Newb Here

[Kevs02Accord]

Hey guys, new to the forums.  I just got a 94 Nighthawk 250 with 8300 miles on it.  I am looking for a new home to get some info.  My avatar is a pic of the bike.  If someone could tell me how to upload the others I would gladly do so.  This is my first bike, although I have wanted one since I was 15.  I have taken the safety course, passed and have my endorsement.  I don't plan on doing much riding since its pretty much the middle of winter.

Now for the questions,  I have been searching around, but not finding much information, at least that I am digesting correctly.  The two main issues with the bike are; it stalls w/o the choke on and the right side rear plastic under the seat has a crack.  That is all I know that is wrong with it.  Admittedly the bike wasn't all that warm when my friend tested it, although, the seller told me this was the case.  He said he hadn't done work on it, only put 800 miles on, and the person be bought from he wasn't sure, but doesn't think so.  I am guessing it needs a tune up, clean the carb, new plugs, filters, etc...  But I am not exactly sure what the entails.  How difficult would you say it is to clean the carb?  What kinds of cleaners do you recommend? What kind of plugs?  General tune up stuff?  What do you guys use to store your bike, as far as stands go?  BTW I have ordered a Honda service manual so that should be arriving shortly.  Where is a good place to buy parts, such as the plastic piece, that isn't 215 bucks?  Are there any aftermarket parts to style it up a bit, nothing too fancy but those turn signals look butt ugly.  Alright, it for now, before the post explodes.  Thanks in advance.

[TDodge7]

Cleaning carbs is easy, there's tons of threads on here on how to do it, most use either regular carb cleaner or a pinesol soak (many threads on this as well just do a search). Ebay or the classifieds here are probably your best bet on replacement plastic ( I believe you need 20-25 posts before you can see the classifieds here) , but if it's just cracked you can easily fix the crack yourself with a product called plastex ( http://plastex.net/ ) . I buy most of my parts from bike bandit, cheap cycle parts, and ebay. There isn't much aftermarket support for the 250, but there's plenty of turn signal/windscreen options. Welcome to the forum.

[Kevs02Accord]

Thanks for the info.  I like the pinesol idea, seems like most have good results with it and the chance of ruining your parts, as opposed to carb cleaner, is much less.  I ll let you know how it goes.  Thank for the link, I ll have to check them out.

[Bumblebee]

Before taking wrenches to the carburetors, quit guessing. Verify you actually have a problem before you start fixing things. You have to warm up the engine until it idles smooth with the choke off. If you turn the choke off while it's cold and try to ride it, it will either run rough or quit on you even if the motorcycle is pristine right off the assembly line with no problems at all. The colder the ambient conditions are, the longer the warmup time period will be. You might have a problem or you might not.

Are there any aftermarket parts to style it up a bit

Before you start changing things, ride it for 6 months and get use to it for what it is. Too many people buy a motorcycle then immediately start altering things without understanding what it is they actually have to start with.

Since it's winter, if you can get to a clear parking lot, do slow school practice when you can then keep doing that regularly no matter how much experience you have.

ATGATT. All The Gear All The Time - every time without fail. If you haven't done so already, go buy yourself crash gear including a FF helmet before you need it.

[Kevs02Accord]

Thanks for the advice.  FF, do you mean full face?  Do you guys keep your insurance year round?  For sure I am going to get the gear, thats one thing they really hammered us with and I agree with it.

[JB1290]

 

[Bumblebee]

FF, do you mean full face?

Yes. Remember that crashes are called faceplants for a reason. Anything less than a full face or flip up (closed and locked) will NOT protect you during a crash. Open helmets makes the DOT and gov't types all happy about your safety however in reality, the Earth punches you in the face then the proverbial 4-grit belt sander starts working on your nose and anything else it can get to if it gets a chance.
And do not forget the rest of the gear. Gloves, boots, jacket, pants at a minimum. (jeans and long sleeve shirts do not count) Proper gear can turn a severe injury skin graft session into a non event.
None of this stuff will always protect you however it goes a long way in reducing or eliminating injuries. Quite a few of us on the board have been down and came away with minimal injuries.

Do you guys keep your insurance year round?

Yes. It's often cheaper than half a year at a time. And shop around even within the same insurance company by talking to different offices. Rates can vary wildly.

[TimmyJ]

Always assume other drivers cannot see you. When approching an intersection with a green light, assume some one will run their red light, and slow down and look both ways even though your light is green.

When stopped at a light, keep a look in your rear view at the car approching behind you...if it is approching too fast, move out of it's way.

When someone is about to pull out onto your street in front of you, assume they cant see you and will pull out INTO you. I rev my motor to alert them, and slow down as well.

