Advice for buying a 02 Superhawk
 

I'm in the works of buying an 02 Superhawk with 3K miles, original owner. My issue is, the bike has a short in the system that causes the battery to go dead in a week. The only thing added was a battery tender adapter, from what I've been told. Any ideas??? I really would like to buy this bike.... Thanks in advance.

Some experts should chime in here shortly but the superhawks have weak regulator/rectifiers and alot of guys put ones off of R6's and R1's on there bikes to solve this. This might be your problem, if it is its an easy fix, just find a used R/R on ebay and there is a write up on here that tells you how to install it, quite a simple job.

Is the bike a good deal? If it's not an RR problem then electrical problems can be a little (not impossible) tricky and time consuming to trace. Take that into account on the price.

This was kinda what I was hoping for. Here's the deal. The bike is a 1 owner, 3k miles pretty much a 9, out of 10 in condition, for $3500. NADA list it at $3600 retail, given the mileage, sounds good to me. I can't seem to find many in the New England area.
These bikes have carbs, right? The guy mentioned the computer, which I thought was for fuel injected bikes. (?)
What do you guys think??? Should I go for it???

Let's see - dude put on 3k over the span of 8 years - it sat and gathered dust more than its been ridden - battery allowed to almost discharge before it was started up - p.o. sticks it on an automotive charger to quick charge it - battery not like! Hypothetical of course.

Maybe it just needs a battery.

I was told the battery was replaced last year. PO said it drained the battery since it rolled off the showroom floor. (???) Why didn't he bring it back, I asked???

And that is a telltale that you need to examine the R/R...

Lack of use maybe? The battery just goes dead by not being riden for months at a time?

it would be a good bike but $3600 still seems kinda steep for an asking price. especially when you can find comparable hawks around here for less than $3K.

NAVY8TR, show me the way!!!! I've been searching Craigslist, through out NE, not much out there....

sometimes you also have to be patient. Have you checked Cycle Trader? www.cycletrader.com

I use that as a gauge of prices.

Listen to Tweety. He knows everything. My bike was doing the exact same thing, and it was the R/R. I'd use that as a negotiating tool. It's easy to replace yourself, and cost (at most) $100 depending on which R/R you get.

I'd recommend not getting a stock replacement. My bike has gone through at least 2 stock R/Rs (one not finned, one finned) that I know of, so I bought a big aftermarket one from www.electrosport.com, and it's worked well so far.

$3500 isn't terrible, but what is the 9 (out of 10) just the "possible" short?, or other things? For $3500 apearance should be 9.9 out of 10.
Navy8tr wasn't talking a place he was refering to the forum. Bike come up for sale here that are generally well cared for and that have some choice mods done.
As far as the Battery, as others have said could be the RR, could be somethin else. If something else you could at least narrow it down via the fuses. Ultimately with an 8 year old bike with only 3k miles there has been alot of sitting. Your going to have to ride this for a while to figure out any quirks. This is a case of the low mileage working against the sell price.
With the Battery issue - real or perceived, I think that knocks at least another $500 off.
Good luck & welcome to the forum

Hell no! I don't know everything... Not even close... But I'm fairly experienced with electronics...

But a diode leading instead of blocking fully, means the battery is slowly drained... There are other possible culprits though, but that's high on the list...

Alright guys, what's the deal??? Literally!!!! I just went through the "craigslist" thread and see 98's going for $3500!!!! Ok, they have a few mod's.... I'm not getting it. I'm being told to get a better deal, but what I'm finding are bike that are much older and LOT'S of mileage on them. The regulator advice rocks, you guys are clueing me in, just some things don't make sence to me....

Negotiate. I always show up with cash and a trailer. Care, but not that much, be prepared to walk. "I will take it off your hands right now for cash". 2005 mint with 9700mi = $3300. 1999 wrecked (meaning needs fairings) with a brand new Ohlins shock = $1100. It works. Do not thell them when you are making the visit arrangements that you will have cash or trailer, just show up that way.

I'd say a fair deal would be to knock off a couple of hundred dollars for a new battery & R/R... You'll need to replace those... So That would probably be fair to both you and him... Anything closer to 3000 than 3500 depending on his and your negotiation skills...

As far as miles go, well... It's a Honda...;) you don't count the miles you count the 10.000 miles...;) A well maintained one will easily do lots of miles before it starts having any effect... The two "problem areas" are the R/R & battery and the CCT or Cam Chain Tensioner... As long as those are taken care of, mileage isn't an issue, general condition is...

I had the same dilemma. Everyone kept talking about perfect shape bikes for under $3k. I ended up with a 2000 in great shape for $3200. I wasn't waiting for winter to get here to find the "steal".

This might have something to do with it: https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ad.php?t=22754

First post in the forum:

For comparison data. I just bought a 01 Hawk for 3299 this very weekend. It has 12K miles. Mine is in good shape and is pretty much stock, as I wanted it. I bought it from the only place I could find one. The only thing wrong is the gas gauge does not work. The wire is broken and I am looking for advice about how to fix it. Good luck hunting your hawk!!!

GM

Now that makes sence!! Thank you.... Now if I could just find a RC45 for $500, delivered!!! By the way, love your user name.

What wire/where is it broken? inside the tank? The wire from the tank to the wire harness?

As long as it's just a chafed/broken wire outside, strip/solder/isolate it and it should be back to working order... For the inside depending on what is broken it might be better to replace the sender with a good used one...

Just an update.... Still playing email tag, but did manage to set a time to go check out this bike on Friday. Because of this forum and the R/R issue (hopefully) we are at $3300, from $3700. Again, with 3k miles... one owner, all stock.... I'm there!!! Thanks again for your help. If I do buy this bike, that will mean more threads about things you guys covered years back!!! :confused:

I have an 02 Hawk and it has a trip odometer holding circuit that lays a small draw on the battery when shut down. If the battery and or the charging system is weak, it will drain it till it won't start in about 2-3 days. you can pull that specific fuse to see if that's what's getting you.
I have modded the wiring harness to fit a Suzuki GS500 rectifier cause they have huge fins, nobody cares about them so they are cheap, and they will bolt on the Hawk with the addition of 1 hole. Sitting and not running is worse than high miles on a bike, especially with this crap gas available today.
Hope you join the club, Enjoy the Hawk.

happytrack44, (odo drain) that's good to know.... I have to weed through the electrical crap. As stated in this thread, with knowing the voltage output, I can see if the regulator is doing it's job or not. Thanks again!!

Just an update.... I bought the bike I was asking about yesterday (Friday). The battery is sooooo dead, it's a joke. Anyways, I got him down to $3200, because of the battery. Also, I bought an R1 regulator and need to get a battery. Here's a pic of my new ride... Thanks again for all your help!!!

Very nice! :thumbsup: Did you get the real cowl that goes over the passenger seat?

yep....

You are going to F---ing LOVE this bike! good decision!

nice bike, i recently got an '02 but i wont hurt your feelings by telling you how much i paid for it;) but i love it mine has 11,000 miles on it but i have no problems with it since i got it, my battery was goin dead on me till i got a tender then everything is fine, same color as urs too, lol welcome to the club bra, u will enjoy this bike!