Alright here it goes. So i bought this '04 hawk, got a REALLY good price. However the bike has obviously been abused. I had a tech at a shop where i got new tires tell me that it is only running on one cylinder at idle and when she gets some gas the other cylinder kicks in. like when the choke is all the way out. i have pulled the airbox off and the carbs look almost new. i am beggining to believe it is an ignition system problem. having trouble getting the spark plugs out as my normal 5/8 spark plug socket is too small? i chencked the regualtor/rectifier, it looks good and all the wires look good. where should i be looking?? please help.

Jeremy

 

Do a search for PVLIR and make sure that's not your problem. If that's not it then you probably need to have the carbs cleaned. Was the bike sitting for some time?

It's probably not electrical since there is more stress on the ignition system at higher revs than at idle. Sometimes an ignition problem shows up when the bike/ignition system gets hot but it doesn't seem like that is the case here.

 

First, synch the carbs, the throttle blade may be fully closed and shut the cylinder off.
A clogged idle jet could cause this, but you'll get lean backfires when cruising.
Second check the valves clearances, this is more likely to happen hot, but it could happen cold if they are really out of specs.
Do a compression check, a leakdown test is even better to clear the bent valves issues.
Good luck with these gremlins, once you get this figured out you'll have a great bike.

 

Make sure the slide on the suspect cylinder isn't hanging up. Other than that, Hawkrider and gboezio are right on...

 

The petcock vacuum line is definately in the correct place on the petcock, i'll have to check the other end and make sure the hose is good. the bike was sitting for a while and everyone keeps saying to have the carbs done i just want to make sure there are no simple things i am missing. (in working on the bike i have found a few simple things wrong, like someone didnt really know waht they're doing-me either) makes sense about the ignition system duh! Thanks for your help

 

by throttle blade do you mean butterfly in the carb? had the tank off and airbox open and when i twist the throttle both butterflys open just fine. no lean backfires when cruising, it backfires bad on deceleration and sometimes on initial acceleration. and everyone is saying it smells rich not lean. maybe an idle jet. cant wait to kick the gremlins to the curb and start tearin it up. Thanks for your help.

 

Hawk, I did have the sending unit go bad and had a piece of it floating around in the gas tank. Is it possible that piece damaged the petcock? How could i find out?

 

Not likely that the petcock is damaged.

Sounds to me like you should pull the carbs apart and clean them (again?). Double...no, Triple check the idle jets to make sure they're clean. There are small holes on the sides of the jets and one even smaller on the tip of it. Do not mix them up. They are different front to back. Do not poke anything in the holes that is harder than brass.

 

Is the the '04 that was on Phoenix Craigslist with left side damage?

 

Yes it is the one from craigs list in phoenix. do you know the bike? i might have bit off a little more than i expected to chew? but shes coming along.

 

Just a quick suggestion. When you are lookin at your slides do they both open the same amount when your twisting the throttle. My carbs where so dirty the front cylinder wasnt opening as much until about 4K rpm.

 

Issue - Extremely dirty carbs, slow jets plugged, main jets plugged.

It was pretty nasty. Not something I expected form an '04 with 22k miles on it.
When did this bike ever have time to sit??