Getting started in San Diego

[Henway]

Once you get the cap off, if you don't have the correct key for it all you do is disassemble the barrel of the lock and take out the springs and tumblers, then any Honda-shaped key will open it (as will a screwdriver if you try) Even with pricey gas, who steals it from a motorcycle in the US nowadays?

[ricksax]

Gas cap options after you fix the tank:
1. Billet aluminum. I'm running a $20 Chinesium one. Doesn't lock, saves about a pound of useless weight.
2. I might sell you my take-off cap, but you would have to re-key. I think it is a common part used on a lot of other Hondas in the 90s, so you could just search the part no. on the web once you get it off. Only three of the Allen bolts actually hold it on.

[6]

Good luck. We love a good hawk redemption.

If you think you may need a tank start looking now. They are getting harder to come by and I have yet to see a very successful way of dealing with a rustybhawk tank at home. Even some that are sent out for repair continue to be issues.


You will find just about anything you could need here.

Keep us posted.

[sfdownhill]

Thanks guys. Fresh cans of PB Blaster arrived today, so the lather-with-penetrant, rinse, repeat on the tank cap lock begins today.

[bones]

Welcome back and good luck with your new project.

[69Falcon]

Welcome aboard! Nice to see one getting saved. Spray some penetrating lubricant into the tank lock, let it sit. Then just keep working the key in and out to free it up. Lather rinse repeat.

[sfdownhill]

Greetings Hawk folks. I came around these parts to sign up for the forum and found I’d already joined up back in 2018 - who’d a thought? Can’t remember why I joined.

I come from a checkered history of VFR forum life - my username is also sfdownhill on vfrdiscussion and vfrworld. I’m here because I recently re-re-acquired a 1989 Italian Red R-157 Hawk. I bought this bike in 1997 for my brother, who commuted on it for a couple years before impending offspring removed motorcycle riding from his approved activities. I bought it back from him and gave it to my office manager, who wanted it instead of a cash bonus. I like the way he thinks. It languished mostly unridden, then was sold to an acquaintance, then was sold to the next door neighbor of the now former office manager. The neighbor parked it and left it - again unridden - under a tree for what looks to be several years.

The good news is that it appears - shockingly - that no one has dropped it in the last 24 years. The OK news is that it doesn’t seem to need any more restoration than your average neglected 32 yr old motorcycle. The bad news - so far - is that the tank cap is frozen and, once the tank is removed from the bike, it sounds like a percussion instrument when shaken - lots of solids bouncing around inside.

That’s more than enough for a start. Super glad to be here, and am looking forward to participating in the community.