So, upon being really excited that I can finally ride my bike, I gear up with my brand new gear I purchased last year and hopped on the bike. The bike started right up and sounded great! I pulled out onto the road and gave the bike some gas....
Now my problems start. Not only does the bike sputter horribly, but it's also really hard to shift from first to second gear. Luckily the gas station is about 4 blocks from where I picked the bike up. Unfortunately when you can only go 20 mph that seems like a much greater distance. Upon arriving at the gas station I filled the remainder of the tank with fresh high octane gas, checked my tire pressure, and hoped the seafoam would clean my carbs as I rode.
Upon taking off from the gas station I quickly realized that this little adventure was not going to work out as I had planned. People do not appreciate other vehicles that don't go over 20 mph. Luckily my fiancé's father owns a workshop less than a mile away from where I was limping along. I made the decision and crawled on the bike to the workshop.
It was pretty obvious to me at this point that the bike was at the very least in need of a serious carb cleaning. After arriving at the shop I got the carberators off (a real pita), and hitched a ride
back to my parents house for a night of inhaling carb cleaner.
From doing a serious amount of research on nighthawk-forums.com, I learned quite a bit about the carberators on my 450 nighthawk. After opening them up and taking a look inside it was obvious this bike sat for 16 years. The float bowls were covered in what can only be
described as rusty gum. After further examination of the main jets, the reason for all the terrible sputtering was that one of the main jets was completly clogged! After cleaning everything out and letting the carbs soak all night, I put it all back together and got a ride back to press my luck.
After putting the carbs back on the bike, it took a few cranks but the bike started back up and sounded good. Now for the test, I got geared back up and hopped back on the old horse. Upon take off the bike felt good and was able to get up to 55 effortlessly. (although shifting from first to second was still a bit rough) Now getting to 55 was no problem, but getting past 55 was tough. The bike was sputtering when attempting to give it gas past 55 mph. Although this was annoying I was able to get the hawk the 30 miles back home without any further surprises.
The ride itself was great, and after riding a ninja for 3 years I have to say I am impressed with how comfortable the nighthawk is to ride and how smooth it feels on the road. I am suspecting that the problem now is either air related or the carberators need to be cleaned more thoroughly and synced. It seemed like it may have been getting better towards the end of my trip. Unfortunately I work 200 miles away from where the bike is and wont be able to investigate until my vacation towards the end of July. I plan on getting it running to the best of my abilities, and giving it a nice new paint job. I'll be posting pictures of my further adventures from now on, I should have taken at least a few but I was in a hurry and pressed for time.
Enjoy being able to ride when you can, and don't take it for granted. (This nice weather is killing me!) Keep it safe out there!
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