SuperHawk wont start. Help please
 

Hey guys new to the forum. My brother joined the army and recently gave me his 99 SuperHawk. He also recently repainted it and after putting the bike back together it wouldnt start, like its not gettin fuel. He said it was the fuel petcock. It must have gotten moisture to it during wet sanding or something. Just wondering if that sounds like it could be the problem and how much of a pain in the ass is it to install a new one. Whats the best way to do it. I think the part is around 180 bucks. Thanks in advance guys. Josh

Just check if the vac hose that runs to the back of the petcock is hooked up to the rear cylinder head, if not you plugged the petcock to the vent line, and the vacuum to the tank.
This is the most common mistake on this forum.

Welcome man!! take some time and look around, there's a ton of great info. here!!

What he said.

Welcome aboard... Check that vacuum line as mentioned previously

Also,
Crack loose the slotted brass screws on the bottom of the carburetor bowls (drain), make sure you have fuel flow. If no fuel drains, its a supply side issue. If some crap drains out, crank engine for a few seconds at a time to flush the carb bowls until it comes out clear.

One even more basic thing to check is that the petcock is on. If you're new to the Superhawk and/or don't have the service manual, the petcock valve can be hard to recognize for what it is. Even if you do know what you're doing its easy to miss. I can't tell you how many times I've had the tank off for maintenance, put it back on, and then puzzled for 30 minutes or so over why the bike won't start (advertising my own stupidity here). The valve is the square protrusion in the middle of the petcock. I think its a 10mm wrench that fits it (might be 12 though) and I think it rotates 90 degrees.
After that, the vacuum hose is the next likely suspect, as noted by others. Follow it all the way back to the carb to make sure its not kinked anywhere. Detach both ends and make sure you can blow air through it (make sure its not plugged up with paint/sanding compound). I'd check those things before buying a new petcock.
Good luck! I've owned 11 different motorcycles and the SH is definately my overall favorite.
jonnyk

Hey guys that vaccum line was just hangin there. Does it go into the top of the rear cylinder head? I checked the valve on the petcock hopefully its to the on position. Might take some trial and error its kinda hard to see. Thanks for all your quick responses. Now I have to charge the battery, it was dead go figure. Thanks Josh

One hose is hanging, this is the tank vent, it's aiming to the ground, the other small hose is the vac line, it's going to the cyl head right under the rear carb boot, the other end goes to the rear of the petcock

Ya I got it started, it was idling low at like 1k and when I gave it gas it would die, so I adjusted the idle speed and it seems to be fine now. I didnt rev the rpms too high tho. This thing is super loud and I didnt want to piss off the neighbors.

Glad you got this sorted !
Yeah I use to walk mine out of the driveway (shared driveway) and when back I cut the engine 10 houses before and coast home.
The neighbors appreciate this and even like my bike.

Hey guys so I get home from work start the bike to let it run since it hasnt in a while, and man it sounds mean you can hear the power. But get this crap, It started smoking a bit from under the exhaust pipe. Apparently my brother didnt put the heat shield back on when he put the bike back together. It bubble and baked the paint on the lower faring and needless to say it flaked off! So now I have to remove the lower fairing, repaint and fashion a heat shield or maybe use header wraps on the pipe, I dont know? This sucks! I hate messing with the fairings its always a pain in the ass.

Just go to your local auto parts dealer and get some self adhesive heat shield like thermo-tec. That's what I used on my lower fairing and it is only warm to the touch.