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up over the ra ers, and hoisted the 'Ham up by the front wheel. Swung it 10 feet or so and did it again. Within a half hour, we had the old bike outside, the first me it had seen daylight since that summer in 1980. It was great fun catching up with my buds, but I also couldn't wait to get home and get acquainted with this funky ride that had eluded me for so long. There's something so rewarding about waking up an old bike, something that only true motorcyclists can relate to. We all have our processes, and this par- cular bike had been on my radar for so long that I knew it would need some special a en on. The first order of business was to pull the spark plug, give it a few shots of Marvel Mystery Oil, and let it sit for a bit. Even though it was not stuck, I knew the 'Ham would appreciate the gesture. The second order of business was to pump up the res. Amazingly, they were not ro ed. Fortunately, being stored in a dry, dark barn had preserved them rath- er well — incredibly, they held air. A er a thorough deep scrubbing, the bike cleaned up nicely. It looked as close to a new 250 Qualifier as you could ever hope for. As men oned above, what had sent this bike to the back of the barn was a broken rear fender. Fortunate- ly, I scored a NOS rear fender off ebay, and the bike was looking new in rela vely short order. A er the cleanup, it was me to get it running. Compression was strong, with big fat spark, and the intake/fuel system was thoroughly cleaned. Can-Ams of this era were fi ed with a K&N fabric/wire mesh air filter. Incredibly, mice never found their way past the filter and into the air box. With a fresh batch of pre-mix, the bike fired within a few kicks, and what a nice sound it made. The tone is not loud at all, more of an electric sound from the Rotax rotary valve. Yes, they sure sound wonderful. In the first year of ownership, the bike saw mostly dual-sport duty. I had it plated, and with a six-speed transmission, it's got long legs for the road. We did some dirt road exploring, but soon the bike was sent to the back of the pack, and although it was kept clean and run a few mes a year, it saw very li le actual use. About 10 years ago, there was a lot of talk on the message boards about a new NETRA Vintage Scramble Series. At the me, I'd built a '79 Yamaha IT175 to race, but having "grown" a fair amount from www.TrailRider.com