Hawk not stock, It's been lowered :(
 

After taking a couple of weeks to get aquainted with the Hawk and finish off the stock tires before putting it away for the year (new buns are top of the list for spring) I find out the bike has been lowered.

After a spirited ride I noticed the following things.

1. The stock brakes are not confidence inspiring. I had read that here before so expected to notice once the pace picked up. New pads and Stainless Lines are on the list.

2. The bike with the Yosh RS-3's with inserts out is much more responsive but loud even with ear plugs. Also noticed the idle is about 1500rpm with the inserts out. Any idea what it should be? Sounds a little high.

3. Front end is skittish. Figured it is partly due to the 7 year old tires but then a friend noticed the rear shock had a lowering link on it. I have never had a bikes height altered before and suspect this is partly to blame for the weird feeling handling. Anyone ride a stock Super Hawk and then lower it have any advice on how much of a difference it makes? I think it sits nice and is probably more comfortable this way as I have no comfort issues with the bike and I am 6ft 1".

4. I get a little decel popping with the inserts out but I don't think I want to mess with the PAIR system at all because we do get a fair bit of rain up here. I know the forum has info on the PAIR so I will research exactly what the mod does before I decide to do it or not do it.

5. This is the most fun I have had on a street bike! Close enough to RC51 power/sound on the street and with the chassis needing so much work to be a good handler it keeps things interesting even at sane road speeds in the twisties.

Love the Hawk!

if the bike was lowered just in the back you would get a lazy turn in....beginning of the season i had a front tire that was on its way out, weather cracking etc etc. totally uninspiring in the corners, as you said, very skitish...

post a pic of the rear shock linkage you are talking about and we can tell you if that is what it is or just the standard set up links. Or search for the link to the online manual ( or get the fiche page on ronayers.com) and see if the linkage is just the stock setup or not. At your height, I would think it would seem quite low if it had been lowered. honda uses some type of shock link and all its road bikes, not necessarily a lowering link though. I doubt your friend could tell by just looking.

I wouldn't be cornering very hard on 7 year old tires. And I agree with cliby.

I wouldn't ride to the store on 7 year old tires, much less try to assess a bike's handling characteristics. Get some new tires and then deal with the other issues later.

Idle should be around 1250. There are lots of mods you can do to the front brakes to improve them for not a lot of money if you take your time, search here and then search ebay.

Like every one else said, post pics on here so we can help and then get new tires.

shop manual says idle should be 1100 +-100

What do PAIR and rain have to do with each other???

My first thought too...

HC(unburned gasoline) + O2 = H2O and CO2.

So if the PAIR is functioning you are producing more water. Adding to the rain.

Sorry, once a teacher, always a teacher.:rolleyes:

my hawk came with a lowering kit. it's a piece that replaces where the dog bones would be. it is like a bolt with two nuts that go up and down. i measured a stock hawk and found it to be 17.75" from plastic rivet in the bottom of the tail fairing to top rear of swing arm. i rode it lowered a couple times and it is very sloppy, nothing like stock height.

Hahaha on the rain jokes fellas. I read the quote below on a PAIR removal thread and that is where I got the info. Not true?

Quote from SHF Member, Firehawk.
"Did mine recently, and yes it revs smoother,response better & less popping; however, now can't ride in the rain much because the engine tends to choke & croak on me due to the water splashing in somewhere!
Never had this with my ole zx6-d & I do enjoy riding in the rain; now with the hawk,can only ride through the drizzle instead:( somebody help me, please"

Wow! Not true. Something else was removed if he was having problems with water getting into the intake. Perhaps he removed the airbox snorkel or left something else unhooked after he de-PAIRed his Super Hawk.
Now go get some new tires.

The 7 year old stock tires are just hitting their stride. I have the centres almost down to the cords and there is a sweet cupping effect on the left side of the front that makes the front end feel like it's on stutter bumps when I corner hard on the left. That's ok though because that is the only part of the tire with any grip left. :shock: jk, but not by much.
I haven't got my race stands yet so was going to stop riding and let the bike sit on the old tires for our 3 month winter (mostly rain) and get the new rubber when I hit the road again. That means I have to stop riding this very fun bike on sunny 13C (55F)degree days here in Victoria. Hard to do but it must be that way. I have put 400+ miles on these tires in the few weeks I have had the bike and I know better.

I plan to scour the site for tire info but probably going to try the Diablo Corsa III's.

Diablo Corsas are good if you can get them on sale. This weekend Cycle Gear had them for 199 a pair. (both tires) And they do that regularly.. (every 3 months or so) Most of my friends are running these.

