2019 Hawk

Blackhawk45 · 08-14-2019, 10:16 AM

This will serve as my introduction. As you can no doubt surmise from the name, I have a black Hawk. "Blackhawk" was already taken, but I also have a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt, so "Blackhawk45" it is.

I've had my Hawk for just over a week and have put about 250 miles on it so far. I have it registered in Alabama, which was relatively painless. It was running very lean at mid throttle, required choke on the first startup even at 90 degrees ambient, and seemed to really wake up at 3/4 throttle once fully warmed and choke off. Based on that I shimmed the needle, which made it run perfectly at mid throttle.
I also popped out the pilot screw plug and determined that the screw was 1-1/4 turn out from seated. I increased that to 1-1/2 turn, with the result being that it would now start with no choke and would not start hot unless I let it cool down for a few minutes. So I returned the setting to 1-1/4 turn out. At that setting and with the shimmed needle, it will start cold at high ambient temp with no choke, but seems to be on the edge of needing a bit of choke. And, it will start hot. That seems like a reasonable setting, for now.

Before tuning and keeping it at or below 40 mph, I measured right at 80 mpg. After tuning and with some WOT riding, I measured about 58 mpg.
Btw, I am converting from the odo reading to miles. Checking with gps, my speedometer is pretty accurate in mph but the odo is about 57 miles for 100 indicated. That tells me it is supposed to be km, but is inaccurate. So I'm calling it kiloyards, which is almost exactly what it is!

After a couple of short rides, I discovered that it was not charging the battery. Tracing the circuit, I found a bent pin in the regulator connector. I straightened the pin and plugged it back in, which fixed that problem.

I'm running Castrol 20w50 conventional motorcycle oil. Once it cools off a bit I'll probably use Rotella 15w40 conventional, but as hot as it is now I think the added viscosity of the 20w50 is a good thing.

I also adjusted the valves at the same time that I worked on the carb. The intake was ok, but the exhaust was tight. I set it at .004" intake and .006" exhaust.

I have ordered a Wingsmoto jet kit. I think it could use a bit more fuel at WOT, and I'm sure that will be even more the case once I gut the cat.

I've also ordered a 43 tooth rear sprocket, which I plan to use with the stock 15 tooth counter sprocket.

I'm using non-ethanol gas, same as I do in all my bikes and other small engines.

08-14-2019, 10:16 AM	#1
Blackhawk45 Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 12	2019 Hawk This will serve as my introduction. As you can no doubt surmise from the name, I have a black Hawk. "Blackhawk" was already taken, but I also have a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt, so "Blackhawk45" it is. I've had my Hawk for just over a week and have put about 250 miles on it so far. I have it registered in Alabama, which was relatively painless. It was running very lean at mid throttle, required choke on the first startup even at 90 degrees ambient, and seemed to really wake up at 3/4 throttle once fully warmed and choke off. Based on that I shimmed the needle, which made it run perfectly at mid throttle. I also popped out the pilot screw plug and determined that the screw was 1-1/4 turn out from seated. I increased that to 1-1/2 turn, with the result being that it would now start with no choke and would not start hot unless I let it cool down for a few minutes. So I returned the setting to 1-1/4 turn out. At that setting and with the shimmed needle, it will start cold at high ambient temp with no choke, but seems to be on the edge of needing a bit of choke. And, it will start hot. That seems like a reasonable setting, for now. Before tuning and keeping it at or below 40 mph, I measured right at 80 mpg. After tuning and with some WOT riding, I measured about 58 mpg. Btw, I am converting from the odo reading to miles. Checking with gps, my speedometer is pretty accurate in mph but the odo is about 57 miles for 100 indicated. That tells me it is supposed to be km, but is inaccurate. So I'm calling it kiloyards, which is almost exactly what it is! After a couple of short rides, I discovered that it was not charging the battery. Tracing the circuit, I found a bent pin in the regulator connector. I straightened the pin and plugged it back in, which fixed that problem. I'm running Castrol 20w50 conventional motorcycle oil. Once it cools off a bit I'll probably use Rotella 15w40 conventional, but as hot as it is now I think the added viscosity of the 20w50 is a good thing. I also adjusted the valves at the same time that I worked on the carb. The intake was ok, but the exhaust was tight. I set it at .004" intake and .006" exhaust. I have ordered a Wingsmoto jet kit. I think it could use a bit more fuel at WOT, and I'm sure that will be even more the case once I gut the cat. I've also ordered a 43 tooth rear sprocket, which I plan to use with the stock 15 tooth counter sprocket. I'm using non-ethanol gas, same as I do in all my bikes and other small engines.
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