back on. Everything seemed to be hooked up fine, and I was able to start the bike. Then - whoa - big fuel leak! Turns out that I had connected the fuel line to the overflow fitting. Gas was shooting out the fuel inlet fitting. I fixed that, and the leak stopped. I started the bike again, and it ran fine for a few minutes. I was adjusting the idle when it slowed down and eventually died.

Since then, I haven't been able to get it started. The lights come on when I turn the key, and the starter cranks, but the engine won't catch. I have verified that fuel is making it to the carbs.

Any ideas what's going on here? My only real thought is spark. Could the spark plugs have gotten fouled in just a few minutes since I started the bike? If so, how and why?

-Joe Merlino Boston, MA USA 1982 BMW R100 (decomissioned), 2003 America Triumph: Cool enough for The Fonz, cool enough for me.