Hello all. I'm a new member to this forum, with a new-to-me Superhawk that I just picked up. It's a '98 that I purchased with the proceeds from a project bike sale: '78 CB750 barn find that I restored and made a tidy profit on.

I'm looking forward to searching through the forum and finding out more about how to get the most out of my bike. After riding it for a few days, here are my first impressions: 1. seems to run quite lean at the low end, and backfires while engine braking; 2. has a bit of trouble shifting from 1st into 2nd (I've already read about some possible mods for this); 3. has enough grin-inducing torque to make me forget about items #1 and 2.

Cheers.

 

Do you still have the pair system hooked up?

The carb set up thread is in the Tech section.

As for the shifting, first when was the oil changed last? If it is fresh and still gives you problems there are a couple of threads that can make things work a little better.

Have fun with your new bike.

 

Thanks for the response. Spent some time having a look to see what's been done and what hasn't. PAIR's been removed. TPS hasn't been changed, as it measures around 980 or so, and the original shear bolts are intact.
Oil is fresh, as the bike had a complete 36,000km service; but oil level was low, so I topped up. Didn't make a huge difference when shifting.
Has a K&N filter, which probably explains the lean condition - didn't have time to take the carbs off but I'm guessing it's still got stock #45 pilot jets. I'm thinking I'll order up a stock air filter to start with and see how she runs. If I decide to do a re-jet of the carbs I'll deal with the TPS then as well.

 

Stock air filter definitely the way to go just remove wire mesh.

 

I think the 1 to 2 shift may just be "normal" for this bike. When I first got mine I thought it was balky too, but I didn't change anything and now I never even notice it. I think it could be a matter of knowing how hard/fast/far to push the shifter through neutral. You'll know after riding it awhile longer.