Honda 450 Nighthawk (1985)

Long story short. Bought the bike 5 years ago, rode it for a total of 2-3
hours (5-6 rides) and its been parked for the last 4 years. With new
battery, fully charged, the starter will not turn the engine. Maybe its
frozen.

Should I be able to turn the engine by turning the rear wheel. This bike
does not have a kick starter. I'll take out the spark plugs to make it a
little easier and put it in 4th gear.

Any other ideas on how to un-freeze this engine would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ivan Vegvary

 

Poor some releasing oil down the spark plug holes and wait a few days,
then try again.

 

When you say "the starter will not turn the engine," do you mean that
nothing at all occurs? Have you tested to see if voltage is getting to
the starter? Does the starter sound like it's trying but is being held
back? When you hit the starter button, does the headlight dim? More
info, please.

 

Remove the flywheel cover (left side) and see if you can turn the engine
over by rotating the crankshaft. If it is solid the rings are probably
rusted. Try with the spark plugs removed.

 

It's not clear from your description whether the starter solenoid is
clicking or if the starter is groaning and trying unsuccessfully to
crank the engine.

If you're not even hearing the solenoid clicking, the first thing to
check is whether the kill switch is in the RUN position, and do just
assume that a switch on a motorcycle that old is working correctly
just because it's set to the position where it's supposed to work.

Sometimes you have to operate a switch several times through all of
its positions to knock some of the corrosion off the contacts.

Another thing to be aware of when the solenoid won't click and nothing
electrical on the motorcycle works: Honda makes a practice of
concealing a main fuse under the cover of the starter solenoid. In
your case, it looks like a 20 amp blade type fuse.

If the pistons and rings really have rusted to the cylinder walls,
some penetrating oil is in order. After an engine is unfrozen, an oil
change is in order to get the loose rust out.

 

Thanks for all the replies, group!!! All turned out OK. Like I said, it's
been about 4 years since this bike ran. When I went to pull the sparkplugs,
my plug socket seemed real loose. Tried different sockets, nothing worked.
Finally realized that the plugs themselves were loose. Evidently I did top
off the cylinders (4 years ago) with oil and left the plugs loose.
Anyway, the engine turns over fine, so I obviously have an electrical issue
with the starter or starter circuit.

Thanks again,

Ivan Vegvary

 

OK, so cycle your ignition switch and the kill switch through all
positions several times to knock off the corrosion. If nothing
happens, try
jumpering across the appropriate contacts of the switches.

You'll need to study your wiring diagram carefully before bypassing
the switches. Newbies get confused by the color coding on the wire
harness typically not matching the color code on vendor components, so
you have to pay attention to the connector diagrams.

Check all electrical connections, such as the battery cables and the
plastic connectors in the wire harness. Check all fuses in the fuse
panel and check the hidden main fuse on the starter solenoid.

Yes, you can stick a screwdriver across the two large posts of a
starter solenoid. Electrical arcing may damage the posts as you prove
that the starter works.

Some riders have said that they did everything they could think of to
troubleshoot their starter problem, and finally discovered that the
steel starter case just wasn't making good contact to the corroded
aluminum engine crankcase. The engine itself is used to complete the
electrical circuit back to the battery, via a "grounding" strap and
the battery negative cable.

 

************************************

**********************************************

In addition to the above, check your connection from the grounding
cable to the engine or frame. This is a very important and often
overlooked source of problems in starting and charging systems on m/c
& atvs.

If the cable goes to the frame, then your motor mounts are providing
that crucial grounding link, and must be looked at as a potential
source of difficulties (in charging and in getting full electrical
power to the starter.



Wudsracer/Jim Cook
Smackover Racing
'06 Gas Gas DE300
'82 Husqvarna XC250
Team LAGNAF

 

Albrecht & Wudsracer,

Thanks for the sage advise. Yes, I wiggled the key, wiggled the kill
button, wiggled the starter button AND, found the sweet spot and the engine
turns over fine. I do have some contact cleaner and will try to clean all
those connections.

Question!! I can't for the life of me find the headlight switch. I have a
High/Low beam switch on the left grip but no on/off button. Is the
headlight supposed to be always on? Controlled by the ignition key?

Advice appreciated.

Ivan Vegvary

 

Thanks Mark!!! You gave me all the answers plus the cautionary note.

Ivan Vegvary

 

You know, the ignition switch on my 400 Four is occasionally dicky. It's
just the lighting circuit - to get the tail light to light, I have to
turn the switch to the parking light detent and then back a click. I've
been meaning to take the swtch apart and clean it for years, but I
hardly ever ride the 400 at night, and so...

....this weekend I'll do it. Promise.