New Guy Here!!
 

Yoooooo!! bought my first Superhawk 2 days ago!! :D:thumbsup: Super excited but it's been a loooong time since I've ridden. (Don't even have a helmet yet :eek:) Just wanted to drop a line and say hello. Any advice for the forum and Superhawk riders? :p ;)

Hey, welcome to the forum. Buy a helmet.

Welcome to the Super Hawk flock. I spent most of my summers as a kid in Pacifica at my grandparents. I've ridden my Super Hawk (amongst many other bikes) through your great little town. It's at the northern end of one of greatest MC roads in Cali. Hwy 1! In fact I just passed there last weekend. I usually try to do the SoCal to San Francisco ride every other month or so. It makes for a great weekend ride. There's some great info, help, and resources in this forum, from the need for MCCT's to jetting. Heck, they even know what color is fastest!

:welcome:
Post a couple pics so we can see it!

If you wanted a big V twin, you should have bought a Ducati.
Oh yeah, welcome.

i have a ducati 1098 but prefer riding my hawk. :)

Thanks for the greetings everyone. I knew this bike would be a little work. Didn't get a good sense that the previous owner had the same "standard of care" that I'd expect for myself. But she had the right look and right price, so I took the plunge. It's been an interesting few days...

- Spent hours in O'Reilly's with my phone trying to figure out which oil to get. Now I get @VTR1000F signature regarding no posts about oil. :p For the record, I went with regular Castrol 10w40 and Mobile 1 filter. (Only after returning Valvoline 20w50 and learning not all v-twins are the same. :) )

- Battery was dead. Had to jump start and it ran *just* okay until it went dead again. Battery checked out okay so now I'm hunting gremlins with a multimeter. Early prognosis points to alternator :mad: but have a few more checks to verify. Kinda pissed the previous owner didn't disclose the electrical issue but can only blame myself for not being more thorough. All part of the risk from buying on Craigslist.

- Hearing about 50 different crash stories from friends and family. :rolleyes: I shouldn't be surprised, the intentions are good and comes with the territory. But if I hear one more story about lane splitting... :violin:

@CrakenFine requested some pics. She's all original (which I love) and plan to get her spit shine clean like Craken's. I'll keep adding more as she gets cleaned up. There's chain goo splatter and road grime everywhere but I know there's a pretty face behind it all. :)

@CaryDG, I love this town. Only been here 5 years but plan to stay for the next 30+. Hwy 1 is a big reason why I got the bike. :thumbsup: As someone who grew up in Texas, it still blows my mind to gaze out at the vast ocean. :D (or as my kids and I call it..."the big blue")

http://cl.ly/10383U1Y2O34/vtr-R-R-smallish.png

Replace with later finned version or or even better still a mosfet R/R

Pretty sure this has been noted before, but deserves another as it is so apropos. SH1T, says it all.

A brand new finned version, for me anyway, lasted no longer than the non finned version that it replaced. My advice is to go mosfet NOW.

Also if the battery was flat and even though it might show 12V after charging it could still be damaged if it's been let to go flat before.

Motorcycle Battery Maintenace Guide - Motorcycle Maintenance Guide

Consider replacing with a new battery before it bites you in the bum leaving you stranded.

Ha! I thought SH1T was a joke at first. R/R is new to me. Any previous posts you can point me to on how to troubleshoot/replace? :thumbsup: Thanks in advance.

There is a stickie in the knowledge base on this very subject.
The search function on here IS your friend.
;^)

Nice, it's lucky you bought one in the fastest color. (Don't listen to any of the nonsense here about the yellow ones!) :cool:

Joe,

Welcome aboard, I can see another candidate for the OCMD club.

Be warned, it all starts out innocent and before you know it you are tinkering with things.

There are some classic cases of it documented on here, myself being one, so enjoy the ride !

The VTR is a cracking good all rounder !

Welcome to the forum!. I met Joe already. He was loading up his new Hawk as I walked into my employer's parking garage after he purchased it from a fellow employee who I do not know well. Quite the coincident. The bike looks undamaged and in good condition. A little deferred in the maintenance area perhaps, but "unmolested" as they say. A solid bike to allow the OCMD to begin.
Too bad it's not yellow.:)

Welcome to the forum. I met Joe already. He was loading up his new Hawk as I walked into my employer's parking garage after he purchased it from a fellow employee who I do not know well. The bike looks undamaged and in good condition. A little deferred in the maintenance area perhaps, but "unmolested" as they say. A solid bike to allow the OCDM to begin.
Too bad it's not yellow.

bike looks clean

Welcome aboard Joe. Once you get your electrical gremlins exorcised, you might want to consider fitting manual camchain tensioners. After the charging system, the camchain tensioners are the Hawks next weak spot. Where some models of bike suffer from poor tensioners and make unpleasant noises but keep running OK, the Hawk has a reputation for loosing chain tension suddenly, which allows the chain to jump on the teeth, and often results in unwanted piston to valve contact.

Welcome
 

IS that my bike!? Seems like a lot of red ones around. when you get it running Check into the tps and filter. Changed my life.
As E.Marquez said set tps to 500 ohm balance the carbs and change the filter.
Everything you need to know to fix that bike is on here. Including the shop manual.

Safe riding and yeah non riders will tell you a bunch of gobbedy goo. Bad bike accidents happen but so do car accidents.

I do have a suggestion AGAAT All gear at all times. My gloves saved my pinkey from being nubbed down. Its almost healed up and not a scratch on me or the bike.

I did notice that his bike already has some kind of nice looking red anodized MCCTs.
Have you bought a helmet and ridden the bike yet? Joe? Let go of some more money now and get some gear.

IT'S ALIIIIIIVE!! :woo:
I've been laying low, taking my time to troubleshoot the electrical issue. Embarrassingly, it was the battery. :mad: Before anyone judges, :p the parts store did a test on the old battery and it checked out okay. So for the past week, I've been troubleshooting R/R, stators, fuses, etc. until I finally said, eff it, let's try a new battery. Bam! She fired right up. I learned a lot so I'll be ready when the R/R *does* fail. I'll probably go ahead a replace it with MOSFET.

Using a choke was new to me. I know what they're about but had to play around to find the right temperament. Love the V-twin sound. I got a used helmet for now and took a ride around the neighborhood. Nothing crazy, just getting my bearings back. Felt great!!

With the "electrical" ( damn battery :( ) stuff out of the way, time to give some TLC and get her cleaned up. Previous owner took off the chain guard and never washed the bike so there's road grime splattered front to back. It'll be good fun. Crack open a few beers, go through the whole bike cleaning and inspecting, maybe even put on some Marvin Gaye. :cool: :p

@Hangfly, yes! I need gear! Any upcoming gear swaps? I might head down to Cycle Gear in RWC but I really don't want to buy new until I know exactly what I want. Oh yeah, and I still need an M1 license. :-p

Thanks again for the greetings. I'll post a before/after album of the clean up. though nothing like @fastguy59's clean up :eek: SuperHawk Forum - Fastguy59's Albums
that is effing super sweet clean!!

Joe,
Glad you are making progress.
There may be risk with "waiting until the RR fails". Some here have stories of battery and other component damage after a RR failure. Just FYI.
I used a finned RR from a Yamaha off Ebay for cheap.

Dan

Yes, look at the bad R/R stories. You don't want to just leave it until...oops my gauge cluster is fried, or my battery is fried, or...
Do not wait

Also, the "choke" on this motorcycle is actually an enricher. When you pull on it, it alows more fuel into the carbs. This fact will also help a lot while tuning.