one cylinder
 

Hi guys, Im new to the superhawk and to bikes in general. I just bought a 2000 hawk about 3 weeks ago and it rode fine until today when it was hard to start. It sputters and backfires like its running on one cylinder and dies sometimes when I give it a little gas. I dont know if this is normal or not but the exhaust from the left pipe is hot as usual but the exhaust from the right pipe is cold which is what gives me the impression that only one cylinder is firing. also it has leo vince carbon high mounts if that matters. any ideas?

Im by no means an expert on this but when mine recently acted this way I found that I had fouled the plugs. I changed out the plugs and everything has been fine since.

I know this is a noob question but do I have to remove the tank to get to the plugs

Did you just fill it with gas?

You can get to the rear by removing the seat and raising the rear of the tank. The front are fairly accessible without removing anything.

Yep what he said. just remove the bolt at the back of the tank and pivot the tank upwards to get to the back plug. The front plug is behind the front wheel. {It was described to me that way and i found it}

the tank is almost empty so lifting the back of the tank shouldnt be a problem. thanks for the info guys

Sounds like a fouled plug or possibly ht lead or coil.
Just pop the plugs out and they will tell you wich cylinder is playing up,9 out of 10 times it's a plug at fault.
A tan brown coulor is what you are looking for, wet plug no spark or sooty plug possible missfireing.
Hope you sort it out.

Take a good look at the spark plug boot and connector as well. My old bike had one crack due to age/temp (or a rough mechanic) and caused a misfire....

J.

good point you should see a white mark on the boot if its been arking out against the head plus you would hear a ticking noise when it's runing.

if you have your factory tool kit look for a 'U' shaped allen wrench thingie. it's meant to be used to prop the rear of the tank up to allow access to the rear plug. just put it through the bolt holes after the tank is raised.

I'm a new 03 SH owner and had a similar prob on sat night. It had 3700 miles when I bought it and I had just put on 1000 in 2 weeks, but I had just filled the tank and went a little over, would this have done that? It runs good now, I still feel like something isn't quite right, but I could be being overly sensitive to the feel, considering it's not only my first bike, but my first V-Twin as well. I spoke with a Honda tech yesterday and he thought it felt fine, he said it could have been vapor-lock? Anyway thanx in advance for any info, Scott.

Yup, vacuum lock in the tank. Don't fill the tank up so high. Gas will flow into the vent and the stock routing of that line causes a small loop seal to form.

Thanx for the info Hawkrider. I'm about at 5000 miles on my 03, should I mess with changing the plugs, or am I just wasting time and money?

Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. You can check 'em for condition and gap but replacing them would be a waste of money. They should last about 20k miles. They are either platinum or iridium plugs from the factory. EVX is platinum I believe, EIX is iridium.

Sweet, thanx a bunch for all the info, I really appreciate it!

What is the gap supposed to be for the plugs???? I can't find that info anywhere

wow dude....

What the heck.. I'll take it. It's .8 to .9mm. I believe it was Drew who posted this info within the last day or two.

I was told that they are gapped already and that they are touchier than vehicle plugs. And, to be careful with the electrodes.