Hi guys! (New guy checking in)
 

I just bought a 2001 Superhawk two days ago and thought I'd join the forum and say hi. I'm an older guy who rode bikes years ago. I took the wife to some motorcycle races a couple of years ago and she fell in love with the Ducatis and said "you can get one of those." I looked into it and decided I didn't want a Ducati due to the dry clutch and maintenance involved. I narrowed my choices down to a VFR or a Superhawk and found a Superhawk locally on craigslist.
I like the Superhawk a lot. A prior owner apparently changed the sprockets, so I have no idea how fast I am going. Based on the error rate of the odometer while going by mile markers, I believe the speedo reads between 15 and 20% too fast. Eventually, I will change the sprockets and chain back to stock. In the meantime, I am going to pull out an old android phone, load a GPS speedometer app, and use a non-marring refrigerator magnet to mount it to the tank.
I have no idea what maintenance was done to the bike. The bike didn't come with an owner's manual. Is there one in .pdf form? I suppose I should check the valves in the next month or so. Anything else critical that I should check?
Looking forward to being a member of the forum.


Danno

Welcome to the forum, if you search on teh forum you will find all you need to know on this bike.
First here is service manual link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/5u...Manual+OCR.pdf

Critical things to check is the CCT's (Chain Cam Tentioner) see if they are OEM's, have a tendency to fail catastrophically, highly recommended is to install manual tentioners.
another thing is the R&R (Regulator Rectifier) the OEM when fail, you have 50% chance of frying your electrics and some components, there are bunch of options, just search for R&R on here.

There will more input from our great members shortly, got to run now.... Best

Welcome to the forum! I too bought a hawk (without looking for one) after a long, long break from riding after seeing it on CL for $800. Now of course I am partial to them and have moved on to a second example in yellow. Never thought I would own a yellow bike either.
Now, post some photos or "it didn't happen" !:)

Or you could keep the sprocket setup you have and get a plug and play Speedohealer. I found a used V2 (old model) for cheap on this forum. Easy to setup, and you can run whatever you want. I had mine tuned to be perfectly accurate according to the "Speedbox" app on my iphone. (You can use that app to see how far off you really are)

James

Welcome. I would hold off on the fridge magnet thing. Use a solid mount...even a strong magnet takes one little bump to send your phone into a nasty high side. If you do have one strong enough to hold it in place you will risk damaging the paint or the phone itself.

Welcome Danno, where ya from?

Welcome Dano,
If you need a manual I have a spare $23 + shipping. listen to these guys especially the senior members they will never steer you a wrong! Welcome to the clan!

Whoa just realized i was a senior member! Not sure if that's good or not!

James

Seeing the killer mods have already been listed some of the others I have seen a lot of people talk about are thumb screw mods on the carbs and replacing the nuts on the enricher going into the carbs from plastic to metal.

A carb rebuild and sync will be inevitable and those 2 mods are a big plus from what I have read. Perk they are availible from this forum and made by the users.

If you do rides before the sun comes up then upgrading the head light is a plus.

A simple search of the forum will unveil a plethora treasure trove of useful info. I use the hell out of the manual but also search the forum for good ideas and better information than the manual provides.

Note watch the nipples on the petcock assembly during maintenance. Just a heads up. Don't fall victim to it.

Oh and welcome to the forums.

Thanks guys. Here's a pic of the bike. It's fairly stock but it's got a drill bit bafflectomy, Corbin seat, and aftermarket handle risers. https://s31.postimg.org/50gncutqj/20160615_210747.jpg

Also, I am in Michigan.
I have read quite a bit about the cam chain tensioner issue in the past few days. I've read some real horror stories about failures. I will definitely be replacing the CCTs. Every failure I have read, however, has been the front CCT. Interesting issue. I suppose I will replace them with APE manual ones.

It's not the high RPM's that do the stock CCT's in. It's supposedly thought that leaving the bike idling for long periods of time on the kickstand may lead to failures.

There are three things you can do. You can:
1) Replace your stock CCT's with brand new stock CCT's every 30,000 miles
2) Do the "Stopper Mod" on stock CCT's
3) Replace with manual CCT's

Guide to installing manual CCT's (also can be used for stock CCT's)
http://vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28583

Guide to doing the "Stopper Mod"
http://vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19416

Thanks for the advice. I went on ebay and ordered a used stock Honda CCT to take apart and play with and a pair of Kreiger manual CCTs as well. I haven't decided whether to go manual or stopper mod yet. I'm a tinkerer and will take a look at both options. With a manual CCT, I am concerned that vibration will cause it to "unscrew" and back out. If I can find a way to safety wire it or can convince myself it's safe, I might go that way.


BTW, for the stopper mod, is it 8mm or 5/32" round bar stock that's used?


Thanks,
Danno

Lock tight and plenty of it plus the MCCTS have jam nuts to keep them from backing off.

Rest assured, I've had the manuals for years without leaks or movement. And I've never heard of it happening to anyone. Set it, use loctite and you'll be golden.

8mm. Use steel no alloy, and something solid, no tube. Many have used the shank of a 8mm bolt.

If you are worried about the manual CCT's backing off, safety wire them. Simple :cool: