Advice for an old lady who last rode a Shadow 26 years ago.
 

I'm ok with any old lady jokes. Just bring'em on in good fun. I was in a relationship that lastd25 years and I wasn't 'allowed' to ride. Yeah, I'm seeing a Shrinkologist for that one. I couldn't find a car in my price range that wasn't junk. So I looked for bikes. Oh, I live in AZ BTW so it's mostly sunny. Cold don't bother me in the least. I came across an ad for a 98 SuperHawk and thought it was a scam. It was not, just a great deal from a great guy about to buy a house with his wife. I always rode cruisers (my last was a 750 Shadow) and I knew full well this was not going to ride like one.

When I took it out for a test the first thing I did was stall it. (Hey, bitch! Did I mention I'm an old lady!? Deal with it, OK?) After getting it on the road and all the way up to 3rd gear I realized a few things, it was way too powerful, slightly skiddish on purpose for hot riding, I was getting scared when I hit 40mph, and finally I knew at that point I HAD TO HAVE IT!

I took it home Thursday night on hwy try 69 (a real hwy) in 60+ mph wind gusts. Of course I was scared shitless, but did OK. It was like having sex with a 21 year old guy that didn't know shit and was too rough in the WRONG way (I did that in NYC 2 years ago, like the bike, just had to.) The kid lacks serious experience and I'd need to teach him. Well, I ain't teaching shit to this bike. I'm the one who needs to learn everything from how to ride at the correct rmp's to knowing if it has a wet or dry clutch. At the moment I'm the bike's bitch and that muthfa truck'n shit gota change! This old lipstick semi dyke ain't no one's bitch no more! All advice welcome.

Keep the revs over 3K or you are lugging the engine.

Run regular fuel, no need higher octain ratings.

Watch the speedo...the bike is "sneaky" fast, meaning you end up going a bit faster than you think until you get used to it.

Yes the clutch is supposed to be like that...no need to slide it on this bike.

Oh and the real fun starts @ around 7K rpms.

Kim, Welcome to SH Land. Stalling this bike is easy, at first. The clutch does not like to be slipped from stops or launches. It's grabby by nature. You'll get used to it. Just dump it and twist the throttle. The torque will suffice.
I've had a lot of scoots in my 50+ years of riding and racing but my "98 SH is one of my favorites.
You'll find most of the answers you need on this forum.
P.S. What's a semi dyke and it has a wet clutch.

I have three bikes that cover a range from sensible to the VTR; the VTR is the most fun bike that I have. They are pretty reliable, but the achilles' heals are the camchain tensioners, plenty of horror stories about the tensioner letting go suddenly, followed by valve to piston contact. Manual tensioners are not expensive or hard to install, and provide peace of mind.

reply to CaryDG
 

Thanks for answering.
A semi-Dyke is something i made up. I'm totally Bisexual or a new description is actually better "Pan-Sexual" meaning I am interested in the person and it transcends male or female. I confess to not finding transgender persons especially appealing, but have a few TG/TS friends. It might be because some seem a little too self-conscience. OK, enough about human sociological-sexual analytics. ;)

I was asked by a friend if it had a dry or wet clutch meaning was it lubricated or not. A wet clutch likes to be slipped, a dry one does not. On the SH I'm guessing it is lubricated, but as you said it wants to be dumped. That will be fun as it will have more of a racing feel. I'm now keeping the RPM's up and trying to shift quickly with power on. I wants to be shifted very fast. That seems to be the smoothest. It just seems weird going 50 or so in third at 4,000 RPM's and needing to keep it there. I feels better then shifting it to 4th and dropping to 3,000.

The more I ride the more I love the experience.

Thank you for that advice. How would I know that the camchain tensioner is about to go? Some mentioned hearing warning signs. What would it sound like if the Cam Chain itself is about to fail? My SH has 18,500 miles on it. I don't know how to change it or calibrate it if that is even necessary. OK, full confession, I don't even know where it is, but I'm going to find out!

Thanks again!!!
Kim

Hi,

Get a workshop manual . It will become an invaluable resource and help acquaint you with your bike.

Remove the fairings and familiarise yourself with the layout of the bike.

Check the chain and inspect the brake pads, make sure that all your lights are working.

Bounce up and down on the seat and listen for any squeaky noises, the lower shock linkage has bearings in it that require greasing.

Use the manual to ensure that everything is where it should be and as it should be.

Have fun.

This has been bothering me since I first read it. I think there could be a misunderstanding of what you mean with possible bad consequences.

Having the idle set at least to spec or a bit higher (100-150 above that) will help the take off from a stop. Throttle control, important on any bike, but especially so on the SH. Very small amount of twist between on and off.
Better to slip the clutch than stall the engine.

I'm new here, too. "New" and "Old" are fluid terms. I've known 30-something's who are '50'..and fifty-year olds who are '20-something'. If you're talking about the vintage of the 'meat' you're encased in, ok. But don't spend much time worrying about that. There's plenty of others who'll take care of the chore for you. Usually the ones who are significantly younger. They (we) outgrow it.

My understanding is the cct's do not necessarily provide much warning before they 'let go'. The front cylinder seems to be the one that is most susceptible, reportedly from poorer lubrication than the rear. Who knows? It's at least enough of an issue there's an undercurrent of distrust in the SH community regarding the stock items. I just bought a SH. The current owner reports manual cct's are installed.

Good luck with your bike. Slip the clutch to avoid stalling. Take care...

Alan

Welcome... Im in Prescott occasionally as I have a very good friend that lives in the Prescott National Forest area.
Ya 3rd gear at 40 is lugging it with this bike, don't be afraid to run it out a bit.

The clutch on the VTR is a wet clutch, and does not like to be dumped....this is not a drag strip friendly bike... the clutch will chatter like no tomorrow if you release it too fast. The friction zone (yes an MSF term, but thats the program I use to teach 600~700 folks a year to ride with, so its a familiar term) The friction zone is very short, so practice with it at a stand still .. Just roll on a bit and release slowly till you find the friction zone, squeeze and roll off, do that a few hundred times and you'll be good with the clutch on this bike.

There are some common and known weak points on the bike, addressed easily by a competent mechanic or a home wrench with some general experience and willingness to go slow, ask questions.

Research the Cam chain tensioner and regulator / rectifier

Post some pics of the bike, tell us what has been done to it if you know....


And again, welcome.

Respectfully;

Erik

Erik Marquez
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Some claim to hear them about to "go out" Im betting they see alien landings and crop circles as well...LOL

If you ask Honda, the OEM automatic adjusting cam chain tensioners (ACCT) are good for the life of the bike, which is kind of true, if you do not replace them with new ACCTs every so often (good luck guessing the right mileage number, is it 8k? 12k, 20k, or Manual CCT's then your bikes life will end as the spring in the ACCT fails
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...1&d=1492053656
, cams go out of time and valves and piston meet each other.

Manual on top, ACCT on bottom
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...1&d=1492053371


General location of the front CCt
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...1&d=1492053434