New hawk won't start
 

Hello,

I have a hawk that's been in storage for about 6 months. The battery was dead, so we spent a while trying to jump start it yesterday, and it would barely turn over.

I put the battery on a slow charger overnight, and now it turns over fine, but the engine still won't start. It doesn't seem to be firing.

I've tried this with choke both out and in (and yes, this is with the kill switch towards me, down towards the circular arrow - the thin end of the switch is down).

I've also checked the petcock valve, manually applied vacuum to it. I did this while I was draining the tank, so I am sure it is working. I then even tried manually applying vacuum while starting the engine (after putting fresh fuel in the tank), and still I couldn't get it to fire.

The bike ran fine in the spring. The only thing I can think of is maybe it's flooded? I have no idea what to do with a flooded engine.

Any suggestions out there?

Make SURE you have your tubes to the tank installed properly - this is a very common mistake. It's all over in the knowledge base.

Don't jump start the bike - the electrics are not set up for much of this and if you over doit you can destroy a lot expensive shit.

If the carbs did dry out they may have to be refreshed.

One of my superhawks sat in shop hell once for 6 months and that was enough to turn the gas bad and have it puking out the front carb because the float stuck. Did you put stabil in the gas before you parked it? If not you might want (ok not want, need) to pull the carbs and clean them...

We *could* have fried something when we were trying to start it but weren't really jump starting it, we were charging the battery and trying to start it while the charger was hooked up.

The guy I bought it from said it hasn't ridden more than 10 miles in the last 2 years. His dealer had to clean the carbs back in '08 b/c it had been sitting, and said to expect them to have to do it again if it sat as much again - which it did. So it could very well be that. And no, I do not believe they put any stabilizer in the fuel before the previous owner parked it.

But it also seems like it could just be flooded. I still don't really know what to do with a flooded engine.

Oh, and yes, I'm sure I hooked up the tubes correctly. I've downloaded the SM, and anyway they're pretty different, I don't have any trouble telling them apart.

Pulling the plugs will tell you if it's flooded. If they're wet, you can bet that it is. The classic method to clear a flooded engine is to open the throttle and choke and crank the engine. But don't over-do it as you could potentially overheat the the starter. Fifteen seconds on, sixty seconds off would be a reasonable duty cycle.

Nose to exhaust is a good method to tell flooded from starved.

Carbs are dirty.

+1

If its badly flooded its best to pull the plugs and let it dry out. On a car engine you can clear a flood by cranking with the throttle open. But on the VTR if you get a backfire with the 48mm throttle plates wide open, that wouldn't be good.

well it is high time you became aquainted with the superhawks huge carburators. try seafoam! its good stuff if its not to dirty.

Yeah, just like a bunch of people think, you'll be wanting to clean your carbs. If it is just flooded it will dry out while you clean the carbs if you take the spark plugs out. You'll have nice clean carbs when your done and dry-ish cylinders. Make sure your gas isn't bad, if it is clean out the tank (no water), petcock, and lines.

Everyone has their own style of carb cleaning. Just look a bunch up and pick one; they are basically created equal unless you have a bike that is really, really bad. I like using spray carb cleaner, compressed air, and wire to clean out the passages.

Thanks for the input.

Just for the benefit of anyone else stumbling upon this, the service manual says very explicitly, "do not use a wire to clean the jets, it will damage them."

Yes, don't use wire on jets, but you can on the passages going through the carbs. Don't scrap at them with a wire; only use it if something is clearly stuck in there to poke it.

time to revive this thread....soo..just ran into a problem similar to this and I'm not mechanically incline at all...been riding for a looong time but never got my hands dirty, so its time to start over the winter months to learn more.....i'v read this post and few others...so, is there a step by step on how to change spark plugs on the vtrs?
engine could be flooded, I did put fuel stab...and it wont start...
thx!!! really could use some help...

Would it be wrong to assume you haven't looked in the service manual?

I'm not mechanically incline at all...been riding for a looong time but never got my hands dirty.
Never eh? Hmmm... ok, first, go here http://www.superhawk996.net/Honda_VT...ice_Manual.pdf
and download the free pdf manual. you need a thin wall 18mm deep well socket to get em out, a piece of 3/8 hose will come in handy to help pull em out of the hole and to start em threaded back in because they will just fall out of the socket. You can get replacement plugs from advanced auto for about 6 bucks each. NGK DPR9EIX-9 NGK part # 5545. Now, go git dirty!

I knew I was gonna get some "comments"lol...but thats ok...got the manual now, and will go over it, I don't think I have an 18mm deep socket but a trip to the store will fix that...THX for the part#...will pick a couple up...if you guys have any other tips of the trade, let me know...oh ya, I;m getting gloves so I dont get dirty..lol..jk...
THX!

Don't forget your gojo hand cleaner! :-D

A couple of tips - keep your receipts on the sockets, most of them will be too fat to fit down into the cavity. Does your bike have it's OEM toolkit? There should be one in there that is perfect. If you have the kit but no socket wrench, order one from ronayers.com (that's what I did). If you don't have the bike's tookit at all, then it sucks to be you, look for one on ebay. The one thing you *really* need besides the plug wrench is the suspension adjuster spanner.

Also, the toolkit includes a feeler gauge for the spark plugs. It's sneakily hidden tough - its' stuffed into a tiny pocket in the middle of the back, it doesn't just float around in the bag.

Oh, and spark plug wrenches have a rubber washer embedded in them to hold the plug by the connector while you are putting it in - that's the difference between a general deep socket and a spark plug socket - the rubber insert.

thx!...already made 2 trips to the store..lol....will keep in mind

Avramd said:Oh, and spark plug wrenches have a rubber washer embedded in them to hold the plug by the connector while you are putting it in - that's the difference between a general deep socket and a spark plug socket - the rubber insert.

Just so ya know, I know spark plug sockets have an insert to "hold the plug" I don't know if they sell thin wall 18mm plug sockets as my thin wall deep well fit the hawk, the hose trick is known by any old skool knuckle dragger who's been turning wrenches long enough, been riding and wrenching since I was 8 I'm 51 now, can't remember the last time my hands were'nt dirty..lol.

:cool:Like everyone is saying there is a good chance you need your carbs cleaned. :eek:
Althougn there is a chance that you fouled the plugs with the stale fuel that you tried to ignite in the cumbustion chambers. Change out the plugs and drain the carbs until you get fresh fuel. Try starting it again, you may feather the throttle some but not too much.

If it starts and runs but won't run or run well off choke at full operating temp, carb clean for you.

If it seems to idle fine but won't take throttle without stumbling you could try seafoam, but you are problably looking at a carb clean. (I have never tried seafoam, but I hear it can work)

If you install the new plugs, fresh fuel in tank/carbs and it still won't start, wow those carbs are plugged up good.


Save some money by taking them off the bike, but you need to tear them down and dip them in carb cleaner from NAPA (beware caustic) or take them to someone with a ultrasonic cleaner. If you are going to tackle this yourself it would be helpful to have someone with good experience helping you the first time. It is critical that all your passages are clean for the bike to work properly, you probably only want to do this once and get it right the first time.

Best of luck.:cool: