Author Topic: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks  (Read 7960 times)

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Offline Brick

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2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« on: April 06, 2017, 04:08:38 PM »
I loved my 1998 Honda Super Hawk. I bought it new fro Honda Northwest in Columbus... well Hilliard, Ohio. Then it went boom... Tom Bartels put the motor out of another member's oops Super Hawk in my bike after I bought the salvage bike from him. I rode it a lot too. I always looked at it as my "Japanese Ducati". With the Staintune pipes it almost sounded as good.
Eventually I moved on... then some time ago I visited a friend's bike shop down here in Hickory, NC http://internationalmotorbikes.com/. This is a great shop Chuck does amazing work! Anyway he has taken two 1998 Honda Super Hawks in on consignment. They are very original! I stopped today and they are still there. One with 27,000 miles the other with 24,000 miles.
No I'm not going to buy one... or two. Just commiserating.


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Offline Outlaws Justice

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2017, 05:15:25 PM »
We all had bikes we wish we still had. I have a few, but the garage is only so big and sometimes I needed money so I would sell one or two of my beloved bikes, most I cannot replace. In the two years preceding my move to California I sold


Honda CB1
1985 Honda Nighthawk S
1989 Honda Hawk GT
1991 Honda Hawk GT
1984 Honda VT500 Ascot
2006 Yamaha FZ1


The FZ1 would be easy to replace, the others not so easy and most bring stupid money as well, even more than I got for mine just 3 to 4 years ago, if you can even find them
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Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2017, 09:34:52 AM »
We all had bikes we wish we still had. I have a few, but the garage is only so big and sometimes I needed money so I would sell one or two of my beloved bikes, most I cannot replace. In the two years preceding my move to California I sold


Honda CB1
1985 Honda Nighthawk S
1989 Honda Hawk GT
1991 Honda Hawk GT
1984 Honda VT500 Ascot
2006 Yamaha FZ1


The FZ1 would be easy to replace, the others not so easy and most bring stupid money as well, even more than I got for mine just 3 to 4 years ago, if you can even find them
I'm the second owner of an '88 Hawk GT now with 68,500 miles on the clock (it turned over 10,000 miles on my test ride prior to my purchase in 1995). Mine is near stock.

As I recall Tom Bartels built a stunning Ascot a few years back, and I think Jim Randall may have rescued one as well...I liked them a lot. I always thought a CB1 would be a good addition to the stable, along with a GB500, but they've been out of my price range forever.

I test rode a Super Hawk. It was a bodacious bike, but a too sporty riding position for me.
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Offline Outlaws Justice

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2017, 10:18:40 AM »
I'm the second owner of an '88 Hawk GT now with 68,500 miles on the clock (it turned over 10,000 miles on my test ride prior to my purchase in 1995). Mine is near stock.


My Hawks were both completely stock. I picked up the red 1991 off crags list one morning, just two blocks from my office with 15,000 original miles for only $1000. I of course replaced the tires and cleaned her up. ended up selling it with 25,000 miles for $2,500. The Gray one I got in route to teach in Tennessee. Did some work on it and passed it along to a co-worker also for about $2,500. I keep all my bikes as close to stock as I can. also See the Nighthawk and the Ascot.














David
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Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2017, 10:21:20 AM »
Very nice!



Geoffrey Greene
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Offline Outlaws Justice

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2017, 10:25:28 AM »
Very nice!


I do my best and hence also why when I do have to part with one I usually have no problem selling them local for a fair price.
David
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Offline Paco Bulto

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2017, 12:34:13 PM »
I bought my 1998 Super Hawk twice. First when it was new in 1997 and then again in 2005 I bought it back from the MSTA member I sold it to when I bought a RC51 in 2000. One of the most fun bikes I ever had and certainly the best sounding.

