How I got into motorcycles
 

Ok so this week I have the flu, so I have a lot of time to kill :roll:

Just wondering what type of bikes the shawk owners have previously owned. How did you get into riding?

For me the superhawk is the first v-twin that I have had, and it was quite a difference from the inlines that I had before.

I have been riding for 10 years now. For many years I went dirtbiking with friends, one friend had 5 dirt bikes so there was allways one available. They had a nice little track set up in there back yard. He raced in the amature league.

The first bike that I owned was an 89 CBR 600 Hurricane. A little bit of history here.

I got the bike for $500. The bike had been downed at about 60mph. The frame was trashed and the rear rim was shot. Plastic was gone too!

A friend of mine Jeff went with me, we took his probe, it took about an hour and a half to get there. We slid the bike into the back of his probe. :oops:

I bought a new frame $500 and swapped everything over, bought new plastics etc...... This was my first time wrenching on a bike. All told I spent about $1500 on the bike and it ran like a banchie. Sold her years later with 35K on her for 300 bucks more than I had in her. I still have the pictures and some of the best memories are working on that bike.

I was still living at home and my father had the idea that "motorcycles are evil". He said that you wont have one as long as your under my roof. My girlfriend at the time had a pole barn, so we put it in there. My parents didnt even know.

My second bike was a 73 CB500Four. Got it for $500. Nice bike ran well, big difference from the CBR.

My third bike 81 Suzuki GS1000. Got it for $800. Big heavy bike, named her Burtha. Good amount of power shaft drive, good brakes. Good transportation, no worry of it being stolen.

Then about 2 years ago I bought the superhawk, the first bike that I didnt need to work on, fix small glitches etc........ what a change. The first bike that I have made payments on. I looked at used 916-998's but they wanted more that what my budget allowed.

Through the last 10 years I have been a budget biker because I have been working full or part time, doing an inturnship and putting myself through college. That explains the cost of the bikes and the odd choices.

So shawk owners how did you get into motorcycling and what have your previous rides been? Can you go back to an inline after riding a v-twin?

I had to deal with my parents pulling that crap too. First bike was a cb750f, rode it for a few years while I fixed up & sold other projects (cbr1000 hurricane, 89' ninja 750) to get some money... 3 years later I could afford my pristine superhawk for a little over $4000. Finally, something I don't have to work on!
Right now I've got the old 750f in the garage, the shawk, and a Triumph daytona I picked up off eBay to make a couple of bucks. I couldn't go back to a I-4 for daily use, unless I still had a twin around to keep me entertained.

oh, and get better soon!

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

Some pics form the work that went on

nice socks. The fairing on your hurricane looks a whole lot better than mine did, it was held on with zip ties!

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

The flu, in FL in the Spring? That's gotta suck. Get well soon.

My dad had a Pro Modified Harley race team, which later changed over to the Top Fuel class, with disastrous results. I've been sniffing racing fuel since I got off my mom's tit. Started in the dirt at the ripe old age of 6. I got a new bike every two years, and in the meantime, whenever I'd wad up my motocross bike I'd have to fix it myself. This was all a test. My dad wanted to see if my mechanical aptitude would surface without any formal education. Needless to say, it did. At 12 I was joining his pit team, at 14 piloting a bracket racer, at 16 qualifying for Pro Modified certification. Got my first street bike at 17, a turbocharged GPZ. Quick, but I wasn't satisfied. I borrowed some money to buy a lightly wrecked KZ1000 that had scared it's previous owner into swearing off motorcycles. I stripped it down, back-halved the frame, hand ported the head, had a set of custom cams ground, and bored it out to 1450cc. A widow-maker, to be sure. Scary fast, but definitely not made for corners. A member of our pit team had an old shovelhead Sportster that he'd reinforced, tweaked, lifted the rear, and set it up as a serious corner carving mofo. He offered to trade me even up for the KZ, and after a ride through the twisties it was a done deal. I spent 2 months in the hospital after wadding my dad's Top Fuel bike, and he closed the doors on his race shop. I sold the Sportster and didn't own another bike until after my second divorce in 2000.

Instead of becoming a male whore I turned back to motorcycles. I bought a used ZX-11 and got the fever again. I added a Buell X1 Lightning to my garage, and started going to track days and roadrace schools. I was getting embarrassed regularly on the Buell, so I sold the ZX-11 and bought a 929RR, which I absolutely hated for any kind of street riding. The Buell kept breaking, so I stripped it down and built a chopper out of it. I bought a TL1000R with some of the money I made off the chopper deal. The Honda was my track bike, and the Suzuki my street bike. I loved the big twin for the street, but the Suzuki was just a mess. Broken gearbox, crappy rear suspension, rusty nuts and bolts everywhere, constant electrical problems. It tank-slapped me off once doing like 30 mph, and when it came to rest the steering head was nearly cracked off the frame. What a POS. But I was hooked on V-twins. I stopped riding in the track days a couple years ago, and the 929RR had to go. Most of last summer I didn't have anything to ride except my buddy's Ducati Monster 900. Nice bike, but just not enough. By February I was ready to buy an RC-51, but a deal on a Superhawk race bike fell in my lap, and I saved the extra $9k for other things. She's getting TLC, and will be one seriously trick street bike when I start riding her in another week or two, after the paint dries and all the wonderful carbon fiber bits are bolted on. I think this one's a keeper. Ducati can keep their silly desmodromic valves. I've found my little piece of heaven.

