DawsonJames

I've been trying to complete this bike as my father passed away on 11/11/2021 from an aneurysm and before he passed away the one thing he was telling me is that he always wanted me to get q motorcycle so this bike has sentimental value to me

when I got it ran but had a awful knocking sound but after talking to people had alot of the same responses saying that it had sounded like a CCT failure so I went ahead and replaced both CCTs with Manual CCTs and now it won't start but it does crank over a couple times before stopping I havnt checked for spark yet but I did notice when encountering this issue that spraying some starting fluid in the carbs it backfired sounding like a gunshot, so I'm pretty sure it's getting spark

I also have a new battery in it so I'm pretty sure that there's no issue with the battery but I'm starting to give up as I have no clue what could be causing it to not want to fire up

I'm hoping it might be just something electronic...plus I did notice in the front of the bike on the right hand side when sitting on the bike there is a wire hanging down with a connector on the end with 2xwires 1 black and 1 green but I have no clue were it connects to as I couldn't find any male connectors not connected to anything

I hope someone can help..it's a 1998 Honda VTR1000F

Video of bike currently : https://youtu.be/7zCMCvEtxJc

captainchaos

Well let's back up for a moment,and forgive me if I've misunderstood anything or taken any of your mechanical know-how for granted (I'm not a professional mechanic). This is an interference engine, and unfortunately an "awful knocking sound" after a CCT failure is going to be the sound of a valve and a piston smacking into each other. Putting in new manual CCTs into a damaged engine isn't going to remedy this (this being a bent valve or valves). The ship sailed at that point. You put new CCTs into a good engine to prevent this from happening. Once that happens you either need to rebuild the bad head or probably the easier, less expensive option is to just swap out a good used engine. So let's start there...

I'd say on a GOOD engine, not starting after swapping new CCTs in may be a timing issue.

Really sorry to hear about your dad, I'm sure you'll eventually get it going again one way or another and I know that will be a nice feeling.

VTR1000F

Also not a professional mechanic here, but I think your first step should be to verify your timing is correct. Once verified and if you're still not running, you can check compression on both cylinders to determine if bent valve(s) from a possible MCCT failure may be the issue. I would say it's more common to have a CCT failure on the front head, FYI. If you have no compression on one cylinder, bent valve(s) due to a CCT failure is a good bet. Many people have replaced (or rebuilt) the head rather than replacing the whole engine, but you would want to ensure there is no piston damage first. Right now, there are two front and two rear heads on eBay. Of course, you would want to do whatever you can to ensure they are good or came off running bikes before purchasing.

Don't get discouraged, there is a lot of good info on this forum to help you get your SuperHawk running again, and there are still some active members to offer help as well..

Another thing, a SuperHawk will run on one cylinder, just not very well. Yes, I'm speaking from experience.

xeris

Don't know where your mech skill level is, but have to ask. When the CCT's were replaced, did you follow one of the tutorials that are posted here or on vtr.org?

fabiostar

if and thats the most important thing, if you followed the mcct instructions and are sure you have it timed correct.(they can be timed 180% out but should still run, those two wires you talk about are the wires going to you igniter box behine the clutch cover, they come from the loom just above the lefthand rad and cross over to the igniter box, thats the only two wires iv seen in that area that would cause problems.