jaws

I do not know about California, but in Connecticut we have a Department of Consumer Protection that deals with these types of issues. It might be worth checking to see if there is anything similar in your State.

I did a quick search, and California appears to have a Lemon Law and it applies to motorcycles. You might want to look at going down that route to get their attention.

http://www.bickellawfirm.com/general.php?id=500

Ogre8472

I have been on that site a few time more than i care to say...however i am in the point that i must wait to honda to respond to my atturnies letter. Its sad really....the dealer that had done the most work to solve the problem (High Gear Powersports in Gilroy Ca), as well as the dealer in Santa Cruz Ca (All American Honda) have done so much more for me than the dealer i bought the bike from.....GOLDEN GATE CYCLES in San Francisco...just it boggles my mind that a dealer would do that.....

captainchaos

That's just really $hitty to hear that. My one and only new vehicle, my '98 superhawk I bought in '99, overheated the first day I had it (great for a brand new engine I'm sure) and they took it and replaced the thermostat, which was bad, no problem. Shortly after that the paint started peeling off the front wheel, probably the result of that first service and someone at the dealer spilling some brake fluid, and they gave me a brand new front wheel, again no problem/no questions asked. Sorry you're having such a hard time you'd think that's why you pay extra for brand new...hope this eventually works out for you that's B.S.

Ogre8472

I dont get it...every time i call no one answers my questions...they keep putting me on hold and then after being on hold for so long i hang up.... I just can't win....im thinking about protestiong the selling dealer to see if they like the negitive attention....hand out fliers and just be outside the dealer badmouthing them....then see if they can get honda to move it...so what do you guys think?

Ogre8472

Now we are getting somewhere...The latest new has finnaly reached me and it sounds like Honda is going to settel.....Its about time too. I have waited for over 4 months and now the lawyer say its almost time to get whats mine.......

Hawkrider

Damn, 'bout time! What are they going to do?

Ogre8472

not sure...but at least there is some talk about settelment....so i just have to keep to my guns and get what i want...

Ogre8472

Just for kicks and giggles I filled my bike to the normal level and then let it sit for a few hours...i went back to ride it and just a mile down the road. It sputtered out and died!!!...SO what im getting at is i think the Evap Can has something to do with this or the tank vent lines are colgged....what do you guys think?

Hawkrider

Doubt it, since you say it just quits without sputtering and such. I'm leaning toward an electric/electronic problem here.

georonimo

Ogre, how are things with you? From the thread doesn't sound too good. So, I was reading a bit about your problem and I was just wondering if anybody suggested looking at the rectifier? It is a problem that I had with my 01 Hawk and nobody could figure it out. I went to like 5 different honda dealers before the problem was discovered. Nonetheless, I hope your health is progressing and your other superhawk is teaching me a thing or two.

Take care

Ogre8472

sorry for the delay...out of the country...unfortunitly for me not really...it has been a while so please forgive me that i dont remeber...the other question two dealers have looked at the rectifier...and nothing came up...but i think that honda is just going to lemon law it and go from there...thats my hopes anyway...

Ogre8472

Hi all. I just spoke with my Legal Advisor and he would like to know if any one is in CA and would be willing to make a statement about their bike failing just like mine...Honda has said PROVE IT and we need some one to say "hey mine did the same thing"....PLEASE ANY ONE!

E.Marquez

Prove what?? that it dies? Find a sympathetic dealer tech, offer him lunch and a beer to ride your bike for the weekend until it dies, then make a sworn statement attesting to that fact. You now have expert testimonial, one that you had to pay for. Add that cost to your claim.

Ogre8472

It sound feasible enough. It would also help if a nother VTR owner was able to put in writing about their bike doing the same thing. But i will give the above idea a go first.

Hawkrider

Mine dies randomly but only when I pull in the clutch at speed. They all do it. I guess that's not random enough though. Too bad this isn't the same thing though.

Ogre8472

Well i was able to have the bike die and sent to the shop via a tow truck...and wouldnt you know it...It DIED for them..hip hip hurray
Now that they have seen it die it should be a down hill battle from here...Many thanks to all whom havee given their :2cents

vtrj

Did you check your rectifier? My hawk one day riding down the road just died, i had it picked up and it took a lot of hours to figure out but it was the rectifier, but when it went it went it did'nt work again, and it blew the main fuse. Something to check out anyway, mabey it's on the fritz.

