Unwinterized CB650Sc

[ts103706]

Hello, I am new to this site, as well as being new to motorcycles.  I have done as much research in the library as I can on the motorcycle repairs, much of which came from the Clymer book on the 82-83 CB550 & 650, but now I need help from real people.  My manager has offered me a 1985 CB650SC for $450 in payments of whatever amount I can make for as long as I am in his employment ( I am a college student, and this is about the only way I am going to be able to afford a bike, insurance, and maintenance).  There is a catch, however, he gave up riding a year ago when his father suddenly grew ill, I can verify that this is a true story and not a made up excuse, and the bike has been neglected in a barn ever since.  The fuel was left in the bike and no winterizing precautions had been taken.  Aside from that, it has 25,000 miles on it, and the schedule of maintenance has been follow, including the the major 24,000 mile maintenance. 

That is the back story, and I am extremely grateful for anyone with the patience to continue reading.  I am concerned that this may be too much to tackle.  I understand that the fuel tank and line will have to be cleaned, along with the carburetors.  I understand that a new battery will be in order along with several other parts to tackle.  What I do not understand, is how involved this could become, and how many other things will need cleaned or replaced.  Can anyone offer any advice?  Is this a project worth tackling?  Can I realistically expect to bring the bike back to life without constantly sucking money out of me?

Again, thanks to anyone who is still reading, let alone answering.  Any contribution  of knowledge that would make me more well informed helps.

[fishmeister]

Sounds like you have a good future with that bike. Check battery fluid level (distilled water if needed)...trickle charge it. Fresh gas. Check oil.    Then,.................   
                                                                                FIRE THAT BAD DOG UP!!
                                                                                             


A year ago was not that long ago.....you may not need to do much if it was that well previously maintained. I'm sure you will get more suggestions with long lists. Don't freak.


                    Oh yea, welcome to THE NIGHTHAWK FORUM......

[ts103706]

This is not sounding too bad after all.  What I had previously read led me to believe that I would basically have to take apart the carbs and replace every fluid in the bike.

[detdrbuzzard]

drain the gas and even after a year the oil isn't bad just condensation but if you live in a cold climate like me that battery is shot

[ts103706]

I figured about the batter.  After looking in the online, I am still not sure what battery to go with.  I know that if I order one online, I will have to add acid and distilled water at home and then charge the battery while measuring the specific gravity and voltage.  Would a local motorcycle dealer have batteries already charged, or is there no escaping this?  Also, does anyone have any recommendations for batteries?  I have found a couple online that say they work with the CB650sc, but the prices are all across the board.

[ExTex]

Nighthawk 650 batteries are rare. So, try to recover the old one 1st.
Check the electrolyte level and add distilled water (from grocery store) to the proper level.
Buy a battery tender of some type ($19 at Wal Mart) and charge the battery for 10 hrs.

If you need a new one, search the threads here for batteries

Drain the gas tank and the carb float bowls.
Add new gasoline (87 octane) and some Sea Foam (Cheapest at Wal Mart).

Turn on the gasoline petcock
Apply suction on the vacuum line of the petcock to allow gasoline to fill float bowls.

Try to start it with the choke fully on and no throttle.
NOTE:  Nighthawks are hard to start when cold (less than 55°) so it may start and run a while and then die.
Then you start it again and it runs longer.  This may happen 2 or 3 times, depending on temperature.

If it starts, you are good to go onto:
the  tire air pressure & tread  (32 front & 35 rear psi)
Check the oil level (level the bike, unscrew the dip stick, clean off oil, insert dip stick but don't screw in.
Oil level should be near the top mark.

If all is OK, then put on your safety gear and ride it some.
After a few dozen miles, and when the oil is warmed, you can change oil.
Shell Rotella T 15W-40 with a Fram filter from Wal mart.
(Not sure of the oil quantity needed...2 to 3 qts I think... I buy the 4 qt container of oil.)

Get a Clymer or Honda service manual for other service information.

Ask more questions here when you need info.

Ride Safely,

[Bumblebee]

Hmmm... General question: I keep hearing how people always have to special order batteries for motorcycles. I keep being told the ones at non motorcycle shops (sears and auto zone comes to mind) simply won't fit no way no how. The several motorcycles I've been around and seen pictures of the inner workings seem to use generic off the shelf batteries. What's the deal? Is it all hype or have I just managed to never encouter a motorcycle with a weird shape/dimension battery?

I figured about the batter.  After looking in the online, I am still not sure what battery to go with.  I know that if I order one online, I will have to

Woah camel. Stop right there. You are way way overthinking the new battery with acid procedure for batteries made after sometime around probably 1970 if not earlier. Forget specific gravity and voltage and chargers and distilled water and your college chemistry 201 lab class. You do that with older batteries that have problems or routine maintenance, not new ones straight out of the box.

Unless you have something exotic, measure your battery just to make sure of dimensions and take a look at the terminals (or better yet, just take the old battery with you) and go to your local sears. They usually have half a rack of motorcycle/atv batteries. That's where I get mine at half the cost that the local motorcycle shop sells the same exact battery for -- And I don't have to wait a week for the hazardous materials crew in space suits to bring anything by special delivery while giving me the hairy eyeball like I was shipping bombs or the plague virus or something.

Everything you need comes with the battery except a cutter to cut the sealed top of the acid bottle for the included hose, personal safety equipment and a wrench to attach the cables. They even include new screws and nuts for the cables.

