I thought this might bring back some memories. It sure did for me.
Between my daughter's birthday, Thanksgiving and that pesky thing called "work", I finally had some time to start into the project. First task was a general cleaning. The good news is that there is little corrosion and the rubber and plastics are in very good condition. A bit of Mother's Back to Black on them made them look like new. The bad news is that the seat, while in great condition, smells like a cat used it for a litterbox. :cus: So its soaking in some antibacterial soap. Any tips on removing the odor would be most welcome. The bottom of the seat still has the original dealer pre-delivery inspection sticker.
Everything checks out according to #8. :-D
The sissy bar is appropriate for the bike's era but I wanted a stock look so (nostalgia be damned) it was removed. I hooked up another battery to check out the electrical system. No headlight, turn signals come on but don't flash and taillight doesn't come on when the brake is applied so I've got some troubleshooting to do. The hondatwins.net forum has some good info on these bikes so I'll be doing some research there. The wiring appears to be fine so I'm guessing that I have some stuck relays somewhere. I tried some contact cleaner in the switches but no joy.
Just for grins, I decided to see if it would start so a splash of gas in the tank and hit the starter button and.... the engine turned over nicely and I got good "puh-puh" sounds from the exhast so compression is there, but the engine did not catch. I was hoping to replicate the scene out of Woody Allen's "Sleeper" where they fire up an ancient VW on the first try. It was just as well as I noticed gas leaking from several fuel lines. As I originally suspected, the fuel system will be the major area of work.
I removed the petcock and sure enough it was plugged up with old gas residue. I got most of it out manually then put it into a Pine-sol solution to soak. I had read about this on the Nighthawk forum and even about 10 minutes of soaking shows great improvement.
I'll post the "after" picture tomorrow. The fuel lines disintegrated when I disconnected them. They will all be replaced. I'm hoping the carbs aren't as bad as the petcock. I'll pull the bowls off next to check how bad they are.
Also on the agenda is checking the air filters. I gently removed the right side cover but the nut holding the filter cover just spins. I need to look at the parts fiche to see what my options are.
So far it's been enjoyable digging into this bike. Plus it kept me from Black Friday shopping. :yes:. Stay tuned for another installment.
Between my daughter's birthday, Thanksgiving and that pesky thing called "work", I finally had some time to start into the project. First task was a general cleaning. The good news is that there is little corrosion and the rubber and plastics are in very good condition. A bit of Mother's Back to Black on them made them look like new. The bad news is that the seat, while in great condition, smells like a cat used it for a litterbox. :cus: So its soaking in some antibacterial soap. Any tips on removing the odor would be most welcome. The bottom of the seat still has the original dealer pre-delivery inspection sticker.
Everything checks out according to #8. :-D
The sissy bar is appropriate for the bike's era but I wanted a stock look so (nostalgia be damned) it was removed. I hooked up another battery to check out the electrical system. No headlight, turn signals come on but don't flash and taillight doesn't come on when the brake is applied so I've got some troubleshooting to do. The hondatwins.net forum has some good info on these bikes so I'll be doing some research there. The wiring appears to be fine so I'm guessing that I have some stuck relays somewhere. I tried some contact cleaner in the switches but no joy.
Just for grins, I decided to see if it would start so a splash of gas in the tank and hit the starter button and.... the engine turned over nicely and I got good "puh-puh" sounds from the exhast so compression is there, but the engine did not catch. I was hoping to replicate the scene out of Woody Allen's "Sleeper" where they fire up an ancient VW on the first try. It was just as well as I noticed gas leaking from several fuel lines. As I originally suspected, the fuel system will be the major area of work.
I removed the petcock and sure enough it was plugged up with old gas residue. I got most of it out manually then put it into a Pine-sol solution to soak. I had read about this on the Nighthawk forum and even about 10 minutes of soaking shows great improvement.
I'll post the "after" picture tomorrow. The fuel lines disintegrated when I disconnected them. They will all be replaced. I'm hoping the carbs aren't as bad as the petcock. I'll pull the bowls off next to check how bad they are.
Also on the agenda is checking the air filters. I gently removed the right side cover but the nut holding the filter cover just spins. I need to look at the parts fiche to see what my options are.
So far it's been enjoyable digging into this bike. Plus it kept me from Black Friday shopping. :yes:. Stay tuned for another installment.