Running(or not) badly.

My Curvy unfortunately has to live outside under a cover. Due to the shocking weather It hasn't bee used for over a month. I thought I'd go out for a litlle pootle today but it refused to start I eventually run down my battery trying. Charged the battery up and tried again later. It started but would not rev past 2000 rpm. sounded like it was missing possibly only running on one cylinder so I took out the plugs and checked they weren't wet. Both fine. Tried it again and still not idling very well kept it going for about 5-10 minutes. It gradually got slightly better, but was backfiring and popping constantly. Looking at other posts this looks like it could possibly be water in the fuel. Do these symptoms sound about right? If so is it a case of draining the tank and carbs? Anything else I could try first or would this be first port of call?
Hope someone knowledgable will be along soon
Oh and how exactly do you drain the carbs!?
Thanks

[punyXpress]

When you DO get it started, spit on both exhausts & establish which aint firing.
You haven't solved owt but you've got a clue where to start from.

[Dave20046]

To drain the carbs I think the float bowl (chamber at the bottom of each carb) should have a screw in it you can undo to drain them.
Probably worth syphoning out the fuel from the tank, and putting some high octane in.

And like puny says check which cylinder and maybe try a different plug.

[punyXpress]

Now it's dark, start it up again & look for any stray sparks.

Sounds likie it could be gummed up carbs...get some fresh fuel in the tank, get the battery charged and get the engine running, see if you can go for a half-decent ride. Maybe get some silkolene pro FST in there too

My dad had a bit of trouble getting his VFR started after 3 weeks of it sitting doing nothing in a garage

Thanks for the replies. Had a day off today so thought I'd try and sort it!
Took off the tank and drained out the old fuel. looked at the drain plug as I'd read that this sometimes gets clogged up. It was fine and fortunately no sign of any rust .
Took off the air box and checked the carbs. Again these looked clean, no gunk or carp anywhere but gave them a shot of carb cleaner anyway. Risked it and didn't drain the carbs. Put it all back together with abit of fresh fuel and it started first time
revved it a little and the backfiring started again
Thought i'd go out and give it a little run to try and sort it. After about half a mile it's running like a dream again
Thanks guys.
As a reward for not being a nightmare I have treated him to a tank of shell V power and booked him in for a carb balance and to have the valve clearances checked

[Taipan]

Sounds like the water contamination mine suffered from to me. Did you drain yoru fuel into a clear container? You can see if it was water contamination then as they clearly seperate and the yellowish fuel sits on top of the clear water.

Originally Posted by Taipan

Sounds like the water contamination mine suffered from to me. Did you drain yoru fuel into a clear container? You can see if it was water contamination then as they clearly seperate and the yellowish fuel sits on top of the clear water.

To Be honest I drained it into one of my fuel cans. Looking through the lid I can't see any separation, and seeing how the drainage channel in the tank was clear I'm not sure how water would get in?
I'll probably stick the fuel I drained in the lawnmower. I'm sure that won't be too fussy about what petrol it gets!

[punyXpress]

If mower is single cylider, it'll be a 8ugger when one pot stops!