I haven't run either of the 125s in about 2 1/2 years following my shoulder injury. The black one cranked on about the 5th pull despite the old fuel. The yellow one wouldn't crank. I took the cover off to discover no air filter and an 1/8" of red oak dust. What the heck! I knew I was losing my mind but apparently I lost it over two years ago. I must have cleaned it in the field and forgot to reinstall it.
Rinsed things off with some year old mix and she fired right up.
Now for a little McMystery that surely one of you McWizards can solve: The black one refuses to shut off. Pushing in the decomp only slows things down and creates
a little tapping noise. Finally I just choked it to death. Upon attempting to restart it just rips the starter handle out of my hand as if the timing was too advanced. Repeated several times until my fingers are just dangling. It turns over fairly easy with decomp open and very slow pulls. Changed hands and got it to start with a few tries. Ran it a little and now everything is back to normal. Fires right up just like always. What gives?
Ron