Hawk won't run with out the choke..Any ideas?
 

Hello every one, long time no forum.

I will get right to it..

Ok so my 98 hawk will only run with the choke on, even after it warms up. if i turn off the choke the bike dies.

also while riding it i reach down and turn the choke off.. once i do this when i let off the gas the bike begins to back fire. also downshifting will cause a back fire. coming to a stop sign or red light with the choke off instantly kills the bike.

Any thoughts.

5150.

The pilot jets are clogged.

Running with normal power? Mine acted like this, was also weak, it was a gummed up carb so I was running on one cylinder. Sounds mega-lean down low, so what inderocker said, carbs may need some attention.

IndieRocker can i just put some sea foam in and run it and clean them out or does my issue sound more severe to you?

Yeah, still runs with normal power once i take off and the choke is off. crazy torque still nice acceleration, just wont run at the low rpms with the choke off. only stays running if i am feathering the gas.

I doubt Seafoam will work. Your best bet is to manually clean the carbs.

or just spend the $10 and buy a new pair of pilot jets as the small passages are hard to clean without causing any damage. ;)

You can try sea foam, or do it the right way.

which is?

I read the post. i like the idea of not taking everything out and off.

I have a question though. i have never taken off the gas tank and i am under the impression from what i have read that my 98 has no fuel petcock that is manually able to be turned to the off position. It appears from what i have read that it is vacum operated? is this correct?

If that is correct, can i take the fuel lines off the carbs and not have them leak fuel all over? or do i need to pinch off the lines some how before taking them off the carbs?

5150

i am a bit low on the mechanical side of things. would i need to remove the entire carb set up, all the pairs and air cleaners and stuff to get at the pilot jets? or can you cheat a little bit?

I just repaired my rear master cyclinder and the book said i had to put the bike ina stand and remove the swing arm.. pshhhh screw that. i cheat and pulled the cotter pin off the arm pushed out the master as far as i could and then jimmyed the locking nut off. saved me a ton of time. went back together just as easy as the take off.

thanks for any suggestions.

5150

That is not correct... There is a manual knob to turn on all VTR's... It's just not used for anything unless you are removing the tank... Lift the tank, turn it of, then unplug stuff... The only leakage you will get is the small amount in each hose...

Rebuild the carbs.

On the flip side, I've removed the tank and had it leak all over the garage floor overnight... most likely because it was brimmed which put too much pressure the valve.

Yeah, it could've been way bad. Luckily nothing happened. ;)

It's such a small effort to turn the knob I never bothered trying without doing it... I did however forget to re-set it once... That gave me a good time having the tank lifted at the roadside to get at it......

OK it is more or less semi fixed and working it self out.

i had a long detailed post of how it came about but i took to long to hit post and it auto logged me and i lost it all.


Long story short. sea foam went in. I flooded the bike. let it sit all day. Came back later to ride. took it out. turned off choke after warm and she stopped dying at stand stills.

90 miles later she is getting better and better. still some hesitation and jerky ness around 3k rpms to 4k but it seems to come and go as whatever is clogging the carb up is being eaten away.

If after a couple more tanks of gas and sea foam it levels off and is still not smooth i will next try the Yamaha cleaner, carb in bike trick, Thanks Rk1.

after that i will pull them out and rebuild them.

Thanks for the help everyone.

5150.

Ps thanks Inde for getting me on the right track to get this fixed. I had my first ride last night of the season after a year off, and it was one of the best nights of this year. also was my first night time ride. Nothing else like riding along the over look and seeing the city lights down below.