Take all the proper safety precautions for working with acid. (If you don't know what that is, it's not hard either, just ask and most people here should know)
Take the caps off the battery. Pour acid into each cell up to the full line, rock it a bit to get the bubbles out, top it off with acid. Wait 5 minutes. Rock it again to make sure no bubbles remain down between the plates, top off again if required. Put the caps on, install in motorcycle, attach cables. Properly dispose of the remaining acid in the bottle. DONE. That's all there is to it. No distilled water. No chargers. No gravity checks. No voltmeters. No voodoo. All that's left to do is put the seat on, put the key in ignition, turn everything on and push the starter button.

Regular battery maintenance: Once every 2-3 months (or if you drop the bike) pull the battery and check the acid level. If it's ok, it's good to go. If it's low, put distilled water in to fill it back up to the proper level.

NOTE: Never put acid in a battery when refilling after the initial fill process. The reason is that the water boils off during charging. The acid itself doesn't boil off. If you add acid, you'll hose up the battery chemistry and have to resort to voodoo to fix it. The only reason you'd have to add acid is if you actually spilled acid out of the battery. (such as leaving it on it's side for a while and it running out of the vent and even then if it's just a teeny amount, it's still no big deal)
BTW, the reason you don't have to add distilled water is, well, read the side of the acid bottle. It already contains the proper mixture of water and sulfuric acid.


A year downtime?
Dump the remaining fuel into your cage.
Oil/filter change.
Clean the air filter.
Clean the air box dump lines.
Tires and forks to proper air pressure.
General routine inspection and lubrication.
New battery.
Try to start and see what happens.
If it was in good running condition when it was last used and stored decently, at most you're probably looking at rebuilding the carburetors which is not that big a deal as long as you're patient and systematic.

[ts103706]

Can I assume there is good information on rebuilding carburetors in this forum if I look for it, or should I look elsewhere?

To answer my own question, I found this, http://oldmanhonda.com/MC/Rcarbs.html, it appears to be pretty insightful.  It  is not model specific, but it seems to have pretty good general information.  Would anyone disagree?

[FAITHBIKER]

Lots of good information here...you should find what you're looking for.  
Use the search function and it should give you several.

[JordanA]

Follow the above recommendations and you should be good to go.

My nighthawk (1985 CB650SC) sat for 4 years untouched before I purchased it for $750.00 last fall.  27K on the odometer, and she fired up instantly, and has ever since.  I got her home and immediately changed the oil and filter (fram filter from Autozone and Shell Rotella T 15w-40), spark plugs, drained fuel from float bowls and tank, refilled fuel and added seafoam to both oil and gas.  1000 miles later, I changed the oil and filter again.

The bike has never given me so much as a hiccup, and fires up the first time everytime despite temperature.

Oh, I replaced the battery too (Sears).

[Bumblebee]

Can I assume there is good information on rebuilding carburetors in this forum if I look for it, or should I look elsewhere?

There's lots of experience and good advice floating around here.

How different is the 85 CB650SC CV carburetor from the 82 CV carburetor? Poke around here and you'll find the fully disassembled picture I took while doing a complete carburetor rebuild a while back. I've got about 100 detailed pictures of the rebuild process that I haven't posted up anywhere yet.

[happycommuter]

I was always under the impression that you want to get some of the oil back up on the valvetrain before actually starting.  Pull ignition wires -  better yet, pull the plugs and drop a little oil in - and crank (jump to a car battery) for a sufficient time before crossing fingers and hoping it fires.

[ts103706]

Thanks, there's been pretty good stuff.  At this rate of information intake, I should be much better prepared for a bike. 

[detdrbuzzard]

check batterymart.com , look for a sealed battery like the big crank battery even if you don't  get one from batterymart., there is nothing to add and they come fully charged usually www.batterymart.com

[Zugzug]

This will solve your battery woes

http://www.batterystuff.com/batteries/motorcycle/sYT12CL.html

[ts103706]

That seems like the ideal battery, and the price definitely isn't too bad.

[Big3]

CB650SC Nighthawk 1982-1985

wix filter 24939 
Purolator filter ML16808 

both are much better filters than fram

[fishmeister]

correcto mundo

[ts103706]

Thanks, I'll look into those.

[ninskrillz]

if no ones answered this yet, you can buy the battery, and take it to any shop or dealer they can fill up the battery for you.

[Laminar]

A lot of things seem daunting until you get in there and do it. I had never even touched a motorcycle before I bought my Honda CB200 last summer, and following what I read online and in the service manual, I was able to rebuild the whole thing and get it running again. One thing I've learned is that I don't want to pay someone else to do anything to my bike except for tires. I will gladly pay someone else to mount them for me.

[ts103706]

I'm starting to realize that.  I have spent hours reading.  Most of my reading has consisted of books such as Proficient Motorcycling and websites like the motorcycle safety site, but I have spent a considerable amount of time at my lovely local library reading about maintenance.  As I read about motorcycle safety, I become more afraid of riding motorcycles, but as I read more Maintenance, I become more confident in my abilities to get everything in order.

[ts103706]

It's not the horse droppings that worry me.  It's the traffic on the way to them.  I live in Akron, and I feel the drivers here are exceptionally bad.  When I drive my car now, I have been practicing becoming more aware of my surroundings, along with entering and exiting speeds in turns, and I notice a lot more.  Certainly not enough to keep me from wanting to ride, but I am far less naive than I was.

[niteman]

I'm becoming more and more convinced that people drive like morons everywhere, especially since I purchased my motorcycle.

I have family in the Columbus area and have visited and driven there on many occasions and I find that the traffic there is horrid. Funny too, because I live in a very congested area of Florida and everyone here drives like they just got their licenses recently. I think it might actualy be worse up there though IMO. Some of my family came down for our wedding several years ago and siad that they thought the traffic here was worse...

[ts103706]

I'm only 5 minutes from some very beautiful country roads which have a lot to do with me wanting a motorcycle.