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

Great story you lucky bastard. I'm sorry you couldn't cut it as a man whore though.

Keep us posted and pic'd up on your ride please :D

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

I figured I'd get around to the man whore thing after I retired. Women make men messy. I'll hire a trophy wife after I'm too old to care that she's banging the pool boy. :shock:

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

Good retirement strategy. I like the way you think. :)

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

Great story rymerc and V-2 weapon. Very entertaining.

Anyone else want to share a bit of there history?

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

No real stories here (at least like those!) so I'll just throw out a list:

70-ish Honda Z50 mini-trail (the faster gold ones)
Yamaha big bore dirt bike of unknown year/size (a true rat bike)
Honda 76 MT250 (see pic and don't laff, the 70's were kewl man!!!)
Honda 77 CB750F (a very special bike for me)
Honda 84 VF700F (my first new bike and I was king of the street in my small town)
Honda 86 VF500F (first wrecked bike I bought and fixed up)
Yamaha 86 FZ600 (had to own "the best handling bike")
Honda 87 CBR600F Hurricane (I was one of the first Texans to see one of these: long story)
Kawasaki 86 ZG1000 Concours (what the hell was I thinking?)
Honda Hawk 88 GT650 (does it come with a motor?)
Honda 85 VF500F (another cheeeep fixer)
Honda 91 CBR600F2 (I call these the 350 camaro of motorcycles)
Honda 98 VTR1000F (bought the first one in the dealership, 1st new bike in 10 years)
Honda 78 CBX1000F (got high school nostalgic; too expensive but gawd the sound when on the pipe)
Honda 94 VFR 750 (still the sexiest looking honda next to the NR)
Honda 01 CBR600F4i (cheap wreck off ebay; too small)
Honda 02 VFR VTEC (ties with the VTR as my favorites)
Suzuki 98 Bandit 1200S (torque of the VTR but handling & IL4's suck)
Honda 98 VTR1000F (second one known affectionately as SuperBling!)

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

What an impressive CV Doug!! Now, I'm shy to let you know my way...

Seem you are also addict to Honda :D

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

I was a bicycling fanatic. It started with BMX, Freestyle, then progressed to road riding and mountain biking. I spent all my free time on two wheels, including my friends XR100. Eventually I went every direction as far as I could go in a day and wanted more. So I hopped on my friend's Eliminator 900 and proceeded to plough it into my house (into the window well) - not exactly as nimble as an XR100...oops! I was disgusted with myself so I took the MSF course and bought a used 1981 GPz550 in 1987 and rode that thing everywhere everyday (even through the snow in PA). I moved to New York City in 1991 and didn't have 2 nickels to rub together, but managed to keep the bike despite replacing mirrors and turn signals every few months from parking on the street. Thank God for engine guards. In 2002 I vowed to my wife that I wasn't gonna be like the old man on the Harley commercial and spend all my money on vinyl siding instead of a new bike. Thus the SHawk!
I still have the GPz by the way - it cost $1000 in 1987 and I've spent nearly $15k storing it. Worth every pennyand so is the SHawk.

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

NEW 2001 SHawk tomorrow! YAY!

First bike
1985 Yamaha MX100
1986 Yamaha YZ80
1987 Yamaha YZ125
1979 Kawasaki KZ750 (can you tell where I had to start paying for them instead of my parents?)
1989 Kawasaki EX500 (lot of fun, handled decent, but horible brakes)
1993 Yamaha FZR600 - Crashed it 10 minutes after I learned how to drag knee. Became a testbed for the "Yamarocket"
1992 Yamaha FZR600 Vance and Hines special edition
"Yamarocket"
104hp at the wheel
GSXR750 USD forks Ractech springs and valves
YZF Swingarm and rear wheel
GSXR radiator
GSXR Shock, custom valved

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

Gonna' be hard sleeping tonight bro'!

When I bought my first SuperHawk, I made the decision to buy it on my then long morning commute. I called the dealership when they opened an hour later to let them know I would get it after work. That was the longest day of my life.

Looks like your Yamarocket would've been good freinds with my Frankenhawk. Gsxr1000 forks, CF fender and calipers, RC51 front wheel and rotors with 954 bearings and seals, zx12 axle 929/954 triples and 929 Heli bars mounted unde the triple. 900rr rear wheel, (not pictured) and other various mods.

Re: How I got into motorcycles
 

Sorry to hear about the flu, thats a major bummer... Anyways my 1st street bike was a '73 Honda CB500 inline 4 that I paid $50 for in '91. I put new tires on it and rebuilt the carbs and it ran decent. Someone had put a different front fork on it to make it a chopper wanna-be but it was fun and I passed my road test on it. After a few years I picked up an '84 Honda VT500 Ascot (v-twin shaft drive model) and that was a lot of fun as well since it could wheelie pretty easy. Then I bought a new unsold '92 Honda Nighthawk 750 in 1995 and that was my ride until I bought the SH about a year ago. Definitely the Superhawk is the most fun out of all of them but the Nighthawk was a nice bike too, I kinda hated to get rid it...

Rick B
02 SH
96 Suzuki Dr200se Dual Sport.

1982 suzuki rm80... been hooked ever since.