superhawk996 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I just bought it and I'm wondering what's considered normal or proper use of the choke and how long it takes the motor to run normal without the choke on. It has stock exhaust and I'm assuming stock jetting. It seemed to take a fairly long time running to idle without some choke and it was about 80 degrees out. I know some engines take longer than others so if anyone can clue me in to an ambient temp. and time to perfect idle or a position of the temp gauge when I should expect it to be running right I'd greatly appreciate it. The seller is not the brightest bulb in the box and was pretty clueless. The bike also sat a for an unknown time so it may need a carb overhauling, but getting some kind of baseline of what's normal will help to figure out if it needs work. THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 When it is 80F, in about 30 seconds I can turn off the choke. I start mine in the garage and back it outside, turn the choke part way off, put my jacket on and turn choke off the rest of way. When colder, a little longer on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewtoy Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I start my bike on full choke, put my gloves and helmet on, and back off to 1/2 choke as the bike is @ 2k on the tach by then. Leave @ 1/2 choke for ~ 2 miles when I get on the freeway, and then turn it off once @ speed then it's good to go with no choke needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 Thanks guys. That is about what I expected. I took another short spin today and confirmed she probably needs some carb love. I'll wait 'till I've checked a few things out before stripping them, but it seems to be a carb issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partsman Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 The seller is not the brightest bulb in the box and was pretty clueless. The bike also sat a for an unknown time so it may need a carb overhauling, It doesn't take long sometimes to plug up the plug up the pilot jets.Any carbed bike that has sat for more than a few months is worth pulling the carbs off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 The seller is not the brightest bulb in the box and was pretty clueless. The bike also sat a for an unknown time so it may need a carb overhauling, It doesn't take long sometimes to plug up the plug up the pilot jets.Any carbed bike that has sat for more than a few months is worth pulling the carbs off. I'm excited to get to work on it, but don't have the time right now. I put some Techron in the tank; it works wonders on injectors, carbs not so sure. The idle is rough and the clutch rattles. The guy selling it said it's cuz it has 'some kind of wet clutch set up', I rolled my eyes and said "yea, like every other Japanese bike, if it had a dry clutch this would be ok". It rattles more than I'd expect for just having a light misfire, sounds similar to the Ducati 999 I had, so there may be something going on with the clutch too. The guy let the registration laps so I only get to stare at it 'till I get that taken care of. Ok, I had to take another test ride after unloading, but then back to just thinking about riding. Question, these do have a rev limiter right? I've only ridden mellow, no more than about 10K RPM so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwimack Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 You sure it's the clutch. I have not heard any one with clutch problems...... Maybe the CCT needs changing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 Squeeze the clutch and the noise goes away, so yup, clutch rattle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Question, these do have a rev limiter right? Yes it does but there is no point in revving it past red line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 Question, these do have a rev limiter right? Yes it does but there is no point in revving it past red line. Cool. I know there's no point, just wanted to know I have back-up for when..I mean in case I screw up. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Woohoo! I had a gut feeling (and hoped) the crappy idle might be carb synch and not plugged jets and it was. It was so far off I'm guessing someone did it, there's no way it could wear/shift on it's own this badly. At idle two throttle plates were fully shut, one open about normal, and one way open. I don't have a synch set so I used the force and some engine whispering. I can now back the idle under 400RPM before it chugs and dies out, at 1100 I can barely feel it running and the clutch clatter is entirely gone. I can now feel the normal off-idle lean spot, but I'm going to enjoy riding 'till it gets shitty cold then re-jet and do a major service at the same time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowrideCX Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Woohoo! I had a gut feeling (and hoped) the crappy idle might be carb synch and not plugged jets and it was. It was so far off I'm guessing someone did it, there's no way it could wear/shift on it's own this badly. At idle two throttle plates were fully shut, one open about normal, and one way open. I don't have a synch set so I used the force and some engine whispering. I can now back the idle under 400RPM before it chugs and dies out, at 1100 I can barely feel it running and the clutch clatter is entirely gone. I can now feel the normal off-idle lean spot, but I'm going to enjoy riding 'till it gets shitty cold then re-jet and do a major service at the same time.I was going to suggest the synchronization but you took care of that. Glad to hear your baby is purring like new again. Its always good to go over the entire bike when you get a used bike. Congrats on the amazing deal. I love my 97 she has 68, 000 miles on her now and runs like new. This winter I am hoping to pull all the plastics and repaint them and while they are off I want to try to lean out the main jets a tad. I have a factory pro jet kit so I should be able to just lower the neddles a clip or 2. It is jetted for 800 ft above sea level and I am only about 40'. She has just been running so damn good I hate to mess with it but it may be even better when I am done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 I was going to suggest the synchronization but you took care of that. Glad to hear your baby is purring like new again.Its always good to go over the entire bike when you get a used bike. Congrats on the amazing deal. I love my 97 she has 68, 000 miles on her now and runs like new. This winter I am hoping to pull all the plastics and repaint them and while they are off I want to try to lean out the main jets a tad. I have a factory pro jet kit so I should be able to just lower the neddles a clip or 2. It is jetted for 800 ft above sea level and I am only about 40'. She has just been running so damn good I hate to mess with it but it may be even better when I am done. Thanks. Mine has 50k. I was content when it was running shitty, now I'm jazzed. Still have to figure out the headlight. It only works on high beam, but actually illuminates the low. I'm guessing I'll find some kind of crackhead 'repair' on it. IF your bike was tuned for higher altitude you'd want to richen for lower, not lean. In any case, 760ft isn't enough to rejet for IMO. If it was absolutely spot on perfect (unlikely) and you wanted that same level of perfection then you'd richen a hair. The only perfectly tuned modified carbureted bike I've ever ridden was my superhawk. It was Jardine's test bike for building their exhaust and they spent lots of dyno and riding time making it perfect. After I sold it the buyer (a friend) took it to a performance shop because it had developed a little miss and I didn't have time to mess with it. They insisted it'd run better with a rejetting. I told the guy to NOT let them mess with it, but the shop kept insisting it'd run better and faster. They installed a stage 2 jet kit. I got to ride it afterward and from cold start to top end it sucked. It went from constantly trying to kill you power to not lifting the from without a clutch dump and the pipes were blackened with carbon within a few days. No kit is perfect unless it was designed for your exact set-up and even then won't be 100% out of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiXXation Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 "Still have to figure out the headlight. It only works on high beam, but actually illuminates the low." Just to verify: the low beam is the upper bulb in the headlight, and the high beam is the lower bulb In the headlight, so you may just have a burned out low beam bulb on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 "Still have to figure out the headlight. It only works on high beam, but actually illuminates the low." Just to verify: the low beam is the upper bulb in the headlight, and the high beam is the lower bulb In the headlight, so you may just have a burned out low beam bulb on top. I thought that, but following the electrical schematic it looks like the lower bulb is the low beam. I rode it last night and the light does appear to be the high beam after all (lower bulb). I'll get onto the bulb and see, looks somewhat time consuming so I wanted to eliminate other possibilities first. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetfixxr Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Check it my 97 the upper is low beam and bottom is high beam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Check it my 97 the upper is low beam and bottom is high beam. That's correct, thanks. Turned out to just be a burnt bulb, back on with a Sylvania Ultrastar Plus I think it is, whatever their highest end bulb is. HID is on the winter project list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I thought I had a carb issue too. The bike was running like crap after sitting for a few months. I was sure the carbs would need to be taken apart and cleaned. Took it to a shop and it turned out to be the carbs out of sync. Got the bike back yesterday. They synched the carbs and it runs great!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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