1978 Honda Hawk II No Spark No Clicking But it Light!

progriffen

progriffen

New Member
Hi,

I just joined the forum to learn some more about electric parts on my bike.
Recently 2 weeks ago, I bought a Honda Hawk from the neighborhood for 400.
The owner said the battery is dead and he plugged the jump starter on the battery and the negative on the engine. It didn't start but it showed spark and clicking and the starter motor seem to run except he said that I might have to clean up the carb and replace the battery. So by looking and lots of other posts and youtube, I cleaned the carb and took all the gunks out from the jets and reset it back as I got them. After I replaced by buying a new battery and now I have the light working when the key is on to ignition. But before I got the battery shipped, I took the air cleaner out and cleaned, took the carb and cleaned, took both front and rear wheel to clean the bearings, chain lubed, and other cleaning except touching the wires. So the light is on, but after I put on the run button and press the start button, the light shuts off while I am holding on to the start button and no sign of spark or clicking whatsoever. When I release the start button the light comes back to the normal range.

Also the high beam and the low beam looks switched.
What do you think the problem is?

Should I take all the wirings out and check on the plugs and clean them out? or is it the battery? Since I switched the spark plug to a new one and it is still not working.

I dont have any voltage tester or the compression tester.
Any idea of shortening my budget?

I am having headache.
I thought I had somewhat knowledge of electric capacitors and wiring, but as I get deeper and deeper, its getting more depressed.

But, I don't want to give up and still make my way through until I get this baby on the road.

So please experts, HELP ME OUT

Thanks
 
#1. Do you have the shop manual for the bike? I know there's PDF files of it on the net that you can find & download.

TC
 
Well... to do ANY electrical trouble shooting, you're going to have to get a Volt/Ohm meter and learn how to use it.

If your light is dimming when you hit the start button, it sounds like a weak battery. I know it's new, but you really need a meter to check the charge on it.

You won't see any spark on the plugs until you can actually crank the motor over.

Not trying to be vague or anything, but invest in a meter to get you through this. Even a cheap, Harbor Freight meter will do you good.

TC
 
Thank you for quick reply,

Okay the first step is to get the meter.

1.After I checked on the battery, I see 12v on the screen what is the next step?

2. If the battery isn't showing 12v, I should charge it.

So far making sense?

Adam
 
Yep. So far, so good.

Did the bike run when it was parked? Before you bought it?

If your battery is strong, and all the electrical parts are good. You should be able to turn it over with the start button. My bike is kick only, so I don't know all the details on the Hawk II starter motor. Could be starter gear/clutch problems if it doesn't turn over. Maybe someone with more knowledge than me will chime in.

You could start by cleaning all the electrical connections. use a small jewelry file and/or some #400 sandpaper to clean all the connectors and make sure they're bright and shiny. No green corrosion or crude on them.

Use the meter to check continuity on the wires and make sure that nothing is shorted to ground too. Wiggle and flex the wires if you can while you check them. Intermittent problems are a ^&%&# to track down.

Go ahead and unplug things you don't need for the bike to run and see what you get. Taillight, blinkers, headlight.

Does your bike have a clutch or neutral cut-out switch? Check that they are working too.

I'm just shotgunning here... It's really hard to figure stuff out like this over the web! :(

TC
 
Just throwing an idea out there... My hawk1 has to be in neutral to start and WILL NOT start with the clutch pulled
 
Thanks for good start.

When I bought the bike, the original owner plugged the battery to the charger and he showed me that the motor works and he just told me to get more power, get a new battery and clean the carbs. Which I did.

So I see that the basic thing I should check is to see if the battery is fully charged or not.

Okay, I will get some sand papers and start from there.

Yeah I think most of the Hondas need to be in neutral to start the engine.
I had a 2005 Cbr 250 so I know how the bike works, never took the cover off to see whats inside.

I love working on these bikes and learning new stuff but just can't get the proper equipments ready lol.

Anyways, I will keep this updated after sand papering the wires!

Thank you
 
If you keep 'clicking' the starter, it burns the contacts in the solenoid.
Really 'quick and dirty' method of checking, remove side cover, put a screwdriver between the nuts where the thick wire from battery connects to the thick wire running down to engine.
If it turns over, the solenoid is probably faulty.
BTW, you WILL get sparks, make sure there isn't any gas or vapor about
1978 has a kickstart, will it turn over with that?
 
Thanks for the reply,

You mentioned keep 'clicking' which I don't hear any clicking whatsoever. Thats the problem.

The method you mentioned about the screwdriver, one end on the positive of the battey and one to the engine?

Lastly, the kick start, yes it does have the kick start but when I try to kick start after putting it on the ignition, nothing happens just the rear wheel turns for no good.

Thanks
 
NO!, don't do it :eek:
You have to remove the plastic frame cover and find a little round canister type thing with two thick wires going to it. Follow red battery lead, it's connected directly to solenoid.
Bridge the 10mm nuts, in effect connecting battery directly to engine
Rear wheel turning is normal because of oil drag on transmission gaers
Your not pulling clutch in when trying to kickstart?
 
Ah. I see you mean to put the skrewdiver on the solenoid that connects to the red lead and the other end to the engine? is that what it means?

I feel very stupid now.

Thanks
 
Yep, I think you got it.
Just between the two nuts on top (side?) of solenoid
It should turn over, even with ignition off.
 
It sparks between the screwdriver and the nuts, you have to keep holding it in there for the engine to turn over.
Use quite a big screwdriver as it is carrying a lot of current and can get hot
If motor doesn't move after a few seconds, something else is wrong so disconnect screwdriver
 
I see the spark, I hold it for about 5~10 sec, it just shows sparks and nothing else.


Just a smell of burning wire.

......
Would the starter motor be the problem?
 
Looks like it may be?
You need to get motor to turn over.
Probably going to need to remove the left engine cover (gear change pedal has to come off first, take the bolt all the way out as it fits into recess on shaft)
You need 10mm wrench for gear change bolt and an 8mm socket for the case bolts.
I'm off to bed now, it's almost 1:00am
 
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