Meet "One Down"- with pics 'cause I'm an attention whore!
 

I just joined up after purchasing my '98 SH. It has 13K miles, with a storied past. The original owner crashed it and died 6 weeks after buying it. The owner of the Honda dealership bought the wreck and fixed it up and rode it till last year. Pretty much just the engine and radiators are original to the bike. I got it with a really poor attempt at a 2-1 exhaust, and an even uglier headlight. I really dig the naked street fighter look, and have always hated fairings of any type, and so I will be keeping that look. This is how it looked when I got it:

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I dug around locally and on E-bay and found some replacement parts I could live with. The crown jewel I found was a full TBR exhaust off a wrecked VTR for $85 delivered. That single improvement made this bike outstanding. It no longer sounds like an anemic lawnmower. I am hoping for a good HP gain over the 2-1. I have the dyno sheets from that setup which show 97hp @ the rear wheel. I am told the TBr exhaust can do much better than that, so I will be dynoing soon to see. Additionally, I have replaced the headlight and turn signals, pared the PAIR, and tuned it up (synch, TPS, plugs, etc). I have a new RH rad and fan on order to replace the bunged up units on this one, and until that time have a "ghetto custom" scoop on the LH rad. It cools ok. Here is how the bike looks now:

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I have a "pretty bike", so this one will stay but ugly for now. I am more interested in the performance of this one, and will not concentrate on the hoopdy stuff until this winter. I paint bikes as well, and so I will probably change this to black with a polished frame eventually, when I can stand to have it down for awhile.

Oh, here are b&a pics of my "classic" yamaha XS1100
before:
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after
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It is a my 1980, cafe, supertuned with an ORIGINAL Yoshimura race exhaust! Midnight pearl, electric orange, and gold leaf.

Anyway, thanks for the cool site! Nice to meet some fellow VTR owners!

Damn dude, good job on that yamaha. Lookin forward to what you can do with your VTR.

Nice work on the Yamaha, welcome to the site!

Not sure if it's caused by the camera or what, but the headlights and front wheel don't look like they are pointed in the same direction, like the forks or the headlight bracket are twisted?

Nice Yam. I always liked those bikes. Great job!

Those rads look pretty banged up!

Great restoration. Great looking ride.

Thanks for all the props guys! The XS11 is a stalwart old bike, just a little on the scary side when trying to keep up with R6's. Those bias tires just have too much sidewall, so lean angles are only so much. But it is really cool to buzz around on, and has respectable power (86hp @ the wheel), so I will be keeping it.

The rads are pretty banged up on the VTR! I have a new RH one and fan inbound, and I haven't yet decided on an underseat rad mod or not. Part of me wants to keep two naked radiators, since it is a VTR, but I will have to do something to make them look like they are supposed to be there. We will see....
The headlight does not move with the forks, since it it mounted to the steering neck on the frame. So it always points dead ahead, and doesn't move with the wheel. It is kind of odd, I guess, since most lights do move with the forks.

I am thinking of reworking the tail. I want to either bob it to a solo seat, or increase the seat angle and really reduce the plastic. Having built cafe bikes I am really into bare essential bikes. So I don't really want any more on here than I need.

Again, thanks for all the kind words. This appears to be an awesome forum!

Welcome!

I love your cafe'd Yamaha. How is the torque reaction on hard acceleration and decel? I was behind one of those several times while commuting many years ago, and I noticed major torque reaction. I suppose a good pair of shocks would help.

I've had 3 shaft drives, CX500 (modded for canyon racing), CB700SC Nighthawk and BMW R100RS, and none of them had noticeable torque reaction.

With the SuperHawk, as you know by now, it's all about the torque. You'll have fun on it no matter what you do to it.

Welcome, and congrats on the Hawk - but bigger kudos for that flippin' Yam! Fantastic - I wish I had that foresight and talent....

Thanks again guys! The old Yam is no slouch, but it is kind of like riding a pogo stick through a corner. Had her to a comfortable buck twenty-five yesterday, and it seemed to enjoy it! I have thought about a 'Busa front end for it, and have decided that enough is enough. It is a 1980, and I am going to keep it that way. Enter the Superhawk!

I got a new RH radiator today, with fan. I can now ride all the way across town in one shot! I will probably ride it this way till winter, and then give it a facelift. I don't really have the time right now.

Speaking of which, are there many custom painted Hawks on here? I dabble a little in that, but I would like to see a few of the others, just to see how they come out. I can'te seem to envision much on the SuperHawk. Some help in this regard would be greatly appreciated! Here are a couple little jobs I have done recently (I warned you about photos!):

V-star 1100
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XS360 built for my wife
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The torque reaction is not bad, but it is there. I have it sprung really stiffly to counteract that, so it is manageable. Some people report a lot of problem with a "hinge" effect in corners, but I have found that is more rider input than the bike itself. You definitely have to commit to the corner, because changes mid corner can cause big problems in handling. Beyond that, I really like the shaft drive for its simplicity.

Yes, the simplicity of maintenance of shaftdrive. My SuperHawk is the first bike I've owned with a chain. Pain in the ass, in my opinion, but I wouldn't trade the performance for anything. Compared to the SuperHawk, my '83 BMW R100RS handled like an 18 wheeler.