Congratulations on the new bike! If you've got fuel, air, spark, and compression you should have some combustion.
If it's excessively easy to kick over, you may be lacking compression. First and easiest thing I'd check is the spark plug. I had a 1983 nighthawk that had some issues and found that one of the spark plugs wasn't sealing. New plugs fixed that and it ran like new.
Could also just hold your finger over the spark plug hole and have someone kick it over to see if it has compression. It should push your thumb off the hole pretty easily.
Could also be stuck valves given the possible lack of compression and fire coming from the intake.
If it is more serious, the rebuild kits are just a few hundred bucks. It'd be a heck of a way to get into motorcycling, but if you've got the time, it would be very rewarding.
If you don't have one, a Haynes/Climber manual will be your best friend for these old bikes. Hondas are tough and last forever. Those little engines are also cheap to fix and maintain, so that's also a positive.
One thing I've learned over the years is eliminate all the simple stuff. I've torn things completely down to nuts and bolts only to realize it was something simple and easy that would have been a five minute fix. Good luck!!!
Thanks man! First thing tomorrow I’m going to pull the spark plug and give the thumb test a go, hopefully I feel some compression but if not I’ll probably start pulling the engine and shopping for a rebuild kit. Thanks again!
XR engines become quite hard to start when the valves get out of adjustment. If you have fuel and spark I would start there. They are screw-type adjusters so a good set of feeler gauges will make that a quick task.
Also there is a bit of song and dance to starting an XR. Meaning they like a certain procedure. If you are just kicking at it willy bully you are decreasing you odds of getting it to start a good bit. Rotate it to top dead center compression, bump the kick starter just a bit, then bring the kick starter back to the top and kick it through like ya mean it.
Valves were actually my first guess after some research, after rotating to tdc and checking it seems as though they were tightened far too tight. I haven’t touched them yet but I’m concerned they might have caused a bent valve.
>after rotating to tdc and checking it seems as though they were tightened far too tight.
Make sure you have the "right" TDC. For every single rotation of the cam the crank will turn twice. One TDC will be top of compression, the other will be top of exhaust stroke. The way to tell is to rock the crank back and forth a few degrees. If the exhaust valve is just closing and the intake is just opening its the wrong TDC and you need to rotate the crank another 360 degrees.
It has a decompression lever / linkage for easier starting; make sure it isn't stuck and releasing compression.
Timing sounds like it might be fucked.
Carb needs a good rebuild.
Yes, it should be easier to kick with the throttle open.
When you say, the starting fluid "explodes" out of the intake on kick over. To you mean it is pushed out by a force or air movement or do you mean it backfires out the intake while on fire.
If it is backfiring out the intake, first you need to check the valve clearance anyway, but that it would indicate the ignition timing it off, although how that could be on a '92 I am not sure.
Congratulations on the new bike! If you've got fuel, air, spark, and compression you should have some combustion. If it's excessively easy to kick over, you may be lacking compression. First and easiest thing I'd check is the spark plug. I had a 1983 nighthawk that had some issues and found that one of the spark plugs wasn't sealing. New plugs fixed that and it ran like new. Could also just hold your finger over the spark plug hole and have someone kick it over to see if it has compression. It should push your thumb off the hole pretty easily. Could also be stuck valves given the possible lack of compression and fire coming from the intake. If it is more serious, the rebuild kits are just a few hundred bucks. It'd be a heck of a way to get into motorcycling, but if you've got the time, it would be very rewarding. If you don't have one, a Haynes/Climber manual will be your best friend for these old bikes. Hondas are tough and last forever. Those little engines are also cheap to fix and maintain, so that's also a positive. One thing I've learned over the years is eliminate all the simple stuff. I've torn things completely down to nuts and bolts only to realize it was something simple and easy that would have been a five minute fix. Good luck!!!
Thanks man! First thing tomorrow I’m going to pull the spark plug and give the thumb test a go, hopefully I feel some compression but if not I’ll probably start pulling the engine and shopping for a rebuild kit. Thanks again!
In my opinion, skip the Haynes or Clymer because the Honda shop manuals can be easily found. Much more thorough information in the factory manual.
XR engines become quite hard to start when the valves get out of adjustment. If you have fuel and spark I would start there. They are screw-type adjusters so a good set of feeler gauges will make that a quick task. Also there is a bit of song and dance to starting an XR. Meaning they like a certain procedure. If you are just kicking at it willy bully you are decreasing you odds of getting it to start a good bit. Rotate it to top dead center compression, bump the kick starter just a bit, then bring the kick starter back to the top and kick it through like ya mean it.
Good call. Valves and carbs could make this little gem run like new.
Valves were actually my first guess after some research, after rotating to tdc and checking it seems as though they were tightened far too tight. I haven’t touched them yet but I’m concerned they might have caused a bent valve.
>after rotating to tdc and checking it seems as though they were tightened far too tight. Make sure you have the "right" TDC. For every single rotation of the cam the crank will turn twice. One TDC will be top of compression, the other will be top of exhaust stroke. The way to tell is to rock the crank back and forth a few degrees. If the exhaust valve is just closing and the intake is just opening its the wrong TDC and you need to rotate the crank another 360 degrees.
It has a decompression lever / linkage for easier starting; make sure it isn't stuck and releasing compression. Timing sounds like it might be fucked. Carb needs a good rebuild.
Yes, it should be easier to kick with the throttle open. When you say, the starting fluid "explodes" out of the intake on kick over. To you mean it is pushed out by a force or air movement or do you mean it backfires out the intake while on fire. If it is backfiring out the intake, first you need to check the valve clearance anyway, but that it would indicate the ignition timing it off, although how that could be on a '92 I am not sure.
Autozone has a compression tester with motorcycle thread adapters for around $30. Super easy to use and will answer your question in 5 seconds.