Gorwin64

Ok, so I bought a used 1998 Superhawk with 9103 miles on it. It looked prestine, and I rode it and found no problems. two weeks later I notice between 2-3k RPM the engine was making noise, and had some uneven power delivery. I thought it was the CCT's since everyone ppoints to them. I took the bike to a big Honda dealer, and they replaced the stock CCT's and gave it an oil change. Ran me over $400. But this hasn't fixed the problem. Anyone have any idea why I'm getting this engine knock?

gboezio

First welcome to the forum !
Second, don't lug the engine, 2-3 krpm is fine on 1st and 2 nd gear, but past that you need to give it some air, this is a big twin, a piston, rod and crank slamming into 500cc of air at low rpm got to shake, these engine will bitch until 4000rpm, retarding ignition can help this, it does nothing for fuel efficiency, but it feels more comfortable, adjust the TPS to 500 ohms at idle, get a good carb synch.
If you are talking about lean airbox farts, pull the needles one notch if you have a jet kit on your bike, if not you get one or put back the stock pipes.

nath981

it's too bad you spent that money for not. Mechanics are great for replacing **** that isn't proved to be the problem and charging you for it, and then you're stuck with the same problem. Anyway, the first and hopefully the last thing you'll have to do is set the TPS to 450-500ohm. This seems to be always the problem as most seem to need adjusting. There are many posts here on the "how to", but I think this has to be done first to make sure it is correct. Look under "crappy ride" post under technical discussion for my TPS adjustment experience, and search TPS for additional info.

Gorwin64

I was reading through some of the posts about TPS, I'm to much of a newbie to be able to figure this out at this point. Looking around the bike I couldn't figure out where this sensor was on the rear cylinder so if you guys could help me out a little more specifically on how to adjust and test thing sensor I would appreciate it.

gboezio

It's on the carb of the rear cylinder on the right side.
You need to pull the carbs out of the bike to do this.
But first make sure you are not chasing some abnormal gremlins.
This cures the bike's tendency to lug between 3-4000 rpm, witch is normal, but somehow annoying.
Check the TPS resistance first, most including mine are about 800 ohms, bring it to 500 ohms.
You will need two M5 or M6 x 10 bolts with two flat washers to replace the rivet style bolts.
Just remove their heads and run the drill backward to unscrew the threaded part or get some pliers.

bundleofgrundle

hey guys, just a thought...but could fouled plugs be to blame? I had the same problem in the same rev range and it cleared up when i replaced my plugs a couple weeks ago.

does that sound like it could be right or am i just making stuff up?

nath981

could be many things, but the TPS is notoriously out of adjustment, so it seems to be a likely starting point. Then you will know it's not the problem and start looking elsewhere. Mine started acting up all of the sudden and quite dramatically one day, and all i did was adjust the TPS and it was better than ever. Weird, but true or like you, i might just be making stuff up.

Gorwin64

I only have it below 3k when I'm in first gear. After that its 3k and up, which I never have any problems with.

My main concern is if the engine is not firing correctly because of this TPS, is something going to fail?

I don't know if I trust myself pullin carbs and what not, I have practically no experience in this kind of stuff. I guess I could go bitch to honda to make them fix it for free, since I told them to fix the problem, not specifically replace the CCTs, but I got no guarantee that will work though lol.

loserbaby

Honda will not likely help U on "warranty". No need to pull carbs for this. Easy access from RT side at Rear carb. Proper idle mix as well as carb sync need to be confirmed. You will not likely get 500 ohms, but turn in slots until minimum value, and u'll be OK. If still knocking than U have a prob.

PS... Failed/failing coils are also notorious on these bikes, make sure your firing on both cyl's. Rather than checking spark, I found checking for "hot" header immediately after start (at problem RPM range) is more effective. Use a crappy screw driver handle and see how it melts on header in comparison to other cyl. I had a failing coil, that still sparked... but not hot enough to fire. If this is the case... confirm by swapping coils, and checking again.

LB