Bought a Hawk sitting 15+ years outside.. need your help..

[emiller]

Hello Hawk enthusiasts, I bought this sad neglected bike Sept 2021 as my duty to the Emperor of Japan to save... it's my second sympathy buy, the first was in '17, an abused 88 with 25k mi that had had no repairs made ever (it seems) but it was all stock and complete. This one is going to be more of a challenge. The owner had died and his friend was clearing out his stuff..it appears to have been laid down on the left side, and it bent the shift rod that protrudes from the left side of engine, and broke something inside as the engine only turns about 45° before hitting something internally.. Seems to have only 11k miles.. I assume the tank, seat, and rear cowl were damaged and sold or discarded. The front mounting flange of the tank was torn out with the piece still in it...

Front fender missing too, along with hardware and reflectors.. Other than the footpegs (all 4) missing, everything else seems to be there .. So I think I'll try to get it running again rather than destroy it by taking it apart.

Oh, and taillight is smashed. Chain guard missing...

Some of these parts are easy to find, (seat, fender, pegs) but the rear cowl, taillight and tank are going to be a challenge. So I figured you all might have one of these pieces sitting in your garage. I'll take (buy) any gas tank that you have, I even prefer one that is dented... and any rear cowl that isn't too badly cracked (there's a blue one on Ebay but all the tabs are missing and he wants too much)

There are a couple of motors on Ebay too, not sure if I'll replace it or rebuild it, or both .. leaning toward rebuilding it.. for the challenge...

But mostly I need the tank and rear cowl

If you guys are like me, you have stuff sitting in the garage that you don't want to get rid of, but only if it's going to restoring the wayward lost soul of an 88 NT..

I don't like parting out a bike that can be saved, I prefer parts from wrecked bikes that have no chance of repair, or otherwise orphaned parts still out there in the world..

Thank you, [email protected]

[bk94si]

Some things are not worth saving IMHO.

[sfdownhill]

Wow - that is a hot mess. But welcome to the forum!

[MiG29]

There might be one here in Folsom. Let me see what happened after it got impounded.

[The Cheese]

You might have a parts bike. Seems like there is too much missing and damaged to repair. Your could buy a good running, complete bike for what you're going to spend on fixing that one up.

Good luck tho. I wish you well.

[emiller]

It's not the cost, it's the principle of saving one.. I'm trying to start a new outlook on restoration and revival, we must treasure the twin spar frame, the Pro Arm, the V Twin .. the beautifully integrated design .. there truly is no other motorcycle like it...

[ParcNHawk]

Keeping it, ot selling it when done?

[emiller]

keeping for posterity

[6]

It's not the cost, it's the principle of saving one.. I'm trying to start a new outlook on restoration and revival, we must treasure the twin spar frame, the Pro Arm, the V Twin .. the beautifully integrated design .. there truly is no other motorcycle like it...

This.

I have built many hawks from a frame up when buying a complete bike would have been far easier. I think 90% of the people on this forum could have bought their bikes for less than they have in them.


The tank is going to be your tough find. Clean (as in rust free inside) tanks are getting VERY hard to find and VERY expensive. That said there are swap options (Revere and F2 being the most common).

Motor is usually cheaper to find than to rebuild IF you can find it local from someone who doesn't think it's worth its weight in gold.

A member here Fabian makes reproduction cowls that are better than stock and cheaper than a mint stock one. As long as you can paint. Also swap options there... Rs125, monster, CBR, you name it it's been swapped.


If that where in my shop I would tear it down to the frame. Get everything cleaned up and see what's salvageable. Bases off of that I would make a gameplan then make a list and start shopping.

You are probably closer to a custom than a clean stocker. And when you are planning don't forget to plan for SUSPENSION. Suspension is the hawks fairy godmother. Without it it's best used as an appliance, not a princess.

[bk94si]

It's not the cost, it's the principle of saving one.. I'm trying to start a new outlook on restoration and revival, we must treasure the twin spar frame, the Pro Arm, the V Twin .. the beautifully integrated design .. there truly is no other motorcycle like it...

This is true but to rebuild this one, you are going to have to get parts of other bikes. So somewhere bikes are going to get parted out. I would part out this one.

[ricksax]

It's not the cost, it's the principle of saving one.. I'm trying to start a new outlook on restoration and revival, we must treasure the twin spar frame, the Pro Arm, the V Twin .. the beautifully integrated design .. there truly is no other motorcycle like it...

Some of us get joy out of the process: cleaning, soaking, stripping, sanding, painting, polishing, assembling with clean or new fasteners. Maybe its not as good as sex, but it beats watching TV or hanging out in bars. And with the Hawk, you end up not only with lovely garage art, but a reliable bike you can ride.

[6]

This is true but to rebuild this one, you are going to have to get parts of other bikes. So somewhere bikes are going to get parted out. I would part out this one.

I know people with enough parts in their basement already to build a complete bike.

There are a lot of hawk parts around.

[bones]

It's not the cost, it's the principle of saving one.. I'm trying to start a new outlook on restoration and revival, we must treasure the twin spar frame, the Pro Arm, the V Twin .. the beautifully integrated design .. there truly is no other motorcycle like it...

This, right here, is what makes a true Hawk savior.
In the antique car world, these days there is rarely a car you will make money on if you restore it so pretty much all restorations are a labor of love.
Yes, you will never get your money out of it but you will save another example of a great automobile (motorcycle) that are getting more rare by the day.

I tip my hat to you, Sir.

[6]

This, right here, is what makes a true Hawk savior.
In the antique car world, these days there is rarely a car you will make money on if you restore it so pretty much all restorations are a labor of love.
Yes, you will never get your money out of it but you will save another example of a great automobile (motorcycle) that are getting more rare by the day.

I tip my hat to you, Sir.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


My man.

[tommy dale]

I hate that tanks are getting scarce. But I believe it will start up innovation for other tanks being used. Right now I am going to see if there is any articles on that F2 conversion. I need more mileage, had to back track the other day, when I hit reserve and knew there was no gas for 35 miles ahead. By the way, I can only put 1.8 gallons in tank when hitting reserve? Gas petcock, looks to be newer than bike, maybe a culprit?