Congrats on the new scooter!
Shouldda bought a Road Star, and you wouldn't be having these issues the very first day. Only funnin wif ya bro. [moon]
How much did you ride it before you went to the gas station? How far is to the gas station? I know these sound like silly questions, but some bikes take a while to warm up if they are jetted too lean. What kind of pipes does it have on it? If they are straight pipes, I hope the previous owner rejetted the carb. If not, it will have a tendency to run lean and overheat once you get out on the run.
Summertime months usually don't cause many problems with needing to warm the engine with the choke very long though. One thing I will advise you not to do is leave it running with the choke out and go back inside to don your helmet and gear. If you leave the choke out too long, you will foul a plug real easy. You'll get used to the amount of choke needed depending on the time of year. Play with it at different settings. Doesn't have to be fully in or fully out. Take off with it partially out, and gradually push it in as you go down the road. Get a feel for where it is, and get used to tweaking it without running out of the road.
Check the fuel filter.
Replace the plugs.
Pull the bowl if necessary and possibly remove the jets to make sure all the orifices are clean. If it has been setting very long, it could very well be gunked up. Carbs are funny sometimes. Make sure the boots that connect to the air filter box and intake are tightened down. I could go on and on about potential problems, but do the basic first and hopefully that'll get ya out of the woods.
Check out this board. [url]http://www.delphi.com/HarleyDavidson/messages/?start=Start+Reading+%3E%3E[/url]
If that doesn't do ya any good, I'm sure you can find what ya need here. [url]http://sepnet.com/cycle/harley.htm#Harley-Davidson[/url]
Be safe, enjoy, and by all means if you buy new leathers be sure to piss on em and roll em around in the dirt a few times before going to a rally.
Cope
Oh yea, one last thing....Get accustomed to a bunch of this
[img]http://www.hawghollow.com/hawggraphics/blondie1.gif[/img]
and this
[img]http://www.hawghollow.com/hawggraphics/Xbarmad3.gif[/img]