99Shawk

Hello all,

First of all, I want to say, Ive been lurking around these forums for a couple months now and you all are incredibly helpful. Im a new rider and my SH is my first street bike. Ive been riding dirtbikes for a while, but have never owned my own, and the transfer from dirt to street can be a bit intimidating. I like to stick to the canyons, a nice sport riding and around town balance. Im not into track days or anything like that.

I started searching for bikes a while back and fell in love with the hawk. I loved that it was a big enough bike for me to both fit (im 6'4") and for me to grow into as my riding ability gets better and I wanted several good quality years out of it. I found myself a 99 Superhawk, bone stock with the exception of Flush mounts, integrated rear taillight/signals, and a Baffelectomy for $2500 here in NoCo. I love the bike so far, but have found a few small issues that I want to fix. So I started my off-season laundry list of things to do do get it set up for me.

After reading up quite a bit from you guys, I built this list...

- Manual CCTS (my bike has 28000 miles on it, so its definitely due.) Im not exactly sure what noise indicates the need to replace but I feel like its a little noisier under the tank thank it should be. Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.
- Jet kit, The baffelectomy was a little shotty, and Ive heard and read that a jet kit is not necessarily needed with one, but is helpful. Plus I plan to fit a 2bros system over the winter.
- Exhaust kit, 2 bros M-2 slip-ons
- New Chain and Sprockets, What are your opinions on 530 vs. 520 setups? Obviously weight reduction is a factor but im not really into track days or anything where weight is a huge factor. I just want it to last a while and perform well.
- K&N filter kit
- Respring front forks, The one thing that Im really disappointed in was the soft Front suspension. For a 208lb rider, its not uncommon to bottom out... I hate that sound.
- SS brake and Clutch lines

What I wanted your guys input on, was what other things should I check out when I tear it down this winter? Any other preventative maintenance I should take care of right away? things to look out for? ID love some feedback.

And thanks again for all your help, I look forward to years of riding on this awesome bike

7moore7

Welcome to the forum! Another member just joined who bought a superhawk as their first bike, may as well not repeat it, but the bike is a beast so be careful!

Auto CCT's don't give any warning noise before they go generally. Maybe a few seconds, but nothing indicating that they are on their last leg. On an i4 bike, they rattle a whole bunch after they've gone, but on the supehawk they are working or your motor just goes. You're probably just hearing general motor noises that are usually strange the first time on different bikes

Before you spend money on a K&N or any jet kit, read 8541Hawk's carb setup thread. These huge 48mm carbs are picky, and more often than not people have a hard time trying to tune for the K&N, and properly setup carbs with stock parts do very well. That gives you more funds to spread to other parts of the bike (like suspension and brakes, like you indicated). Tuning for slip-ons or bafflectomy isn't that much different from stock, so you don't need a jet kit to get it to work (and I would argue no noticeable difference from an otherwise stock motor, although I personally have no hard data to back that up so take it for what it's worth).


I personally go with a 530 setup, especially for the street. I put on enough miles and like to keep the chain wear down. This is a big pulsing v-twin, so it is harder on chains than i4's or smaller bikes. The weight of the chain is the price you pay for that, and no matter what people say about their longetivity, all else being equal, 530's last longer (No arguing physics. More material= more resistance to wear). For people who want to get the edge on their rotational weight, a 520 conversion makes sense and does have it's benefits. You can also go with something like a supersprox rear sprocket which has an aluminum center but steel teeth.

You can lighten the flywheel as a relatively inexpensive mod that gives you a little more "go". As far as maintenance, you are at the mileage to check your valve clearances. If you have a stock R/R, it may be time to upgrade it. Adjust your TPS. Maybe shim your rear shock (not until you sort the front suspension, though). Eastern Beaver headlight relay (makes your headlight way brighter). Those are all fairly easy and relatively inexpensive. More instruction is found on the forum on all of them.

99Shawk

Good info, thank you! Ill be reading up on that Carb thread. What do you mean by R/R, sorry not to up on the lingo yet haha

7moore7

Regulator/rectifier. It's what converts your AC current from the stator to DC current for the battery. It is a known failure part on this bike (and many Honda's). Read Tweety's Mosfet R/R thread for more info.

99Shawk

Ahh, another good one, my laundry list is growing... I'm excited for this and I'm excited to see the gains next season!

Spoot