CB400T help please !!
 

Some of you may remember me selling my f4i b/c of my knee problems. Well i picked up an ole 1978 CB400 TII Hawk to take its place. Am going to turn it into a sort of bobber/chopper that's comfortable.

But first i got to get it to START and here is where i need help from all of you master's of mechanics !!!

The kick start is not getting grip and turning over the motor, does anyone know what would be causing this ??

Also the starter is not turning over the motor. It is turning in the case and the teeth are turning but its not turning the motor over. Any help would be awesome, going to pull the side covers off the bike and look for a worn out gear on the left side of the bike and the right to see whats slipping with the kick start.

Glad to say right before all these problems we did kick it over and it ran for about 2 or 3 secs.

O and only paid $125 for it lol.

Here are the pics of it and what im looking to turn it into.

For an old bugger like me, seeing an old four pot CB brings a tear to the eye.
The kick start has splines that engage the teeth of kick rod & sometimes the actual kick can come loose & needs to be tightened (bolt & nut on the round) but seeings as it's an older bike they are more likely to be worn & you will have to loosen the rod & take it off to work out which is worn (most likely the kick starter rod, as it's a softer metal). Does the kick start actually move? & give an indication that its doing anything, like indicate that there is compression or does it make a sort of grinding sound.
I'd be draining out the old oil & putting in some fresh stuff, taking out the plugs, taking off the tappet adjuster caps & seeing if they actually move when you use the kick starter, same thing with electric leg (starter button) as you may have a partially seized motor & that may go a long way in explaining why the kick & electric starter aren't working. Taking the plugs out will remove any compression, so the motor should be able crank. A small amount of oil down the barrels can sometimes save a seized motor, as long as the barrels aren't badly scored.

You say the starter motor turns but motor doesn't. Not very familiar with the Hawk but I would start looking at the starter clutch.

The problem with the kick start is its feeling like its going to kick over , then when u kick it it just goes slack. Today it's sometimes working right and others....just when u give it a good kick, goes slack and feels like its slipping off the gear.

The kick start was working yesterday and then all of a sudden it was like some teeth got knocked of and when u really kicked it good it would slip.

The electric start works its just free spinning though, we pulled the starter and the teeth are good and the teeth they go to are good.



Dont beleive the motor is seized since it started for a few secs and ran.

Here it is tore down, think the part u kick was loose or not on the gear good enough. Everything is turning correctly and looks great. The inside looks way better than i would expect a 1978 bike to look lol, no rust or anything.

Going to pull the stator latter this week and see whats wrong the the starter or gears on back.

This may help
http://www.carlsalter.com/motorcycle-manuals.asp
Free download - workshop manual :)

Have you done a spark test?

Haven't done the spark test, seems the motor should be working fine, it ran for about 5 secs the other day before the kick start gave out. It's getting compression and found out the kick-start just wasn't on the splines enough.

Started it with starter fluid sprayed in the carbs so i figure thats why it only ran for a short time.

Going to order the Haynes manual for it today for a little more help.

:icon_attention: Glad i got some good ole mechanics on here to help me out.


Soooo Thx a ton for all the help, will update more pics and maybe a link to the you tube video when i get it up and running and then when its finished.

Going to order the Haynes manual for it today for a little more help.

See post above.................................free manual ?

With a bad starter clutch, the starter will spin freely. It just won't turn engine over.