| Date |
[ 1997: October -
December ] |
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11.02.97 |
The ride was fantastic, but the
left carb is leaking badly, probably a defective gasket. Could be that the float is
not seating properly (I had to use a Type II float in a Type I carb since the original
float was sunk). Type I carb gasket went on order, the float will be fixed soon. |
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11.04.97 |
Removed the right side engine
cover. Discovered a pool of oil under the stator. Will need to find a 15mm
bolt or a jaw puller to remove the rotor.
The starter chain seems to have excessive slack.
Oil seals and other misc. parts
went on order. Meanwhile, I took apart the T/S switch for cleaning. Upon
reassembly, packed the switch with dielectric silicone grease. Lubricated the
throttle twist grip and the throttle cable; smooth... |
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11.05.97 |
Replaced the left carburator
bowl gasket. This took care of the gas leak, but the incorrect float inside would
not let me rest, so I decided to fix it. Both floats are now correct and the carbs are not
leaking. In recent riding I noticed that when cooling down, the left exhaust pipe
seemed to take a bit longer. I attributed this to an unbalanced mixture (the right
carb running a bit too rich), but did not want to play with the mixture because of the
float issue. Now, with that concern out of the way, the mixture adjustment was made
and appears to have positive results. |
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11.11.97 |
Readjusted the rocker arm to
valve clearance. I've noticed increased rocker noise over the last few days, turned
out to be the right side exhaust valve mostly, but I readjusted each of the rockers to be
on the safe side. Topped
the motor off with Magical Mystery Oil and went for a ride - great running motor! I
am beginning to really believe that the odometer is not lying; the bike turned 10,000
miles a few weeks ago. |
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| 11.12.97 |
Removed the front wheel from a
donor bike. The rim appears to be almost perfect. The brake pads need to be
deglazed, but have lots of meat on them, but the most important thing is that this
wheel came with an almost perfect vintage tire, in the correct thread and size! Will
have to inspect for dry rot. Now the difficult decision of whether to disassemble
and re-spoke the new wheel or to leave it alone and to use the new spokes on the original
(but damaged with a flat spot) wheel. |
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| 11.14.97 |
Tried to start the bike up in 40
degree weather. It would catch and would rev up, but would then cut out within 30
seconds. Did this four of five times and decided not to torture the weak battery any
further. Besides, it wasn't cranking very fast by then.
The valve lash, the timing and the point
gap had all received recent adjustments, so I turned to the VJMC list for more cold
starting opinions. Other SuperHawk owners' comments, combined with my own
observations, are summarized here. |
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| 11.26.97 |
Warm day; I decided to try to
get the bike going. Last time - starting problems. This time, I removed the
air cleaners (and the air tubes) and discovered the source of trouble - a left carburator
slide, stuck in the open position. I pulled on the cable and the slide freed up.
Then I removed the spark plugs and heated the electrode ends with a propane torch to
remove any fuel residue from the last unsuccessful starting attempt. After
reinstalling the spark plugs I sprayed just a bit of starting fluid into the crabs.
Pushed the starter button and the bike started right up.
The bike warmed up just fine (it
was 50 degrees outside) and I went riding. Changed the oil (@ mileage = 10250) so
that the bike has fresh oil while in winter storage. The bike ran fantastic all day,
except for one thing. I noticed that the shifter would bind so that I would not be
able to get into any gear whatsoever from time to time. In the end, it would free
up; more checking is in order. |
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| 12.12.97 |
Finally time to address a small,
but persistent oil leak. Removed right side engine cover. Removed the stator
and the magneto (used a three-jawed puller to get the magneto off). Discovered that
the outer seal in the starter was in poor shape - signs of oil seepage. Replaced all seals that could be removed
without splitting the motor, including: The seal behind the starter gear. The
seal within the starter gear. Clutch pushrod seal. Used emery cloth to smooth
away light grooves worn into the shaft-to-seal lip contact surfaces.
Repacked the starter output shaft
bearing. Lubricated the starter chain. Lubricated the freewheel springs and
rollers (in the magneto). |
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| 12.20.97 |
Mileage: 10,645 The cold temperatures exacerbate the
sticking carb slide situation. Making efforts to eliminate all potential areas of
trouble:
* Replaced the throttle cable
with a better one from a parts bike. The old one appeared to have slight internal
interference. Thoroughly lubricated the new cable with Magical Mystery Oil.
* Lubricated the throttle grip.
Noticed a better carb slide
"snap back" response, but time will tell if the problem is completely solved... |
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| 12.20.97 |
Mileage: 10,650 * Replaced a worn clutch cable with a good
used one.
* Thoroughly lubricated the new cable.
Nice improvement in shifting
action "feel." |
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