Looking at a '84 Honda Nighthawk. Engine rattles when it's running and tilted right.?

J

Joel

New member
Just looked at a 1984 Honda Nighthawk 700SC. It has an issue of slipping out of 2nd gear occasionally, especially when it gets up to 5,000 rpms. When I had the engine running and tipped the bike to the right there was a rattling sound, which the owner said was because of the 2nd gear issue. I'm concerned about the rattle and don't know if I should not buy the bike because of it. Anybody have any ideas?
 
The rattle business sounds like a loose cam chain to me. I don't know if it has an automatic cam chain adjuster, but I have an '80 CM400 and it has to be adjusted manually.

Popping out of gear is usually the result of a bent shifting fork or worn engagement dogs on the gears. Neither is going to rattle whether the bike's upright or tilted over. Regardless of which one is the problem, it's going to require pulling the engine and splitting the cases to repair...a big job for anyone, a difficult job for some but not others. Bent shifting forks are usually the result of some jockey slam shifting it or stomping on the shift lever trying to get it to change gears when they should have just let the clutch out a bit.
 
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