1998 Superhawk that wont start unless jumped
 

Ok so Im trying to get a 98 superhawk running without having to jumpstart it . when I put the key in and turn the bike on nothing happens , no fuel pump noise nothing . only thing that seems to be turning on is the light above the headlight . ive read sidestand switch and also kill switch could be to blame . any ideas ?

...because it doesn't have one.

Check the kill switch? fuses? neutral switch? all the usual suspects?

and have a search and download the Service Manual PDF for the bike.

How old is the battery? Have you checked it/charged it/replaced it? And if you're waiting for fuel pump noises you'll be waiting awhile-there isn't one ;)

The first step is what is the voltage of the battery?

Dead batter? Not charging due to faulty RR? Where are you located?

having same problem.. battery half charged is showing 12.6 volts...Im giving it a few more hrs on the trickle charger. after 3 hrs on the charger it poped on but then soon ran itself out.... all i have done lately is remove the gas tank i believe i have the fuel turned on.. the toggle switch is on the right side of the bike and in my mind pointing to the on position but it is very unclear thanks honda..before running it last week about one yards and then having it die completely it would run with very low rpm but to much and upon dropping the throttle it would kill itself..i street fightered my bike and lost entirely.. i feel like its mad at me..

Not charging due to faulty RR?.....what is the RR?

I think the problem with your bike is probably you.

Lets start at the beginning.

Completely charge battery. Do it overnight.

Insure kill switch is in the RUN position. See owners manual.

Insert key and turn ON.

Headlight ON?

Neutral light ON? If not, find neutral.

Pull enrichment knob and hold all the way out. We will tell you how to make it stay out later.

Hit starter switch.

What happened?

What's the ambient temperature?

VTR require a healthy battery to crank the engine.
When it's cold out (sub freezing), weak battery may not have enough cold cranking amp to turn the VTR engine properly, but when it's 50-60 deg out, weak battery may be fine.

If engine only cranks when you have jumper battery pack hooked up to the leads, you may have a weak battery.

How many amps is your trickle charger putting out? somewhere between .5 and 2? what's the cold cranking amps on your battery? do the math. It takes a lot of trickle chargers days to charge a battery. RR = regulator rectifier. They short out in this bike causing electrical issues. Do a quick search there is lots of info on it. If you had the tank off also check for PVLIR.

You got great responses here, we didn't hear back from you, how is it going?

well i got it running and well now.. i think the gallon of gas that my buddy picked up for me was crap.. cuase i got it going and ran it down to the shell put in some 91 v power and soon after the power was back.. on the way i hit a real violent 200 yards where the bike could have been mistaken for a bucking bronco.. The Superhawk is now back in action and ready to tear up southern California!

Great, happy to hear all is good.
Ride safe

How about you tmoyer690???

:rotf:

Just something that has not been mentioned here that is worth mentioning if a bike wont turn over. Check the Neutral sidestand switch (wicky mentioned this) and clutch cut out switch.

(:-})