Sadly my Hawk decided to self-destruct over the weekend. I've been looking at the classifieds to see if any are available - so you may see some of my posts there - but wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts or intel on what is the best year engine to look for, if there are any engines that are not compatible with that year, and any advice on what to look for, or out for.

Also wanted to say thanks for all who started and participate in the forum. It has been a great place to learn about all that is Hawk and I appreciate the help!

 

They're all the same.

 

Thanks! I'll keep the search wide open then.

 

Look for my PM

 

I think I read here someplace the '98s have better cam profile, more power.

 

Yep, officially unproven but all signs point toward this being the case... same part number still...

 

What "signs" ...?

 

Yes. Inquiring minds would like to know. I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe 98's have hotter cams.

 

Someone send me a pair of the newer cams, and I'll put that argument to rest permanently...

 

Well, I have a '98... isn't that reason enough lol!

JK, I have no way to personally verify it, and am not necessarily a full believer, I have just seen some interesting points made that the old cams may have a slightly different profile. It was all discussed in this thread:

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...r-23044/page2/

 

Well... I can say for 100% that the two sets of cams I measured where different... One set was the unmodified one's from my 97, and the others pulled from a bone stock 03... Exact numbers is something someone else can figure out, but lift and duration was noticably larger on the older cams, to the point where it's not "tolerances"... So unless someone else can provide better measurements, or wanna send me cams to compare, I'm considering it "Confirmed"... But the difference will be marginal... A couple of odd ponies went away to please the greenies...

 

I had seen some threads alluding to the differences in cams but was not sure. If Tweety has seen them and they are different that's good enough for me. Interesting that the part numbers are the same but depending on how Honda manages their rev control in their MRP system that is certainly possible. If I was mixing and matching to fix the engine I'd be interested if the pistons changed as well based on the lift and duration differences but I'm going to take the easy way out and just swap the whole engine. I used to be a reasonable mechanic but that was long ago in a previous life and I'm out of practice and don't have the shop setup needed for that anyway.

Thanks for the discussion, both here and all other places on the forum. I've been the beneficiary for a year now, lurking I suppose, and never really introduced myself and said thanks yet so here we go...

I've been riding pretty much all my life, minibikes to dirtbikes to Z1's in the 70's, putzed around with aviation maintenence for a while and then worked for Yoshimura for a while building bikes for the Parriot's, Aldana, and Duhamel. Lots of fun, then came kids and single parenthood for a few decades. Fast forward, moved to the SF Bay Area and developing medical devices for biopharmaceuticals. Had a bad accident just after moving here a few years ago and sat it out for a couple, more for those around me than me but had to get back (it is a part of our souls you know...) so I picked up a Hawk via eBay in Indianapolis and rode it back to SF via the Black Hills, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Crater Lake. Great ride, 4200 miles / 8 days, mostly backroads, so relaxing I actually forgot what day of the week it was and had to pull a 961 mile last day to get home in time. Fun stuff, highly recommended. Since then and additional 16K riding in the coastal mountains and commuting to work. The Hawk is by far my favorite motorcycle, had a string of gpz's of various sizes and then a VRF750 until the accident. Loved all of them, but the Hawk is special. So, gotta get and engine and get it running again!

Anyway, thanks for surviving all of that. Just my way of letting you know what bikes mean to me and how much I appreciate how much the forum has helped. Some of you guys put a lot of time and knowledge out there and that it a lot of effort so thanks to all of you, I'll do my best to contribute as well.

My name is Neal by the way, thanks for all.