1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

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Mr_Crow
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby Mr_Crow » Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:31 am

GeorgeSweety wrote:


battery died when at the gas station filling the tires with air... was a long 3 block walk home with the bike lol. Picked up a battery charger and maintainer. Is the battery most likely shot now? I don't think the owners son maintained it the last year.

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GeorgeSweety
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby GeorgeSweety » Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:02 pm

Hi Mr_Crow, sorry to hear that, have a read through this thread, it will tell you how to test your battery and I think your charging system if your battery checks out ok, electrickery stuff gives me right pain in the head :roll:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13337&hilit=stator+not+charging

Mr_Crow
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby Mr_Crow » Mon Jun 24, 2019 10:57 am

I have a new battery but It looks like the original battery is doing really well now. Ill keep checking to see if it lasts.

Passed the basic rider coarse this weekend! Super good time, great instructors. Now I have a few weeks until the card comes in the mail... But there is still some things on the bike I need to fix before I want to take her on the road.

1st thing I noticed this weekend was that the bolt that is holding on the kickstand is missing its back nut. Tried to take off the kickstand by hand but had a problem and quickly ran out of time. I am going to try and slide coins between the spring until I can get enough play to take it off.

2nd thing is the Chain needs some serious cleaning (along with the whole underside of the bike). Lots of old grease and I noticed the chain links wernt sitting flat, and didn't have much play when trying to move them. Hoping a deep clean and lube will fix the issue but I may be needing a new chain.

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GeorgeSweety
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby GeorgeSweety » Mon Jun 24, 2019 1:04 pm

Mr_Crow wrote:I have a new battery but It looks like the original battery is doing really well now. Ill keep checking to see if it lasts.

Passed the basic rider coarse this weekend! Super good time, great instructors. Now I have a few weeks until the card comes in the mail... But there is still some things on the bike I need to fix before I want to take her on the road.

1st thing I noticed this weekend was that the bolt that is holding on the kickstand is missing its back nut. Tried to take off the kickstand by hand but had a problem and quickly ran out of time. I am going to try and slide coins between the spring until I can get enough play to take it off.

2nd thing is the Chain needs some serious cleaning (along with the whole underside of the bike). Lots of old grease and I noticed the chain links wernt sitting flat, and didn't have much play when trying to move them. Hoping a deep clean and lube will fix the issue but I may be needing a new chain.

If your funds will stretch I would recommend a new chain and both sprockets as well, you won't need expensive top of the range "Super Dooper Triple Gold Plated Multiple O-ring X-Men" chain and sprockets on a nearly 40 year old bike, they just don't have the torque of the modern superbikes. Sticking a new chain on worn sprockets is going to make a new chain a very old chain in no time at all.
As for your side stand, if you haven't already taken the bolt out I would lever the spring off first with a flat blade screwdriver, slide the screwdriver underneath the spring hook on the lug and use the lug for leverage to lift the hook off, then remove the bolt, its far easier that way, on reassembly do the reverse, put the bolt in first then replace the spring.

Mr_Crow
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby Mr_Crow » Mon Jun 24, 2019 1:08 pm

that's good advice!!! Thanks!

Seeing you have the same bike, do you know what chain to buy and sprockets?

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GeorgeSweety
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby GeorgeSweety » Mon Jun 24, 2019 2:19 pm

Actually I bought a CB650 Custom that was a non runner, it had brand new chain and sprockets on it so I just swapped them over to my Nighthawk. I don't know what make they were but all sprocket/chain sets for SOHC CB650's are interchangeable, its the number of teeth at each sprocket that is the only difference. If I needed new ones I'd check out ebay and go for best quality at the cheapest price + P+P, I certainly wouldn't go for Chinese made stuff that melts on a hot day :lol:

Mr_Crow
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby Mr_Crow » Mon Jun 24, 2019 2:25 pm

:lol: Fair enough! I do like eBay shopping anyway. Got pretty carried away when fixing up my road bicycle a few years ago.

Mr_Crow
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby Mr_Crow » Mon Jul 01, 2019 6:55 am

Had a ton of progress!

replaced battery, fixed kickstand (was bent and missing a nut), deep cleaned the chain and adjusted the chain tension (getting a new chain is on my near todo list.) fixed the side panel lug (with plastic jb weld).

Should be getting my license soon, I-Dot is taking its sweet time...

I was cleaning/ using almost an entire can of degreaser and found this leak.

IMG_20190629_171710.jpg
IMG_20190629_171710.jpg (3.02 MiB) Viewed 15199 times


I was on the left side of the bike and it looks like the leak is coming from a little higher on the bike. Im guessing its a gasket, is this a fair assumption?

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GeorgeSweety
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby GeorgeSweety » Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:59 pm

I would remove the left hand engine cover and check the gear change oil seal as these tend to leak often, it should be obvious if it is leaking.

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GeorgeSweety
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby GeorgeSweety » Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:30 pm

Here is a link to folsoml's excellent video if it is your gear change shaft oil seal http://youtu.be/UZFFKhXBAw4 .
One thing I would add if your gear change shaft is rusty or corroded, get a piece of thin plastic sheet, the kind of stuff that milk cartons are made of, and roll it into a tube, insert this tube inside your new oil seal and with plenty of oil for lube slide your new seal with the tube inside onto your gear change shaft. Keep your new seal on the tube and slide the tube all the way down the shaft, the idea being that the plastic tube protects the inner ring of the seal over any rust or corrosion. Once the seal and tube have crossed any rough areas on the shaft hold the seal steady and withdraw the plastic tube. There shouldn't be any corrosion where the seal locates.

Mr_Crow
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Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:16 am

Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby Mr_Crow » Wed Jul 03, 2019 6:53 am

GeorgeSweety wrote:Here is a link to folsoml's excellent video if it is your gear change shaft oil seal http://youtu.be/UZFFKhXBAw4 .
One thing I would add if your gear change shaft is rusty or corroded, get a piece of thin plastic sheet, the kind of stuff that milk cartons are made of, and roll it into a tube, insert this tube inside your new oil seal and with plenty of oil for lube slide your new seal with the tube inside onto your gear change shaft. Keep your new seal on the tube and slide the tube all the way down the shaft, the idea being that the plastic tube protects the inner ring of the seal over any rust or corrosion. Once the seal and tube have crossed any rough areas on the shaft hold the seal steady and withdraw the plastic tube. There shouldn't be any corrosion where the seal locates.


Thanks! I now have a project for this extended weekend!

Rode for the first time today (not involving the safety class)!!! Went really well, no one on the road at 5:30. Hopefully it doesn't rain when I get off. I brought rain gear just in case however.

I don't have a owners manual for this guy just yet, am I supposed to check the oil when the bike is upright or when its on the kickstand? I just did an oil change and put 2.5 in and the dipstick wasn't picking up much this morning when it was on the stand.

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GeorgeSweety
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Re: 1982 650 Nighthawk beginning maintenance

Postby GeorgeSweety » Wed Jul 03, 2019 12:05 pm

The bike has to be vertical on level ground, stood only on its tires.


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