Remember, the biggest cause of motorcycle accidents is the "other guy" not seeing you. This can only get worse with all these women out there texting while driving.

I'm not trying to scare you, I trying to make you be aware, and drive super-defensivly.

[ExTex]

Welcome.  Get the safety gear and get a service manual
I like the genuine Honda manuals better than Clymers.
Check EBay often for used manuals and parts.
But, know your prices, some Ebay prices for used parts are higher than new parts.

Carbs get dirty becasue owners don't use a gasoline stabilizer (Sta-Bil) when not riding for a while.
I also add fuel cleaners monthly (B12 or Techron)
Sea Foam is both a stabilizer and a fuel system cleaner.


Ride Safely and enjoy your good motorcycle.

Merry Christmas

[Kevs02Accord]

Thanks guys for all the input.  Actually I am scared.  I feel like a had a really good class because the instructors were drilling us with all this too.  You have to assume the other person doesn't see you, it makes you drive more cautiously.  My reason to assume the carb needed cleaning was, it had been sitting for a while before I bought it, the choke issue, the previous owner saying he and the guy before hadn't done any maintenance that he knew of and the fact that it would like be something easy to do while the bike is sitting for the winter.  Do you guys use a batter tender?

[ExTex]

Yes, I charge on the batteries about 1 time per month.  The Schumacher "maintainer" is about $20 at Wal Mart in the automotive battery section.
I installed a pigtail wire & connector on the battery and only have to connect that to the maintainer.  Make sure that your battery has the correct
electrolyte level (add distilled water if needed) when you get the bike ready for the winter storage.  If the battery is "good" it won't need  much charge
time (15 minutes).

It is always a good idea to store the bike with fuel stabilizer and Sea Foam is both a stabilizer and fuel cleaner, so use it in the winter.
Make sure the gas tank is full and that the stabilizer has filled the float bowls (5 min run time after adding to the gas tank).

Ride Safely & Merry Christmas,

[Kevs02Accord]

Yes, I charge on the batteries about 1 time per month.  The Schumacher "maintainer" is about $20 at Wal Mart in the automotive battery section.
I installed a pigtail wire & connector on the battery and only have to connect that to the maintainer.  Make sure that your battery has the correct
electrolyte level (add distilled water if needed) when you get the bike ready for the winter storage.  If the battery is "good" it won't need  much charge
time (15 minutes).

It is always a good idea to store the bike with fuel stabilizer and Sea Foam is both a stabilizer and fuel cleaner, so use it in the winter.
Make sure the gas tank is full and that the stabilizer has filled the float bowls (5 min run time after adding to the gas tank).

Ride Safely & Merry Christmas,

Thanks for that, I was wondering, there is a ton of choices for the battery charger.  Normally would you take your battery off?  I was reading that not all batteries require you to fill them up, is this true?  How much seafoam do you use, the whole can per tank?  Do you just use the seafoam or seafoam and stabil?

[Brittles]

Use approx. 2 oz of Seafoam per gallon of gas. Don't mix Stabil with it....use one or the other.

There's a difference between a battery charger and a battery tender. You can destroy a battery if you leave a charger on it for too long. A tender will automatically cut off when the battery is at full charge. A tender should come with a pigtail that you permanently install on the battery so you don't have to take it out to charge. And yes, some batteries don't require filling. They're called AGM (Absorption Glass Mat) batteries.

[mikefootusa]

Do you have to maintain a tender charge on a AGM battery?

[Brittles]

Do you have to maintain a tender charge on a AGM battery?

Yes. They'll discharge just like a regular battery.

[Kevs02Accord]

I was planning on getting the schumacker tender from wally world.  When I clean the carbs I will go with the pinesol soak, then clean.  What gauge copper wire do you use to clean the jets?  What kind of riding pants do you guys wear?  What happens if you dont charge your battery over winter?  Does it go bad and need replacing, or do you just have to charge it up again?

[mikefootusa]

Got Helen Black her Christmas present today...the Schumacker tender from Walmart...$22.

[Stitch919]

When stopped at a light, keep a look in your rear view at the car approching behind you...if it is approching too fast, move out of it's way.

I'm not trying to scare you, I trying to make you be aware, and drive super-defensivly.

And when at a stop light KEEP YOUR BIKE IN GEAR so you can get out of the way i have seen people get rear ended cause they put their bike in neutral at a stop light and panicked and couldnt get out of the way cause they were in neutral

[Stitch919]

What kind of riding pants do you guys wear?  What happens if you dont charge your battery over winter?  Does it go bad and need replacing, or do you just have to charge it up again?