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Offline stevegrab

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2017, 02:07:16 PM »
David (Outlaw Justice),

Nice two vehicle :)

I rode my brother's Superhawk for about 1000 miles on a trip from Los Angeles to Monterey for races at Laguna. Very fun bike, he replaced it with a Ducati 1099 and when I heard what he sold it for I thought, damn I would have....but really I don't need another older bike requiring maintenance. Very fun, loved the torque and the sound, but needing fuel every 100 miles.
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Offline Paco Bulto

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2017, 02:52:22 PM »
I had a tank modified that gave me a bit more range, like 150 miles. I used it if I was going to travel and used the original small tank for everyday.

Offline TN2Wheeler

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2017, 09:32:14 PM »
Had 2 VT500 Ascots and 1 FT500 Ascot. The VT500s passed their DNA on to the Hawk GT  I believe. 

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Offline brider

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2017, 08:17:49 AM »
There was a reason the Super Hawk had a 100 mile tank.  That seating position killed me the few times I rode one but it did have a sweet sound.
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Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2017, 09:35:45 PM »
There was a reason the Super Hawk had a 100 mile tank.  That seating position killed me the few times I rode one but it did have a sweet sound.
I remember the mainstream magazines all gushed at how comfortable the VTR was...for a sportbike. Compared to a Ducati 916 (I remember one review comparing the 916 favorably to a torture rack), maybe it was. But on my brief ride, I had crane my head and neck upwards into an incredibly uncomfortable position just to see where I was going. I'm sure that wasn't the case for everyone, but it was all the determination I needed that I'd never own a real sportbike.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2017, 04:51:57 PM by HawkGTRider »
Geoffrey Greene
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Offline Brick

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2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2017, 07:45:44 AM »
Yes even back then the Super Hawk was as sporty as I wanted to ride for longer than a half hour.
Now I look at the cool "cafe racer" style bikes and think how great it would be to ride one. Then I sit on one and realize that the clip-on handlebars put me in that Sport bike position and know it's not for me... anymore!


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« Last Edit: April 10, 2017, 07:48:52 AM by Brick »
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Offline Paco Bulto

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2017, 09:08:42 AM »
Brick, I remember when you and I both had our new 1998 Super Hawks and we rode more than a half hour at the first Mail Pouch Fly By event. Of course, we were a lot younger then. I put VFR bars and a Sargent seat on mine and then put 24,000 fun filled miles on it.

That 100-120 mile range with the stock tank was something that added to the "adventure" of riding that bike. I ran completely out at 120 one time. The funniest story that I recall is when Rick Watts and I were riding back to IL from the T event in Mena. We wanted to get home as fast as possible, so took Interstate 44 most of the way, where we set a pretty fast pace. Of course, we burned fuel at a high rate and stopped about every 100 miles to fill up the Super Hawk. Our last stop was about 50 miles from home, right after we crossed into IL. As we filled up at a gas station, the lady in the next car came over and said "You passed us 3 times on those bikes." :-)

My next bike was a RC51 and it wasn't as comfortable as the SH, but I still managed to ride it to a few events. Not much fun on the highway, but a blast once we got to the twisties. Also it was magic on the Road Atlanta track where I rode it for a couple of Reg Pridmore's CLASS schools. I only put a bit over 5,000 miles on it in the 2 years I owned it. When I later bought my Super Hawk back, it was like an old friend coming home. Great looking, great sounding, beautiful bike that loved to wheelie (yes, I'm still a juvenile in my mind) but I only rode once in a while as I grew older. I finally had to admit that I should let someone else enjoy it as I wasn't riding it much and it sold easily on advrider.com.

Brick and I both have similar tastes in bikes, it seems, as we both went from Super Hawks in our younger days and now each have owned 2 Super Teneres. Much easier on my "senior" body and still lots of fun.

Offline stevegrab

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Re: 2 1998 Honda Super Hawks
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2017, 05:01:08 PM »
Super Hawk riding position at the time I rode one was fine, since I was riding a CBR600F4 at the, including many week or longer sport trouing trips. The one time I was riding and ran low on gas early it just sucked since we needed an extra stop, in touristy Big Sur CA, where it was really expensive (so I only added a gallon or so).
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