Interchangeability of Hawk/F2/F3 forks

[69Falcon]

So I was reading on a cbr 600 forum last night; they were saying F3 internals will fit in an F2 fork. Which got me wondering if F3 internals would fit in a Hawk fork. Although on that forum they weren't talking specific years, and I know that '94 F2 forks got cartridges, so I'm wondering if it is only the '94 F2 that can swap with the F3. At any rate, thought I'd ask if anyone knew definitively. I've got to believe that there wouldn't be such a market for GVE if they were interchangeable.

[dbooth914]

I was working on a similar problem when I got a 94 F2 fork off of ebay that was slightly bent. After i had send it of to be straightened, I came to understand from Dimitry and JanM, that any F2/F3/Hawk fork can use the F3 cartridge (maybe others as well). There's a check valve in the bottom of the tube, that must be removed.

I saw another post from JanM that the later F3 forks (97- 98?) had a better cartridge.

I did not go this route, as my fork was easily straightened.

[Johnny5]

My memory could be completely off but... as I recall when BTT and I were talking about upgrading the front end on my old hawk you could do the F3 uppers and internals in the stock lowers. I can't remember if you HAD to use the F3 uppers but I think you did. Not sure if that answers your question... lol

[scientist_on_motorcycle]

My memory could be completely off but... as I recall when BTT and I were talking about upgrading the front end on my old hawk you could do the F3 uppers and internals in the stock lowers. I can't remember if you HAD to use the F3 uppers but I think you did. Not sure if that answers your question... lol

You definitely need to use the F3 uppers when installing the F3 internals into the Hawk lowers.

[Hawk04]

Maybe this could help:
F3forks2.jpg
F3forks1.jpg

[JanM]

It is easiest to reuse the F2 or F3 cartridge together with the F2 or F3 stanchion, but you can modify (irreversibly, though) the Hawk stanchion to accept F2 or F3 cartridges.

I prefer the F3 cartridge over F2 due to different oilpaths, but usually prefer F2 pistons over F3 pistons due to larger ports in F2... and still the cartridges can be further modifed to include separate compression and rebound adjustment, one in each fork leg.

But, aftermarket companies are now supplying cartridge solutions that are direct fit to stock Hawk forks without modifications, so I would probably prefer to work with those over 20 year old stock cartridges that require rebuild and respec'ing...

[JanM]

Nice pictures, Remy!

[dbooth914]

Hi Remy,

Do you have the entire F3 article? Honda NT650 Hawk GT F3 fork tube upgrade

http://www.hawkworks.net/tips/F3forks/F3forks.html

There are a few posts where people are looking for the last few missing pages.

[edubGT]

I have done this conversion on my bird. I used that very same pic from above in post #5. I got some straight 95' F3 forks and swapped the F3 uppers + internals into my Hawk lowers. I wanted to keep the stock front wheel (I actually like the stock wheels, mine are red). I wanted to use the F3 uppers because I wanted the rebound adjustment along with the preload adjustments. I also changed my springs out to Racetech .90 springs and installed new slide bushings. I also replaced my head bearings with tapered ones.

You could also install gold valves. These will give you rebound/compression adjustment. As for preload, you can install F2 fork caps onto your stock Hawk uppers (so you can adjust the preload on the top of the forks). You can actually send in your stock Hawk forks to Hord and they can install the gold valves and racetech springs in your hawk uppers. There are many different ways you can incorporate F2/F3 forks in the Hawk. It all depends on what you want.

[Hordpower]

You can mix and match just about anything you please when it comes to forks. Like Jan says, it's easiest to use F3 (or 94 F2) upper tubes and cartridge guts. And stock, they will be an improvement over stock Hawk forks. But they work better when revalved. Now that we know CBR650 aftermarket cartridges are almost drop-in, that's probably the best way to go if you want higher end workings.

My FZ-07 has GSXR 43mm Showa caps turned down and threaded for the stock 41mm KYB tubes, with 675 cartridges and F2 preload adjusters and cartridge rods shortened and re-threaded. So you can do just about anything! lol

[Dmitry]

Any 41mm fork can be mix-n-matched, not sure why this is suddenly a new topic, dropping F3 cartridge fork upper in to Hawk lower has been a "thing" for 20 years.

I have used a set of Hawk upper tubes on the CBR1000F with cartridge to replace bent uppers, this was 20 years ago...

NSR/VFR400 hybrid is on my NSR

various VFR/CBR variations installed on SV's over the years...

Why no one is jumping on F3 cartridge? Because it needs a new valves (2 per fork) stock valves have tiny passages or my have bleed holes, either way they need to be replaced, set of Gold Valves from Racetech might cost more than set of Gold Valve Emulators, and this is on top of having to purchase a cartridge fork and pay someone to modify the valving

[69Falcon]

I've mostly seen folks swapping out the entire fork and wheel, so I thought I'd ask. Brought to light (at least for me) JanM's comments about the 2014-16 CBR650F Ohlins cartridges practically being a bolt on and go. Never hurts to teach an old dog new tricks, even if there are other dogs that knew the trick before.

[hnm]

I've mostly seen folks swapping out the entire fork and wheel, so I thought I'd ask. Brought to light (at least for me) JanM's comments about the 2014-16 CBR650F Ohlins cartridges practically being a bolt on and go. Never hurts to teach an old dog new tricks, even if there are other dogs that knew the trick before.

I have found two cartridge kits available for the cb650f 2014-2016:
- Ohlins FKS210/NIX22
- Andreani Misano Fork Cartridge Kit (Showa) (14)

Also interesting:

https://650f.bike/threads/redoing-forks-ohlins-kit.448/

But i'm not sure yet if the cb650f & Hawk/cbr600f2/f3 forks are interchangeable...

[bk94si]

Maybe this could help:
F3forks2.jpg
F3forks1.jpg

I would keep the fork protectors too.

[SPA]

Here's Racetech's listing for late model F3 including revalve w their G2-types 1 or 2 or G2-R gold valve kits that are custom buildable, tech support by phone and email included.

based on your weight and riding type they will supply a build sheet, including your proper spring weight for the build.

( no sense in revalving the stock springs )

Racetech lists and sells their products at MSRP but you can find both springs and g2 valves on Amazon for a good deal less.

hint: use the racetech part number in your Amazon search

http://www.racetech.com/ProductSearc...R600F3/1997-98