I actually have Pilot Power 2cts on my bike, as I was able to get them for a reasonable price. But once my rear gets worn out I will be going to a Pilot Road 2 in the back.

As for brakes, SS lines and pads may not be enough.. And the pads are not likely to work with any upgrades you do. I recommend getting one of the easy MC + caliper swaps. (F4i, RC51, 929/954, 00-01 GSXR1000 or 01-03 GSXR600-750 if I recall correctly) Any one of these will be a huge improvement and some are cheap off ebay. The Honda ones need a tiny bit of grinding of the caliper to fit, the Suzuki ones are direct bolt on with a need to fabricate a reservoir mount.

High idle and popping with the inserts out sounds like its running lean off throttle. You may need to rejet or at least increase on the fuel/air mixture to prevent being too lean on the low end. I went from 2CT's to Road 2CT's and the only difference is twice the life. Everyone has a favorite so do your own research. The best tires are the ones you are confident with. Cheers

i'll second the road 2s

Superclean,
Living in Victoria, BC, I'm sure you must have ridden the Pacific Rim Highway over to Tofino. My wife and I drove a rental Blazer to Tofino about 5 years ago at Christmas, she has cousins in Victoria. We got light snow coming back over the pass. I was thinking the whole time how fun that road would be in good weather, as long as traffic is light. You must have a lot of good twisty roads up there.

I have a similar story about travelling Pacific Hwy 1 in a rented Toyota Prius enroute to Laguna Seca. Pained me to be caning the little prius and not riding something with 2 wheels.

Incredibly I have not ridden to Tofino. I have driven many times as we are usually camping or going to a resort and my fiance doesn't ride. Lots of guys do the ride from Victoria to Tofino and back in a day (about 8-10 hours). Can be an exciting ride with lots of deer and I even know a guy that hit a black bear on that road on his VFR and lived to tell the tale. There are many great roads up here and as far as riding seasons go in Canada we are pretty lucky.

you have the best riding season in canada. in moncton i have two months of bike season, and eight months of snowblower season.

Well, what probably happened to that dude is that when he removed the tank and his PAIR system he altered the length and/or routing of his tank vent hose. When it rained the hose would hold and/or suck up water from the front tire and then would get vacuum lock on his tank. That's the most likely scenario and the answer to your question.

So, no, removing the PAIR crap won't affect your riding experience in the least. It will reduce popping from the exhaust on decel, that's all.

If your bike was lowered then I would definately return it to standard geometry.

You may have read about the shock spacer mod that many of us do. This mod helps the steering on the VTR, which is a bit slow with standard geometry. If your rear has been lowered and the front end left standard it will be even worse. At your height a raised rear will be no problem. I have a shock spacer, custom thicker seat, am 3 inches shorter than you, and I can put both feet flat on the ground.

You will be surprised at how much better the bike is when it is set up with good geometry. I would check to see if yours has been messed with.

Too chilly today to get a picture of the lowering mount but I will in the next day or so. I figured the lowered rear is why the bike feels so funny and it will probably be inexpensive to return to stock. Wonder if the extra weight on my wrists will be worth the change?

I've got a great story about Tofino.

While there, staying at the Long Beach Lodge, we picked up a piece of gravel between the rotor and splash shield on the right front brake of our rental Blazer. The local auto repair shop was closed for Christmas, but we came upon a tow truck at the convenience store and he said to follow him back to his house in the middle of the forest. He removed the front wheel, extracted the chunk of gravel and even torqued the lugs to spec. And he's doing all this outside in the rain.

I asked how much, and he said don't worry about it. So I stuffed a $10 bill under the collar of his German Shepherd before we left.

the dog prob enjoyed the $10 more than the kid's homework. seriously, that was very nice of that guy. $10, you're cheap! hahahahhahaha

get that hawk back to tock height immediately! there is no doubt that the handling is horrible on a lowered hawk. i hope you have the easy adjuster like me. let us know how it goes.

oh, remember to check your chain slack after changing height.

It was $10 Canadian too, but hey, I figured it would buy a 6 pack.:cheers:

$10 for a six pack sounds about right for canada, nb anyway. stateside $10 gets you a 24! USA USA USA quebec too(for beer and ladies)

depending on when you gave that $10cad, that might have only been $6.20usd! right cheap!!! hahahahahaha

Here are 2 pics to help with diagnosis. On the left side of the shock mount it has the letters MBB stamped into it. I also have the letters MBBA showing up on the inside of my tail fairing right beside Honda ABS plastic so maybe the shock mount is stock.

The guy that told me it was lowered has had a couple of Hawks and was looking at it and said something looked funny and it was about the second time he saw it he got under and looked at the linkage that he told me it had been lowered. Your opinions are appreciated though.

Cheers!