New guy looking for advice
 

Hello, and good day to you. I am humbly searching for advice on buying a Super Hawk. I like vtwin Sportbike's and have always liked the super hawk. Well, I recently sold my FZ1 because I need a car thinking I was out of the bike game for a while. lo and behold though I found a used Superhawk for sale that I am thinking about getting. It has been laid down but seems to only need cosmetic stuff. It needs blinkers, mirrors, fork seals, brake lever. It starts right up and has 22k on the odo. The tires are decent as are the chain and sprockets. However it has been outside for a while and seems to be a little rusty and dirty. The seller is asking $1000. It is a 2003 and I live in the southwest. I don't mind fixing it up but I also don't want a headache. Any advice on if this is a good price and what problems I should look out for? Thank you.

If it starts and runs its worth the 1k. Are the fork seals bad from the crash? Is it rideable? You would want to be sure it rode and shifted properly.

You can make it a naked bike like a ducati monster if the fairing is gone. Post up some pics. If you want it and it runs well you should buy it. Its a decent deal.

Don't forget the pics.

Here is the bike. The fluids seem like they havent been changed in a long time. Like I said it starts right up and is rideable, it just needs a few things, I dont think the seals (actually its just the left seal) happened because of the crash. Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

The only critical thing to watch out for with these engines is the camchain tensioners, which can fail suddenly especially on the front head, and lead to bent valves. That bike still has the original tensioners, I swapped mine to manual tensioners soon after buying my bike for the peace of mind. Otherwise it looks in pretty decent order aside from the lack of front fairing and mirrors, and blinkers.

Like Cadbury says,

Install manual tensioners.

Ride it to see if it feels right and tracks true.

Has the Yoshi pipes so it's more than likely been rejected in the carbs.

Looks to be an easy fix , EBay or this forum are good sites for parts.

What are you waiting for ? let us know if you get it.

Welcome !

For $1k I'd get it for parts, at least.

Good deal for 1k, go ahead and take it!

I bought the hawk today. It needs fork seals, turn signals and im gonna change all the fluids. other than that it runs pretty good and aside from a hard shift from 1st to second i really enjoy riding this thing.

Are you sure about the fork seals?

Most times its just dirt or grit that has lodged in the seal.

I have fixed many forks using this tool (seal doctor). They stayed sealed for a long time after using it.

Also change the oil, it may help the shifting.

Thanks Joe, I will try cleaning the seal but alot of oil leaked out and im sure the brake pads are contaminated. Also it seems that the guage cluster is a pre-01 while the bike is an 03 so the temp guage doesnt work and now im not sure of the miles, says 20k but could be more. I am still happy about it because its a blast to ride and at the end of the day it was $1000, I just hate not knowing its history. I plan to change all fluids soon as well as get some blinkers and mirrors, so weird to ride without mirrors.

In some ways, its like a new girlfriend. If you are happy now, don't worry too much about her past.:shock:

What year is the bike? You can probably get a dash for about what you could sell the old one for. Plus the newer bike has a fuel gauge.

I have a thread on here on how to adapt gsxr mirrors that have built in turn signals

Well guys, I started to strip it down and found a problem. The front top fairing stay mount broke off at some point. Crap!

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

You guys think it would work if I got it welded and how much that would cost?

This smells like the start of an oil thread.
The 1,2 shift on the SH is not that great at it's best. As Joe suggested an oil change might help. I switched brands of oil and found a very noticeable improvement.
Having the cowl stay welded should be fine. Just make sure the stay is symmetrical when it's welded.

Looks as though you did good for 1k. After your sort her out, you'll be pleased I'm sure. Don't put off the tensioners, they'll ruin a fine start to a lasting relationship.

IMHO they usually don't just break for no reason. Most likely some impact. If mine I'd buy a new one because If not in perfect alignment you risk stress cracks in the fairing.

:shock:Remember my girlfriend analogy?

Crank, buying a new one wont help its the frame that's busticated.

Yeah a weld would be your only option unless you make it street fighter style.

oh definetly going street fighter. There aren't even any fairings to put on. You think that hole will be ok if I just leave it?

Not really. All the grit and crud that goes in there will destroy your steering bearings. You should cover it somehow. JB weld would do it.

Then just get a fork mount headlight and you are like the superhawk-monster guy.

that's easy enough but I'm just worried that it is somehow unsafe. You think it's gonna be structurally sound to ride?

I would look close for hairline cracks or any damage but I cant see any in the pic. Unless you see other crash damage, it could've been a very specific impact or fracture.

I used to race an sv with a similar frame. I would keep racing it with that glitch.

Well, I have decided to keep building her up. I got some manual CCT's from Krieger and installed those. While adjusting my cam chain I accidentaly rotated the engine backwards. RUHROH, so i ended up taking out my cams and resetting them. Hopefully I have it right, did all the checks. No I got it back together, am adjusting the cam chain tension. How hard do you pull the chain when adjusting tension. I am going for 5-7 MM in tension and If I pull really hard i can get 7 but if im just pulling to what seems a normal limit i can get 4, its sorta confusing.

got it all back together, runs good, just some tapping noise at low revs but I think thats fairly normal for these Superahawks, also the cam chain tension seems ok and changed the oil all that jazz. Shes a runner, taking it to my friendly neighborhood bike mechanic tomorow to see what can be done about the gaping hole in the frame. haha. Thanks everyone here very much. I hope I can return the favor some way. I love this bike. I want to keep it for a long time.