I guess I shouldn't post this and keep this 'my present' to Christmas but I get a kick out of doing this. And this year turned out a bit different. The Christmas spirit is truly alive!
When I was a kid I wanted a dirt bike so bad and never got one. I understood, being the last of eight kids and all. My Dad worked hard to provide for us.
My older brother bought one when I was about 11 so I got to ride his(thanks to my brother for allowing me to ride his bike).....a 250 motocrosser......a steep learning curve for a young kid. I went on to become a pretty accomplished off-road(woods) rider and raced at a pretty high level until I was in my 40s. Even finished 4th in an ISDE Qualifier for those that know what that is. I've been to Colorado to ride for about 10 years and that is the highlight of my riding 'career'.
Anyway. I try to pick up a small dirt bike before Christmas and fix it up and put it out for sale for a some kid as a present. The joy it brings me is (almost) as much as the joy the kid gets out of it.
This year I didn't buy one for some reason. I kinda felt bad about it but I had 'too many fish to fry"(good pun for this site). I was feeling guilty about it.
So two weeks ago I get a call from a friend asking if I'd look over a dirt bike they bought used for their kid. It ran horrible. Had a very erratic idle(sign of an air leak somewhere). So I took the carb apart and replaced the gaskets and o-rings. The pilot jet was clogged up so I just replaced it instead of trying to clean it out.
Kicked it over and it sat there and hummed like a new bike.
Amazing how things work out in the spirit of Christmas.