Hi all, just joined the group. I have 1983 Nighthawk 650 that I purchased about 2 months ago. It was running fine up until one cold day when it wouldn't start. Spark was fine, though I had to charge the battery after trying to start it too many times. I pulled the carburetors and cleaned all the bowls, needles and jets (they weren't very dirty to begin with), that wasn't the problem. Engine would pop and fire when I sprayed starter fluid directly into the intake, but would not really get running. I checked compression and they were 110, 125, 125, and 120 across the cylinders, below the recommended 170 psi specified in the manual. So I put some oil in the spark plug hole for cylinder #1 (the worst one) and compression jumped up to 175. So I'm pretty sure the problem is worn piston rings or cylinder walls. The bike only has 18,000 miles on it so I was suspicious about this being the issue at first. If anyone knows how I should tackle this job or have any advice I'd really appreciate the help. Should I just remove and replace the rings, or do I have to resize the cylinder walls? Do I need a new head gasket? Anyone know where I can get replacement piston rings? By the way, thanks for the manual, it really helped my diagnose what I though was wrong. If anyone has any input, I'm happy to hear it. Thanks.
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