Getting a Bike Running Again

So, the adventure of getting the old XT125R back on to the road begins; it's an 08 model, with relatively low mileage and has been stored in a dry place, not run for a few years and despite not being very clean, pretty much looks like new except for the odd piece of surface level rust here and there, which will come off with a little elbow grease.

I've got a new battery, spark plug, oil, fresh petrol, ordering a new gasket for the carb today (just in case the current gets damaged during cleaning) and picking up some carb cleaner tomorrow. So other than servicing the above, what else should I be looking out for?

The tyres look to be in a good condition with plenty of tread.

The brake hoses appear to be intact, no sign of brittleness or degradation. The reservoirs are full and the pressure on the levers seems normal.

I'd probably change the tyres as a matter of caution, they might look OK but if it's been sat for that long they could be buggered and it's not a risk you wanna take. Breaks may have rusted/seized over that time so worth checking them too.

Yeah that's a fair shout, better not worth the risk really.

You seem to have covered everything but I would be gentle with the clutch to begin with. The reason I say this is that the recommended long term storage procedure ( on Suzuki bikes anyway ) is to over fill the engine with oil which is later removed so that the clutch remains submerged and does not dry out. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to strip out the clutch and soak the friction plates in oil just like you should do with a new one anyway.

So today has been a busy day, I striped the carb down, gave it the best clean I could (it was an utter mess, all varnished and crystallised). Rebuilt the bike, changed the spark, filled the tank with some fresh fuel and a strong mixture of redex to help clean the while system out.

Got the bike going in the end using the kickstart and holding the throttle on. If I let the throttle close the engine died.

My thinking was I need to keep it going for a few more minutes, which did help, but it was idling really low at around 1000-1200 rpm. I fiddled with the idle speed screw on the carb (why is it so hard to get to and made of cheap metal?) and got it to settle at around 1700 rpm (Haynes recommends 1650-1850).

However, after leaving the bike run on its own some more, it started to increase in revs and began idling at around 2800 rpm, then dropping back down to 1600/1700 for a bit, before shooting back up again.

Ideas anyone?

Probably just a bit gummed up an will sort itself out after a few good runs