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First Bike - 92 Nighthawk Build Thread

pearl

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New here, not sure if this is the right place, but I wanted to log and see what kind of help I can get along the way.

I've always tinkered with cars in high school, got big into cycling the past 8-9 years or so. I always wondered, "would it be more fun on a motorcycle than pedaling?"

Lets find out!

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I bought this 92 Nighthawk for $1200. Guy said it was sitting for a couple of months and the battery is dead. Said some new plugs and I should be off to the races. Obviously that is not the case :)

I jump started the bike, nothing. I put new plugs in, no dice.

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I took the carbs apart and cleaned everything to the best of my knowledge. Some of the jets looked funky, but they should work, right?

I just put the carbs back on without the airbox booked up and tried to start her up, but got nothing different this time around. Womp womp. I pulled the plugs and noticed one was fouled up, one was 50/50, the other two looked brand new. So now I'm chasing down a spark issue.

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This is what they looked like.
 
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Actually, I forgot to ground them, they all have spark, some seem stronger than others...

I think tomorrows task will be to drain the gas from the tank and put in some fresh stuff.
 
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If you use ethanol in the local fuel, what it does to the carbs. The sitting does the rest. Ethanol is pretty transparent until the devices quit getting used every day, then the damage starts. Check tank and filters for rust.

You probably should get compression readings to make sure you aren't wasting your time there. If somebody has run like that long enough then a burned valve or two may make every bit of your effort worthless. 27 year old bike, it would be unusual to think it is in fine running shape and they often aren't. Then you chase ghosts until you give up.

Mileage? Tells whether the cam tensioners are dead or not.
 
Peaked in the tank earlier, it looked good to me. I’ll double check again.

I’ll rent a compression tester tomorrow! 29,000 miles.
 
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