I have had my 97 F3 for over 10 years. Every year when I store for the winter pretty much all I do is drain the carbs, charge the battery and it runs great each spring. This past year however, I stopped riding it last August (after I got my new Victory!) I stored it the same way in Oct. I did top off the gas in the tank. I just got it out about two weeks ago and it started Ok, but ran pretty rough. A new set of plugs helped tremendously. The top end seems fine, the middle seems acceptable, but the lower end seems a bit rough. I'm not sure how else to describe it other than rough. It sputters a bit from a stop, but as you get going faster it works itself out.

With my new bike purchase, I sadly will be selling my Honda, but I want it to run perfect (like it always did) when I do sell it. I want to try simple things first. Could this just simply be a case of bad gas? It has sat for over 7 months. I guess I will find out fast enough, but I was wondering if I should be getting into taking the carbs out and start cleaning? Could bad gas only effect the bottom end? Should I be looking at any other areas that might need attention since it sat for so long? Or can new gas and running it for a few days work itself back to it's usual self.

Thanks for any input in advance.

 

Get rid of the old gas and put some fresh stuff in. To clean it out even more you might try adding some Seafoam with the fresh fuel. No more than 1/2 can per 4 gallons of fuel though.

I did that after mine sat in my basement for 5 1/2 months. Although I'd drained the fuel tank there was still old gas in the lines, etc. I poured in 4 gallons of fresh fuel plus 1/2 can of Seafoam. It seemed to work pretty well.

Before I store it next winter I'm planning on adding a fuel stabilizer. The cold weather always seems to sneak up on me before I remember to do that.

 

Good point about the seafoam. I have never tried it, but have know other people who have used it. I'll pick some up today! Thanks for the quick response. I'll miss this site.