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I have searched the threads and found a ton of great information but I need some experts to point me in the right direction without rebooting someone's old thread
Background - 1998 SuperHawk 24,000 miles found sitting in a garage covered in dust (pics attached after 4 hours of heavy cleaning)
Previous owner has passed away, so I am getting all information second hand from a wife that just wanted the bike gone and wasn't really interested in it when it was running
Story from her - it was running until he tried to replace the tail light and then it never ran again (this could be related, maybe it's not but I wanted to add it in case someone has an "Ah Ha" moment. Hasn't ran in 8 years and has sat in the garage the whole time.
Got it home, cleaned the bike, replaced the battery, and got the bike to turn on - this means the headlight came on, the gauges, and there was a rapid electronic buzz coming from the rear right of the bike just after the voltage regulator. On inspection, I think it's for an LED conversion and it's fried and broke apart. Bike still turns on and when I hit the ignition, I get one solid click, then nothing. If I leave the kickstand down and it's in gear, there is no click - so I believe the kickstand switch works.
I have pulled the gas tank - drained the gas - no rust. And I am going to clean/rebuild the carbs.
So experts - where do I start? What do I replace? How to do I figure out if this thing still runs.
Good news is that the bike below I picked up for $500 and my goal is to get this running and keep it forever. I want to bring life back to an amazing bike, but I need your help on where to start. It's great to be back to a forum!
Hi! They’re a bit difficult to bump. Is it just the starter relay Click you’re getting when you hit the start button? I would check the wire connection at the starter - I had a similar symptom from corrosion at that point. May not be the culprit but it’s an easy enough check to see if it could turn over.
If it was running when stored its unlikely a seized engine. Since you don't know the truth, turn by hand first. Be careful jumping with a car, it can cause more problems than it solves.
As others have said, pull plugs and timing cover and slowly roll the engine over. If it won't budge you've got some kind of mechanical failure... Good luck!
+1, roll it over by hand at the flywheel first. If it turns freely check the cable at the starter and all other connections. If the motor is toast, fear not...a motor swap or rebuild is fairly straightforward on the V.
