Hello All, I'm new to this site and a proud new owner of a 87 hurricane 1000.
The bike has about 24,000 miles on it and was running ok when I bought it however it was missing the airbox and had a several rouge vacuum hoses just hanging about. I was able to ride the bike about 180 miles back home on the freeway like this and it started up everytime I stopped for a few mins on the way. The previous owner assured me that it ran fine for him.

Since then I have ordered an airbox and filters for it and should be recieving them shortly, however I can't for the life of me start the bike again now that it has sat overnight in my garage. I bought the bike in middle califonia where it very hot right now, and it seems to have a bit of trouble starting but did start, now being up north in Sf I am unable to start up the bike at all. (kinda cool all year round low 70's F during the day, 50 F or less at night.)

I guess I am just eagar to ride it and should wait for the airbox to come but I also wanted to ask everyones opinion on this problem. Did I damage the motor riding so far w/o the box? another aquatance of mine said that these bikes are notriously hard to start anyways.

The former owner assures me once the box is on there the vacuum hoses will be made obvious and it should start just fine. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
elliot

 

Well I was able to get an airbox and with alot more effort then I imagined was able to install it. There are still a few hose connections that appear to be missing or off. I have the hurricane chiltan manual but it omits these connections in their diagrams assuming I would know where they go already.

I tryed to start the bike with just the air box on, full choke no throttle, and the hoses still unconnected from those locations and it would not even come close to starting the motor just spins and spins.

below is crude sketch of what it looks like under the tank and exactly what hoses seem to be missing, I omitted details and all the other hoses/cables etc. because they all seem to be in good order.

So there are seemingly 4 connections in question. The 1st seems to just be a crankcase breather out of the top of the motor that needs a hose to below the bike, the other three I'm not sure about but was assuming they all connect together. there are 2 connections the manual says are vacuum connections (but shows no hose connected to them) coming from between carbs 1 and 2 as well as 3 and 4. The last hose connection in question is on the airbox above the part that attaches to the carbs, its pretty large but looks like it needs to go somewhere.

I am dieing to ride this bike this coming weekend any help would be greatly appreciated. Is there any other reason this bike would not start after riding it 180 miles w/o an airbox, it ran fine and started on the road when the motor was hot?

 

The two identical fittings are for overflow hoses, which should point downwards and allow fuel to drain. The larger one fits onto the rear of the tappet cover, in the centre theres a similar hose connection.
None of them should stop the bike from starting.Check the choke cable is fully operational - mine sometimes battles after not having been started in cold weather, overnight.
Hope this helps

 

So I connected the crankcase breather to the airbox and was able to get the bikes started. I still had to fire it for at least 30 or 40 seconds while bliping the throttle back and forth rapidly before the bike finally fired up. I will check to see if the choke is functioning properly but it seems to be pulling the cable just fine.

The former owner says he had alot of trouble starting in the morning and sometimes even needed to jump it with his truck to keep the motor going before it would start. This was before the air box was installed. I hope she fires up again tomorrow. thanks for the help and if anyone knows any other reasons it might not be starting up easily please post them.

cheers,

Elliot

 

Still doesn't sound right , she should start 'on the button', almost immediately.

 

Sounds like a vacuum hose between the carbs and the petcock...........
I know mine won't fire with out it - no fuel getting to the carbs !
I'd pull out the plugs and see how much spark you're getting and if the plugs are wet.
If so, it may be a battery issue, not being strong enough, which as we know is often a problem.

 

My bike (same bike as yours) needs a good strong battery for easy starts. If the PO was a slacker (like I've admittedly been a few winters) and not kept it charged up it may be your prob.

In my experience a battery that needs replacing is kinda tricky to diagnose as a slightly less than optimal one can still turn the motor over seemingly fine but the bike won't start as the dying battery doesn't turn the motor over with enough "gusto". Air box funny stuff aside; if the PO was needing to jump start, new battery would be on my list of to do's.

New battery is something I consider on all used bikes I buy ....

 

Thanks everyone for all the great information, I'll try maybe a new battery I've already drained and re charged it 3 times myself trying to get this thing going. I can't imagine its in very good shape.

@ cbr classic, I have not connected the 2 vacuum hose connections on either side of the carb array. I believe it was shadow who said they where just overflow and they should not matter. but if in fact they need connected I'd love to know where to connect them, the manual I have and the factory manual don't spec where they go (aka air bent hoses).

@shadow, I'll check the vacuum hoses from the carbs to the petcock thanks for the tip, could you maybe take a pic of said hose, or give a good description of what two locations it should be hooked to? the vacuum hoses could be all hooked up wrong seeing as how this bike WAS tampered with in the carb area by the PO

When the bike finally starts up i need to hold the throttle open a bit for at least a min b4 the bike will idle on its own, I know old carb bikes need a while to heat up but it seems a tad excessive, and there is a low end bog off the line from a stop if the motor isn't completely warmed up and I need to pull the clutch and rev out hard to power out of it. I'm riding the choke after the bike warms a bit and slowly lowering it for about 5 mins while riding. I'm not all that familiar with these bikes so if that's just part of the routine then I can live with it.

I checked the plugs they are a light tan color and not fouling out. The starting is still a problem, and it seems if I manipulate the throttle a certain way, feathering it with the motor revs and feel it out I can get her to fire up but it takes a very long time.

Thanks everyone for all the support, I want to solve this problem myself or at least try my hardest b4 I need to take her to a shop. I'll get some pics of the bike up soon as well, hopefully of me riding it YEAH!