Found a nice Hawk

[Flatheadfever]

New to the forum I found a nice clean hawk that hasn’t been on the road in 12 year, 15k miles. I got it cheap, put a battery in it and a rear tire, pulled and cleaned the carbs which where surprisingly clean. A gallon of vinegar in the tank for 3 days, a ton of rust came out. Filled it full of antifreeze and it it ran pretty good. Went out for a 20 mile run and by the time I returned home it was burping anti freeze from the over flow jug.
i may have blown head gasket.

[bk94si]

May have just been over filled too. Mine did that once overheating due to a fan thermostat that died.

[Flatheadfever]

I think I will lift the tank and fill it and burp it better this time. Might see if I can check the head torq by just taking off the valve covers

[squirrelman]

never trust the fan switch and fan on a bike you recently bought until you confirm they work right.

[bones]

never trust the fan switch and fan on a bike you recently bought until you confirm they work right.

What the Squirrel dude said.

[jspeed53]

WelcomeFlatheadfever!

Looks like you got a great deal! Post more pics, please!

[Flatheadfever]

When I bought it

[Flatheadfever]

Pretty much bone stock except for the 525 46 rear sprocket. Seems to run out of gears pretty quick.

[Flatheadfever]

What the Squirrel dude said.

the fan comes on a little over half way but after about 40 miles ithe temperature starts to creep up. Then goes up and down from 50%to 80% on the gauge. On a cold start up after riding it It produces a water vapour for a couple minutes like it was burning off moisture in the pipe. I can’t smell anything. Only have 150 miles so far. Fun little bike for sure

[rpcraft]

Pretty much bone stock except for the 525 46 rear sprocket. Seems to run out of gears pretty quick.

I would check your front sprocket and see what is on there but stock is usually a 16/44 combo. 525 is the normal size of the chain/sprokcets on the Hawk. Some guys go 520 to get lighter parts but it's harder to find some of those parts so I wouldn't go out of my way unless you just had access to them already. Someone was possibly riding it around town more than on longer stretches and felt like wanting lower gearing. Going back to a 44 will definitely give you some top end back but not as much as you think. At around 4200 RPM it's only a difference of just less than 5 MPH (and that should put you around 100 mph when splitting the difference). Everyone is always hunting for 6th gear on the Hawk/bros it sems, lol. If it continues to haunt you there is a possibility you could move back to a 44 and go with a 17 tooth front sprocket.

[bones]

Everyone is always hunting for 6th gear on the Hawk/bros it sems, lol.

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to shift into 6th gear on the freeway.

[tian647]

I check at least a couple times every ride, just in case it shows up...

[Flatheadfever]

Every time I see 5 grand on the tach in high gear I try to shift