1 look around on some website im sure you can find a pair of pants that fit you and your particular style some good sites for variety and fast shipping(even with ground) is I use Denniskirk.com and Motorcycle-superstore.com those are my personal two main prefrences. personally i actually use dirt bike pants with knee guards underneath and dirt bike boots(lots of good coverage) and i must agree with the full face statement not only is it safer but it also gives you peace of mind that your protected like with a little 3/4 open face helmet your face is unprotected and with the modular(flip-up) helmets you may always worry if you crash will it flip open? 2 depending on your winter conditions your battery can freeze in which you will have to replace your battery personally for me i have lucked out and havent had this problem and i live in west yellowstone of all places haha but maybe once or twice a winter i will throw my trickle charger on it just to be a little more sure that the battery wont freeze. but for this the best thing that i have found is in winter when you wont be riding it put the battery in a warm place in the house like a basement or something to know that it will not freeze. 3 enjoy your new 250 i have the nighthawk 250 and nighthawk 750 and that 250 is a fun little bike and has some oomph to it for a little 250. it can keep right up with my dads and uncles bikes on the highway :) happy riding and hope you enjoy that bike!! 

[NHPep]

What kind of riding pants do you guys wear?

Fieldsheer Mercury overpants. A few years ago these were less than $80 available at all the discounters.

Now I see they are on version 2.0 and everyone is sticking to $144.  My opinion . . . good pants.

Even if you don't buy from these guys, their write-ups and many pics are worth gold: http://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/pants/textile_pants/fieldsheer/mercury_2_textile_motorcycle_pants.html

another good forum link discussing Fieldsheer booster, mercury 1.0 and mercury 2.0 overpants is here: http://www.stromtrooper.com/product-reviews/27272-review-fieldsheer-mercury-pants.html

[ExTex]

Although pants with pads are better at preventing major injuries, I prefer to wear more conventional looking pants.
So, I have several of the reinforced jeans, like draggin Jeans.
In the winter, I wear 5-pocket leather pants from LeatherUp or Jafroms

Sears has their battery maintainer on sale for $20 today.
Batteries go bad when they are deep-cycled, except for marine batteries which are designed for deep cycling.
Deep cycle is any operation in which the battery is charged and discharged fully (or close to fully)
AGM batteries tend to have greater internal resistance so they tend to stay charged better than conventional batteries.
But they do eventually self-dischage, so you have to keep them charged.  A good battery will not discharge much over 1 month
in cold weather, but an old worn battery will need to be re-charged more often.

Merry Christmas

[Kevs02Accord]

Couple more questions.  I briefly looked at the air filter, in the housing still.  Are these reusable, can I use compressed air on it and clean it out, or should it be replaced?  What do you guys use to condition your seats and tires, to prevent cracking, etc...?  I know I mentioned the crack in the rear fairing before but its much worse than I thought.  It goes about 2/3 down the side.  Also after I took the seat off I noticed that one of the screws was excessively tightened and completely cracked the tab attaching the side to the cowl.  Are these two things that plastex could fix?

Also, how do you upload pics?  Just link it to an image host?

[Kevs02Accord]

bump for a few more q's

[Bumblebee]

Use compressed air on the filter until such time that it remains dirty. It's also dependent on the environment you're in. High desert dirt blows out easily. Rain forest gunk often means replacement.

Condition tires to prevent cracks? You don't. Put a cover over the motorcycle to help minimize UV damage. Once they are 5 years old or show signs of dry rot/cracks, whichever comes first, replace them regardless of tread condition or depth. If you run innertubes, replace them and the rim strips at the same time.

Pictures: Link them from elsewhere. Or push preview on the post and below the box it'll give an option to add pictures. Please reduce the pictures to a decent size. 60-150K per picture and about 800x600 is ideal. If you setup two dozen 5mb pictures, rest assured that those of us without a fast connection will not sit here for half a day waiting for them to load.
Lookup pixresizer and use that to reduce the size of pictures. It's free, dirt simple to use, incredibly efficient and does not alter the original file. I reduced about 100 pictures the other day in under 3 minutes with it.

[ExTex]

Don't use conditioners on seats nor tires.  The conditioners can cause the tires and seat to be slippery.
NOT GOOD!  I slid all around my Nighthawk seat when I used Armor-All on it! 

Fixing cracked plastic is possible and there are several methods... you can search for them.
I use a 2-part plastic epoxy and glue the backside of the part after cleaning it with a wire brush on my electric drill.
If the crack will have pressure on it, I reinforce the area with an additional piece of plastic.

I can't match the paint side so I leave it alone and home the patch minimizes the front view.

Happy New Year