Chad,
I like it. At first I thought you were going for a rat bike because the photo was dark, but after lightening the exposure it seems more the clean hot rod.
Unfortunately, what Greybeard was talking about is not the sump plate with a screen on the underside of the crankcase. The sludge trap runs through the crankshaft through both crank pins. Therefore, it can only be inspected and cleaned with crankcases split. There is another member with a similar situation right now, that is, just wants to get his bike running so he can ride it a bit and "test it" before tear down. This has the potential to be a bad idea if the bike has set for many years. The purpose of the sludge trap is to collect smaller-than-screen-mesh particles safely inside the crankshaft rather than circulating them. It uses centrifugal force to do this. There is no way to know without failing the bike if dried-out sludge will flake off and block the oilways to the rod bearings. I, for one, believe that is what caused me to spin a rod bearing some years ago, having not known to clean the sludge trap when I rebuilt after 24 years of the bike sitting around.
If you absolutely plan to strip it down right away, it doesn't really matter if runs right now. It will certainly run when you put it back together, and you might save yourself a much more costly fix. On the other hand, if you must get to riding before the strip down, keep it close to home for while until you are comfortable that anything that could come loose comes loose. Being just outside Chicago I am right there with you regarding getting on the road as soon as crappy weather lets up. Stay away from tornados (hope none have done damage to you or yours).
Richard L.
