My brother has a 98 savage that has beens itting in his garage for 2 years and has given it to me to get back on the road.  He had left fuel in the tank so I had to try to drain it. There was no fuel coming from the petcock so a "friend" took the petcock apart! now there is fuel coming from the petcock, but the petcock no longer shuts off!  the bike won't stay running unless the throttle is wide open and still barely runs.  if i spray fuel into the air cleaner assembly, it speeds up and seems to want to run. is this a problem with the petcock or is it a problem with the carb?  HELP!

Could be both. Did you clean the carb.? if it set for two years it's probably pretty gummed up. If your friend took the petthingy apart, he may not have put it back together right. you can put the petthingy together wrong, check and see if you can shut it off when the petthingy says on or reserve, if it does, he put it together wrong. I'd still disassemble the carb. and clean it up, maybe even get a rebuild kit. gummed up gas is quite hard to completely eliminate.