[kalel8492]

The bike is a honda hawk. Although it has a displacement of 650 i heard the engine doesn't produce as much power as the newer bikes. Are there lots of issues with a bike that was sold for only 4 years? Basically if you know a lot about the hawk can you shed some light on it for me? I think it has 60,000 kms. Thank you.

 

[GSP]

Nice little bike with a bit of a cult following. I think they're fairly durable, and were a popular model for racing several years ago. There should be some owner's groups and/or web forums out there for the Hawk. A modern 600cc 4 cylinder bike will make waaaay more power than the Hawk's 650cc V-twin. A nice, clean Hawk would make a neat bike for a beginner or someone that doesn't want huge power.

A modern equivalent would be the SV650 which lacks the charisma of the Hawk but makes more power, has excellent support online for mods, tech, etc. (www.svrider.com), and has the benefit of being much newer.

 

[TeeTee]

I've never ridden one myself but I've heard from a couple of owners that it's got a feel that makes it a fun bike to ride. But if you're looking for pure power then you're barking up the wrong tree. It's easily got enough to entertain but it won't rip your arms off by any means.

 

[SkydiveSonic]

http://canyonchasers.com/bikes/hawk/index.php

Looks like a pretty nice bike - there's write ups with what they did, how they did it etc.

 

[marclapierre]

:O I like!

 

[Z-ReX 12]

ditto what GSP said.
HUGE cult following with LOTS of modifications and parts readily available.
if it's a lambourghini orange 1988 (if i recall correctly...) with a CBR600 F2 front end that you're thinking of purchasing... she used to be mine!
the CBR front end mod was to fit more current/standard (read wider) sportbike tires and stronger brakes from the stock single disc. other popular mods were TBR (Two Brothers Racing) exhaust systems and adapting a VFR 750 (circa 1995-98) rear wheel (again for a wider rear tire).
the Hawk was an excellent all-rounder street-fighter type motorcycle that was well ahead of it's time. it wasn't really a best seller for Honda so they dropped it from their lineup - which ironically - turned it into an instant "collector's item".... hahaha - you gotta love marketing.
everything you ever wanted to know about the Hawk (but were afraid to ask? - haha) can be found at this website... right down to a downloadable .pdf file of original Honda Manuals. lots of pics from Hawk enthusiasts world wide... have a couple of hours ready before you start browsing! another Hawk owner/enthusiast is Miles - the service manager at RMS.
hope this helps... and GO FOR IT! that was a great bike...
http://www.hawkgt.com/

 

[foggy]

This one belongs to a friend and is for sale. Let me know if you are interested and I will send you the owner's contact info.

 

[Nine-and-a-half]

Tell yer buddy his hawk is seriously nice. I've ridden my bro's and can say they are a hoot to ride. Kind'a breathless but hey it ain't always bout the top speed.

fun factor is super high with this bike.

just curious, what the hawk selling for?

 

[5thgear]

They came out in the wrong decade.

The bike sat in the dealers for years without being sold. Everyone at the time wanted a Cruiser or the traditional plastic covered sport bike. Nothing wrong with that bike, it wasn't what the market wanted at the time.

 

[Nine-and-a-half]

yeah wrong decade for sure. Same as the CB1, though it [the CB1] was also plauged by the western idea that "bigger is better" when it comes to dispalcement.
I made a pimp set of triple clamps for a buddies Hawk racer, to fit up an F2 front end and raced against it at Calgary. He was damn fast, 1:29's i believe, his had a 700cc kit in it too.

 

[masonjarz]

I put it in the same (broad) category as the Yamaha SRX 400/600. Cool bike that one can really learn to ride on but wrong time wrong continent!

 

[Z-ReX 12]

we're hijacking this thread to a "classic street fighters" thread... :laughing
i LOVE those Yamaha SRX's! ...and that Honda CB1 400 was an awesome machine as well - 14,000 rpm redline and handling like crazy!

 

[frontside5]

I looked at the CB1 and Hawk. I ended up going with a GS500 because of the longer domestic history (e.g. parts avail. within lower mainland). Waiting for overseas parts is painful. While all three are of course different, in my opinion they all give you the same type of experience: naked, comfortable, cheap and very maneuvrable make them good city bikes.

 

[kalel8492]

Ya i've been looking into hawks and the worst thing so far is its suspension. I did some researching and apparently the forks are useless. Will maintaining the hawk be expensive since they don't make it anymore? What about parts?

 

[noddy]

I used to love the Hawk, and CB-1, the Suzuki Bandit 400 was pretty hot too . . .

The only complaint I consistently heard from commuters / tourers on hawks was the small gas tank size resulting in many stops. Other than that everyone I heard from that owned a hawk loved them.

My first bike on returning to riding was an SV650S because of the Hawk. For a comparison I got an '01 SVS with 8k on it for $5k (this was in 2004).

Depending on price it could be a real fun bike. also . . . Twins rock.

 

[masonjarz]

The bike is a honda hawk. Although it has a displacement of 650 i heard the engine doesn't produce as much power as the newer bikes. Are there lots of issues with a bike that was sold for only 4 years? Basically if you know a lot about the hawk can you shed some light on it for me? I think it has 60,000 kms. Thank you.

I re-read your post. If you are set on a Hawk, this one sounds a little long in the tooth--unless it has been very well maintained. There are probably better Hawks for about the same money.

 

[TeeTee]

Another big plus for the Hawk is that Honda maintains a good stock of older bike parts compared to the other brands. WHen I had my 1981 Honda CBX a few years back I still had no issues with getting many of the parts. Only the stock exhausts were no longer available and shortly before I sold it I heard that body parts were in short supply with some parts no longer available. Not bad for a 23 year old bike. Also when I did order stuff it was already here in Canada and the shop had the stuff within 2 to 3 days. Again that's amazing for the bike industry. So if you do go for the Hawk I can say that parts will not be an issue.

 

[kalel8492]

That's good i was worried about parts being very expensive or not even available. I hope shops won't charge me more just because it's an old bike. Hmm, if 60,000 kms is a lot then i'll have to keep looking.

 

[barking pumpkin]

Harold Glass raced a smokin fast Honda Hawk back in the glory days of Westwood, circa 1990.

 

[foecus]

Some guy on Craigs list has been trying to sell that orange Hawk for sometime now. Seems like every week you see the same bike up forsale with the price slowly dropping. Check it out and wait a couple more weeks and he'll probably give it to you!