James, what are you doing with the rear pegs and brackets/hangers? Staying silver or will they be flat black too? You've got me thinking I'm going to go flat black for the subframe, rear pegs & brackets so it all kinda fades away instead of standing out. Looking forward to seeing your bike all back together. Only thing wrong with your build so far is it isn't yellow.

Silver for now. I thought long and hard about them, and while i'd love to have them black, the simple fact it that the powdercoat will be rubbed off from passenger shoes/boots. So, silver is safer at this point.

My simple motorcycle philosophy is this: whenever you open your garage and look at your bike, it should make you smile. If it doesn't, then sell it and get another one. I've had lots of colors over the years, red continually makes me smile.

James

That looks like its going to be a great bike when you're done.

Thank you!

I can't decide what rear shock to do, but I'm hoping to get it anodized gold like an Ohlins (or just get a used Ohlins)... I may do the same thing with the front forks - USD forks with gold anodized legs, and black bottoms.

James

Wheel is waxed, balanced, and ready to go.

Cush drive is sanded in the sprocket area, and waiting for a new seal.


James

Curious on the gloss wheel/flat swinger look. Will have to wait and see. I personally think your Ohlins shock w/ gold slider fork would look great. Maybe anodize a pair of the danmoto rear sets... :)

The theory is that the flat black frame will fade into the background, and give the red fairings a deeper red look. The gloss black wheels should pop quite a bit in comparison.

I really need to figure out what to do with the front wheel. It looks terrible. Maybe just an F2 front wheel as a temp fix....

James

nice job!

The install....

Final install...

James, just an observation while I'm camping with friends @ a local bike week. I'm seeing my Ohlins remote reservoir near the forks on a 'Busa which are gold coated. The 2 aren't even close. I don't think it would achieve your desired look. If you want me to try to get a pic, lmk.

To comment on the above pics... with your VTR being a work in progress, I think you're on the way to have one cool ass Hawk. Excited to follow along and watch the progress. Thanks for takin' the time to post pics. You definitely peaked my interest in the possibility of doing the swinger brace. Can you share how much you have into ($$) that one mod?

Yes... Pics :)

(FYI - I had planned to re-anodize the forks to match)



James

James

Stop fcuking around with the Hawk & go ride.

In I Da Ho - Winter should be about 5 mins away from now.

And love the Black Erions - I've had mine since new & they still sound good & nary dented when put down - 10 yrs ago.

Fall is Upon us go ride

Attachment 23225

Did 100 miles today with friends from church. Road from Caldwell, Idaho, to Black Canyon Reservoir, then to Horseshoe Bend, then into Eagle, then back to Caldwell.

Superhawk did well. Few things are on my list to fix before the next ride, but overall it was a great time!!!

James

Hey James thanks for the thread.

I have just put my swingarm pieces into the welders.


Without your detailed post I would not have attempted this conversion.


I hope it turns out as good as yours.


Fingers crossed.


Keep on posting any other mods that you do, and as we say here in Oz , "Good on yer cobber"


Keep up the good work!

Great work fella's.

I love the custom work, question is:

Why brace the swing arm? Is the arm flexing that much, and under what conditions?

And the additional concern, what does the significant amount of welding do to the heat treatment/temper of the original swing arm?

Don't be afraid of the USD swap, I went from the opposite side first, the brace swap is coming soon. I have to say the front end swap was the most noticeable change on the track of any of the mods I've done, not to mention the dramatic improvement in the front brakes that comes with it.

Oh and an aftermarket shock didn't hurt either. ;-)

James, I have to apologize. After revisiting this thread I realize I dropped the ball on the remote reservoir/fork pics. Sorry bout that.

Not only have you inspired kenmoore:
Attachment 23086

I just picked up a used 900RR swinger for $32.13 shipped to my door! I think the recycler will give me more than that for the leftover scrap when I'm done!! Looks like a braced arm is in my future too. Thanks again for posting.

Awesome! I got a deal on mine too... I think my local recycler quoted me $10 if it was bare aluminum, no steel involved.

Enjoy the cutting and grinding!

This is probably the most difficult mod for this bike considering the cutting, alignment, amd welding involved... Makes a front end swap easy in comparison!

James

Is it as simple as swapping the bracket?

First install the brace and remove the original superhawk caliper bracket guide.

Then you have to grind off the caliper bracket guide from the 900rr swingarm, and weld it onto the superhawk swingarm.

During this step i used the rear axle and axle blocks to help align the caliper bracket guide. Spot weld it in place first, then slide the axle back and forth to make sure it all functions as it should, staying in alignment the entire time.

James

James;
Did you install a hugger? If so which one? How did it fit? would you do it again or try a different brand, modley, style.

Thanks

love the post. great work thus far. and +1 on the USD swap. now my current venture is the 900rr brace to compliment the great front end. i went with an RC51 SP1 front end because i found the complete front end for sale. much better braking as well.

i agree that this makes the front end swap seem easy. mostly because i dont have the knowledge, tools, ability... to do the welding myself. My trouble is finding someone to do it that wont be careless about it. id really love a motorcycle enthusiast to do it as they might have a little more interest and care more about the outcome rather than just making money. and likely since they wont let me stand over their shoulder while they do it, ive got to explain it really well so i dont have to have it done twice. the brace is one thing but the caliper brackets are what concerns me in terms of having someone else do it. that will be where good explanations come into play. i love what you said about sliding the axle carrier back and forth to make sure things stay aligned. Keep up the great work. really good looking hawk!

I took my parts to a mate who is an alloy boat builder.

Like James I aligned the bracket for the caliper and marked it out exactly where it was to go.


My thoughts were that these guys weld alloy all the time so they should know what they are doing.


If you don't have boat builders find someone who welds alloy all the time.


Mine turned out O.K, and I was really happy.


Try and line everything up before you give it to them and explain that you want to keep the taper at the back of the arm where the brace sits.


That way it looks much better than a squared off look where the brace joins the swingarm at the back.


Good luck.

Thanks for the compliments! I need to update this thread, i've done so many little details that are not listed!

Maybe next year i'll work on the front end. This year i'm focusing on the few final touches on the rear end, amd some little things like a coolant bottle fix. I'll post more pics soon.

James

James-
As long as you're touching on this thread, I have a question for you.
In your turn signal pic, the rear section where the seat unlocks is a black aluminum box. Mine is similar, only silver aluminum- I bought it that way.

I'm guessing that's something that a member did here, and sold? It's before my time. I'm sure it isn't stock, but whoever built it did a good job with the design.
When I owned my ZRX, a lot of guys on the forum there were manufacturing and selling mods for it, most of them very well built.
Thanks! Michael

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...to-3-large-jpg

I think I replied about this in another thread. It's a Competition Werkes (or Lockhart Phillips) Fender Eliminator Kit. It is comprised of a 3 piece stainless steel plate setup.


I had mine powdercoated flat black so it blends in, instead of the shiny stainless...


It's a $100 kit available through any aftermarket retailer.


James

what was it that you used to give the indent for the shock? did you have your welder friend do it or did you do the indent yourself?