Motorcycle Repair: 650 nighthawk ignition, portable jump starters, 1983 honda nighthawk

Question
Hi Wayne-
I saw the post below from a previous question- Did this guy every get back to you if this solved his problem?  I am having virtually the same issues, except my bike wouldn't start at work one day. I came back to pick it up and wala it started! I got it home parked it and tried it later- nogo. Here is the strange part, it has a good battery and cranks fine but if I put one of those portable jump starters on it, it fires up every time. (its happened about 6 itmes).  I already put a new starter relay in and cleaned the kill switch, I am suspect of the igition switch though because if I wiggle it once in a while the "tail lamp out" light comes on. I am a little worried now as this thing could leave me stranded! Thanks Dan
Hi, I have a 1983 Honda Nighthawk CB650SC and I'm having trouble with the ignition. The problem usually occurs the first time I ride the bike in the morning when it's still cold or if I leave it sit for a long time before I ride it again. The bike starts up fine, it's a little cold natured so I let it run a little before I take off, maybe a minute or so. After I get only about a block or so though it loses all ignition. You can crank and crank on it with the starter and it will never fire not once. If you turn the key off and then back on it will get ignition again and start right back up. The whole time this is happening I still have power to all my gauges and everything else on the bike. I thought maybe I was losing power to the ignition system so I ran a hot wire to one of the coils which in turn powers both coils and the CDI box. I hooked a switch on this wire and would turn it one when it would die and it still wouldn't start back up until I killed all power and turned it back on. The bike will keep doing this until it kind of warms up and then it will run fine the rest of the day as long as it doesn't cool off. I'm not sure if there's something wrong with my CDI box or what is causing the problem. The only thing I can think is maybe I'm losing power to the ignition and it won't come back on until I kill all power to it and then turn it back on, but I wouldn't think that it would be made that way. Any help resolving this issue would be really appreciated because I can't figure out what is wrong with it.

Answer
Dan,

-unfortunately most people don't let us know how
and if they solved their bike problems.
It would definitely help us and others to know
if a fix is discovered.

-I think the best way to diagnose your bike
is to isolate the problem to a lack of fuel
or spark.

-If it quits, have a good spark plug
handy and see if the spark looks okay.

-if you have a good spark, try some carb
cleaner or wd40 in the intake and see if it
fires on it.

-if you can figure out what is lacking,
then you can troubleshoot the appropriate
components.

-no spark, make sure all connectors and grounds
are clean and tight.
It is possible the ignition switch is faulty
or a pulser coil.

-The Nighthawks do not charge much until
about 2500 rpm. The battery can actually
discharge at low speeds, spark may be weak.
Try using a trickle charger when parked.
-Clean the fuse holders in case they
have poor connection.