infantrycak

New to the forums, been reading but 1st post. Wanted to start off by thanking whoever provides these forums.

Recently came into a 1999 Superhawk with 1900 miles on it. Original owner had kept it at a vacation home and as you can tell barely rode it. He had it gone through by a shop a couple years ago thinking he was going to start riding it more but ended up sparingly ridden again until I got it. The chop went through the carbs, replaced the floats, etc. and declared it fine. I put a new battery in it and it ran pretty roughly at the low end to begin with. Put several tanks of gas through it riding about 700 miles. Most of the roughness went away. Now two (maybe three) problems have cropped up in short order but I don't know if they are related and was hoping y'all had some suggestions.

As I said, new battery and it seemed to be performing fine. Not riding it for a few days, no big deal. Then it started draining the battery overnight. Could jump start it, ride it throughout the day including having several hour long breaks, no problem. But leave it for a day and pushing the starter button brought just a slight sound like the starter trying to engage but not even a hint of turning over. Then it started failing to detect neutral. Gearbox working fine but no light on and even though it was in neutral acted as if it was not for example wouldn't run with the sidestand down. So at this point I am thinking some sort of minor electrical problems possibly related. Jump it to take it over to a nearby Honda dealership. Starts and warms up fine, gets about half a mile from the house still feeling fine and then like a light switch went off and this may be totally wrong but it felt like it started only running on one cylinder. Turned it around and limped it home. Drove by the dealership and best they could come up with was the carbs need rebuilt to the tune of $6-700. Aside from the money, that doesn't sound like the explanation to me, but I have very limited experience on Superhawks (and this is my first twin). So I am hoping y'all have some suggestions.

Any suggestions appreciated. Hopefully I stuck this in the right place.

kenmoore

Check the side stand switch, they are known to cause problems.

Disconnect it and see what happens.


Definitely sounds electrical to me based on what you describe.

E.Marquez

Regulator / rectifier plug needs to be looked at for corrosion, burnt wires or connectors, along with all battery and ground connections.
With a charged battery, start bike and check voltage at battery at an idle and at about 3k RPM.

Let us know what you find.

E.Marquez

They are?

I had not heard that

Quick search of this forum gets only two hits, both water/ rain/switch related
https://www.google.com/search?q=site...m=122&ie=UTF-8

7moore7

1999 with stock R/R and chances are it's done. Check voltage at idle and at aroun 4krpm like Marquez said. Upgrade to a mosfet unit and you'll be much better off:

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...why-how-25117/

Also, if it has the stock CCT's in it (even with this low of miles) I would highly recommend replacing them ASAP with either new stock ones or Manual CCT's. The have gone out at mileage that low before on other bikes, and on this bike the result is often catastrophic. Replacing valves at a minimum.

Those two things are the main ones to look out for on this bike. 1999 is a little older, so don't be surprised if age related issues crop up. If the carbs are stock and clean, I wouldn't look there first, although eventually you'll probably want to sync them.

thedeatons

Or you can always drill and tap your original auto CCTs and install some bolts through them... Manual CCTs for about $13 or so.


James

VTR1000F

I hope I'm wrong, but this part sounds like one of your CCT's let go and you lost one cylinder. You can check compression to determine if this is the case. If a CCT let go, you may have bent valves in that head. Hopefully, I'm wrong and it's elctrical related like the rest of your problem(s).

And, like 7moore7 and thedeatons said, rework the stock automatic CCT's, if equiped, or replace entirely with manuals. Don't be fooled by the low mileage. I think mileage has very little to do with CCT failure. It's an age thing in my opinion.

E.Marquez

Where are you at? Might be a local experienced SH owner could offer a hand at diagnosis.

infantrycak

Thanks everyone. I won't be able to check any of it out until this weekend. I'll keep my fingers crossed it isn't that one of the CCT's let go. There wasn't any noise from inside the engine.

I am in Houston.

PS - I was really liking the bike while it worked. I can't be too pissed. Got it to pay off a debt I never thought I was going to collect anyway.

VTR1000F

If it is a CCT, it's not the end of the line. If there's no cylinder or piston damage, you can get a used head and swap it out. A good head will run you, maybe, a couple hundred.

smokinjoe73

I am putting my money on RR. (regulator/rectifier failure)

VTR1000F

I'll see you and raise you multiple problems.

Of course, I hope I lose this hand and it turns out to be all electrical.

JKnight5

I'm with this guy all the way! I had all the same problems as you did, changed out my r/r to a MOSFET one and, BAM!!! Problems gone. Do your research and get a good r/r, and you'll not have these problems again.

FTL900