7013

7013 is the number of miles I had on my motorcycle at the beginning of the season.  I had it out yesterday.  It's running very rough.  Some of the gas in the tank was put in there 11 months ago so I think it's running rough because of old gas.  Even though I topped off the tank in the fall with fresh gas and fuel stabilizer, I still think the issue could be old gas.  I got it started but the engine would stay on.  I restarted it and restarted it and restarted it.  Every time I restarted it the engine would run just a little longer.  Eventually the fumes got thick in the garage so I opened the garage door.  After a half hour of restarting it the engine would stay on as long as I didn't give it gas and didn't turn off the choke.  After another 15 minutes of running I got it moving.  I could give it gas and proceed without the engine killing.  I drove around my neighborhood.  The engine was backfiring more than usual but every time I tried to turn off the choke the engine died again.  I rode it four miles around my neighborhood.  I didn't have enough confidence in it to take it down the highway to the gas station.  I will wait until I have someone with me to offer assistance if I need it.