What's on Gas Man's Lift [kills even your high speed internet]

[Gas Man]

Well the "Project Bike" that was shown above is a 1981 Honda Nighthawk 650.

Its my neighbor's, Sgt, buddy's bike. It was sitting at his fathers. Hasn't been rode in 2 years and even then was barely rode. It only has 17XX miles on it. It was running well on 3 out of 4 cylinders. Got it to run on the 4th cylinder by letting it warm up. So the carbs need to at the very least be pulled and cleaned. Probably need to be sync'ed.

The front brakes were drained cause a caliper was holding up. However, it looks like the front calipers are one piece. So I don't think they can easily be rebuilt. The rear brakes are mechanical drum brakes.

It obviously will need oil changed, could use some new front blinker covers.

The owner just started a new job, has no money to spend, so LOW budget. And he just wants it to run so he can ride it to work (5 min ride from his home). He has ZERO dollars into it before we start.

So here's the bike before. Understand it won't look any different after.



With the plastics and gas tank removed



going in deeper...


There use to be a horn!


Get the airbox, and battery box out


Carbs out


Stripped down




Drain the oil and pull the cartridge oil filter


Pull apart the brakes



Now its been waiting for the guys to return to start working on it again. (The only way I don't charge) And we need a bunch of supplies... till then boys and girls.

[Dnyce]

ditch that bitch ass airbox and put some individual filters on that thing....or better yet, some stacks! 1981...hmm, probably got smog stuff on it, cap all that crap off, yank the busted ass turn signals off, lose the mini ape's and put some superbike bars on there, hit the front fender, exhaust, and anything else that used to be chrome with some steel wool, and boom! sweet budget custom hondog

[Gas Man]

SHIT... I got to get the owner to buy some damn brake fluid, motor oil, oil filter, and maybe some brake calipers off ebay. (supposely the current calipers will stop but not release???)

[Dnyce]

cheap oil, cheap fluid, generic filter-20bucks max
bars are 15new, filters like 25. atleast take the air filter out the airbox.

do both calipers not release? how long has it been sitting?

2yrs-hmm, try to flush the whole system. sounds retarded, but i took a piece of flat metal, bout 1/8inch thick, stuck it between the pads and pumped the brakes , then forced it back out and used a screwdriver to pry the pads apart and do it again. did that a few times, bled the brakes until the fluid was relatively light again, and that fixed my buddys stuck caliper. oh and i hit it with a hammer a couple times at first.


i think i got some individual filters and some bars from my bike if he wants em.
i got clip-ons now and they kick fuckin ass

[Gas Man]

Well Wed I get a call from a buddy. Tuesday night my buddy had to limp his bike home, cause his clutch "went out". Wanted me to come over and check it out.

"Gas Man's Mobile Service"


Start tearing into the bike


Checkin the ball ramp assembly


Adjust the clutch


But this ain't good!!!


Especially when you still got this!!!


Finally get it adjusted in tight... pull the lever... POP and then no more movement which we find out cause the ball ramp is already fully extended. One of 2 things wrong... broken carrier or tranny nut loose and basket moving. Bike is under warrenty... he says... FUCK it, he's got a few other things that he's been putting off (non riding problems) so he'll take it in. OK I say... reminding him it could be something simple but we would have to bust open the primary... he says... FUCK it.. take it in.

That was it... packed up cause after 20 mins of being at his house, I got another guy calling me about his bike dead at his buds house. Turns over but no sparky! Peace out current guy... here I come to bike #2. WTF!

To finish one bike story I'll skip bike #2 for now.

Calls around Thursday and Friday trying to get figure out what dealership to take it to... but they all say it will be at least a week before they look at it... which will mean no bikey thru 4th of July w/e. FUCK...right?

So tonight he calls... he got pissed and took it apart him self.... pulled the outer primary, pull the diaphram spring... tranny nut hand loose!!! Tighten it up... put it all back together... BAM... job well done. He calls me a few times during the night to ask questions while I'm working on bike #2 again... and tells me how much it sucked to not have a lift or jack. Clutch plates kept falling out, oil everywhere, pure suck! But job is done, tomry he gets some primary oil and takes it for a spin in between rain storms.

[Gas Man]

Bike #2 (American IronHorse Legend (red chopper) pictured earlier in this thread) Wed night...

Got there...

no sparky
gettin gas
carb sprayin
start turns like crazy
power at the coils

No service manual... hell AIH don't even make one for his bike!! WTF

With no service manual, I got no idea what to look for to help trouble shoot these electronics. If its not mechanical and you don't have a service/shop manual, you are completely lost.

BUY YOUR DAMN SERVICE MANUALS PEOPLE!!!!

I tell him I think its his ignition, cause if it was the coils I don't think both coils would go at the same time. He tells me it was running like shit last week in Mrytle after he got caught in the rain. But without anything to help troubleshoot I got nothing but ideas on throwing parts at it from educated guess.

Thursday he calls a few dealerships and they tell him they are 99% sure its the "igniter" which I said "that's a fuckin fancy ass name for an ignition (Jackasses)". $134 + S&H = $150 part to get down and dirty!! So we are planning on going to get the bike and trailer it to his house.

He gets there... it starts up. Guess the damn POS igniter dries out enough to start. We get to his house and tear into it... find the ignitor and check it out a bit... nothing obvious... put some dielectric on the connection... put it all back together... doesn't start. FUCKIN POS!!!

Friday he calls the dealership that has it in stock in fuckin Texas... orders the damn part. Sense he's down... we figure we'll tackle into his ever problematic clutch problems that he's had the entire time he has had the bike (bought it used).

So Friday I go back over there and start rippin into it...

Checked the clutch cable actuator... all good. But clutch just pure sucks!!!

Well tore the the primary apart...

Outer gone


The tranny nut was tight.

Front sprocket and clutch basket out of here



No carrier scars on the primary as the tranny nut told.


The AIH clutch basket and carrier are so much stronger looking than the Baker DSSC setup on stock big dogs and this one is great condition



My prediction to the problem. The clutch fibers are gone. IMO I didn't have my mikes so I couldn't check their thickness. But I don't believe there is enough measurement between the segments on the fibers. Also, noticed while pulling the plates... they were sticking together REALLY bad/well.





I'm going to call Bandit monday to check on what clutch to order and to talk to the head tech guy (the owner) and see what he thinks of our problems.... too be continued...

[Gas Man]

That is 3 days of wrenching on bikes out of the back of my vechicles!!

[Cutty72]

Gas Man's mobile bike repair!

You should start a business!!

[Gas Man]

Originally Posted by Cutty72

Gas Man's mobile bike repair!

You should start a business!!

You are not the first person to suggest this.

Was over there at Nick's sat afternoon for a few. Checking the ball ramp again, pulling the rest of the clutch rod. All is well. Took a bunch of measurements with my calipers so i can call the clutch manufacture and ask some questions.

[Dnyce]

na, once you do it for money, its not the same