Ogre8472

vrtj your not the first to mention that and it sounds to me that it is a know porblem in the superhawk comunity however every time mine as gone in i was told it was okay and they were chasing other leads....in any event they now knowthe bike has a problem...what it is i dont care as long as the recognise the fact that i have been telling the truth from the start. My main consern now is what honda corp is going to do now that i have proof from a HONDA dealer... really im tired of my bike when i should be out enjoying it.

Ogre8472

UPDATE! Honda has agreed to buy back my bike .....Although i have mixed feelings about this I am glad to know that they are doing the right thing...I will miss my VTR but i will continue to remain a member and enjoy the chats with everyone here. Thank you every one for your help and support.
Gerry

nuhawk

Man, this has been a long long road. Sorry you had to endure all this. What next?

Ogre8472

Well i just need to wait to hear from Honda on where and when to drop the bike. Then I get my payoff and can go get the next one. But in the next few days I just dont have anything to ride, but i just have to wait and shall see.

nuhawk

I vote for a new RC51 or 1krr or 500cc stupid woods machine

Ogre8472

She is GONE!!! Honda finally bought it back. To the best of my knowledge she went back to Japan from the dealer. I just wanted to let everyone know about this. Thanks everyone for their help.

PJay

I have just read through this thread, and there is another possible electrical problem which Honda could well be very embarrassed about. This problem will cause random and then total electircal system shut-down.

If your SHs have the HISS immobiliser system that my FireStorm has (which is common throughout the range in my country at least), the antenna on that can fail. It has done so on European Varaderos. On the Vara forum, they say that this failure can not be tested for in situ, nor rectified without replacement. The HISS antenna is the black bit around the ignition lock with the letters on it.

Hawkrider

No US bikes have HISS yet.

Ogre8472

Well in any even she is outa here. If alright with the group i would like to stay on the forum....there are some really nice people here and might even try to find one more Superhawk some day...

8541Hawk

Well I know this is an old thread but I thought you guys might like to hear what the real problem was. Gerry was a friend of one of my friends so I had heard of the problem and offered to look at it when the issues first came up. At that time Gerry was working with the dealers so if it turned out to be a warranty issue he could get the damage from when he dropped it covered also. After 3 different dealers tried everything they could think of, different carbs, all kinds of electrial tests and werid **** to the wiring, they finallly gave up.
At that point Gerry was still paying for a bike that was going to sit for a few months while the legal **** was going on. So he loaded the thing on a trailer one night and brought it over. The first thing I did was prop the tank up and pulled the vacuum and fuel lines to check the petcock. It checked out fine, so I reinstalled the fuel lines but there no slack in the vacuum line when I tried to hook it up. I mean you had to pull the line taunt to get it on the nipple. I though the line was hung up on something, so I pulled the tank to see what was going on. I set the tank down, walked up to the bike, looked at Gerry and said "Well theres the ******* problem".
I proceed to show him, where some maroon, had taken the vacuum line for the petcock and routed it through the clamp, on the left frame rail, with the fuel line. What this did was pinch the hose about half way closed. So fuel would flow under "normal" conditions but hit a couple of good downshifts and build some good engine vacuum and the line gets sucked all the way shut which turns off the petcock. Now if you're downshifting for a corner..... will the float bowls run dry after the corner, mid corner???
He really didn't believe me at first but I the routed the line correctly and he had a trouble free 2-3 months with the bike until Honda wanted to look at it one last time. So he brought it back by, I put the vacuum line back where it was. The bike went right back to dying at weird times and they still never found the problem.
The moral here is learn how your bike works and fix it yourself. If you can't, ask around and find someone who really knows what they are doing as the Dealer techs just don't seem to cut it anymore. If they can't plug their comp. into it and get an error code, they can't find it.

RK1

8541Hawk;

My '03 came from the factory with the rear cylinder to petcock vacuum hose routed through that frame rail clamp as you described.

First time I reinstalled my carbs I noticed it was tight and left the vacuum line outside the clamp.

Page 1-25 of the Honda Service Manual shows that vacuum line, along with the fuel line, routed through the clamp.

The real "maroon" is the guy in Japan who spec'd the routing for the vacuum line.

Guys should probably either leave the vacuum line outside that clamp or replace it with a few inches longer piece of hose.

8541Hawk

Well I stand corrected. Mine was never that way and it was pinching the line closed and causing the problem so I would just not run the vacuum line through the clamp.

speedkelly@aol.com