Honda305.com Forum

First off, I would like to say "thank you". Without this site and the information I've seen that it holds, it'll make my task at hand that much easier. I'm your average run-of-the-mill 32 year old with a wife and 2 kids. Mechanical skills are decent, but I'm no rocket scientist. What I'm embarking on is my restoring my departed Grandfather's motorcycle. He bought it just about brand new in 1966 from a gentlemen that bought it new, rode from California to Michigan, and then sold it to my Grandfather. It has been in the family ever since. My grandfather bought this to ride with my Uncle who owned a 65 Scrambler, which they did for many years. After the Scrambler was sold, my mother even rode the Superhawk for a few years until it was parked in the early 70's. Over the years the bike was occassionally started and moved, but never really riden anywhere consistently since them. In 2004 I got a bug in me to get it going again after hearing my Grandfather bring it up in stories and surprised him with it running and driving one day. He then took it for a spin (with Maculardegeneration and all, I know, not wise but worth it). I hadn't seen him that happy in years. A year later, he passed away from Cancer but even then mentioned about how he loved that last ride and how much it meant to him. The bike has been sitting ever since then until this past weekend. The bike was given to me from my grandmother and my mother as well. I ended up loading it on a trailer and bringing it to my home from my parents house from which it stayed at for the past 20 plus years. My goal is this: to get it running once again, keep things original within reason, and enjoy it as my grandpa would have himself. The bike has 9,707 original miles on it. I will post pictures as best as I can as things come along. Sorry for the long read, but I figured you might enjoy it as I do.

Thanks
Travis

Here's a couple of pics after I rinsed off the dust.

Great story Travis, and welcome. The bike looks great and looks as though its been well taken care of. I also was able to aquire my Superhawk from my wife's grandfather who had passed. Rode to work this morning in fact. I'll be more than willing to assist you in any way I can. Keep us posted on your progress. Good Luck!!

What a wonderful story! I'm so glad he got to ride it one more time. I look forward to watching you bring the bike back to life. I'm sure your Grandpa would be proud!!

Great story, thanks for sharing! you've fot a great bike to start with for sure. The bars are from a scrambler, but all else looks correct.

Davo

Thanks for the nice comments guys, I do appreciate it. I haven't been able to do a ton to it this week, but I've made some small/important steps. I drained (for 2 days) the oil and added new, changed the plugs, bought and charged a new battery, and sent the gas tank out to be re-lined (rusty inside. Always has been). Beyond that I found some more paperwork and my grandmother (who used to ride on the back of this) has found me even more information on it and more old school photo's. Hopefully I'll have them soon. If everything goes right, I'll have it running again next week. I have new fuel lines to put on and as for the carbs, they are clean and good to go. I'll post back a little sooner with more updates.

O.k. I officially have it running and with the help of a neighbor, it's running decent. I'm currently having a problem that when I give it more throttle, it just wants to bog out. It's almost like it's missing on half a cylinder (if that makes since). It has new plugs, it's getting fuel, and the spark test pretty strong. Any ideas?
Also, I noticed a vaccum line that appears to come from the top of the engine and then goes into a "Y" like junction under the carbs and then just ends. What is it and does it connect to anywhere? It appears to be broken at the "Y" as well but I don't see anywhere that this hose connects. Any and all help is definitely appreciated.