Anyone ever ridden a Hawk GT?

:thumb: I have an opportunity to buy an '88 Hawk pretty cheap--I was told it's not currently running and has some road rash, but could clean up pretty nice.

I've read alot about these and know they're small and only 50 ish hp.

Any opinions on the Hawk? Anybody ever ridden one and care to comment?

Thank ya' much.:thumb: :thumb:

 

Hawks were a lot of fun at the track until the SV650 came and blew us and the ex500's out of the water. (They are still fun, but you will not win races anymore.)

 

Buy it. As long as you aren't a giant individual, I 100% guarantee it will put a smile on your face every time you throw a leg over it. Look at it this way, it's much more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

Whoever told you a stock Hawk has 50HP lied to you. It's more in the neighborhood of 38HP.

If you do buy it, don't do a thing to it other than adding a M4 exhaust. M4's are the only full system for the Hawk that retains the center stand. The stock seat is on par with other stock Honda seats. This is fancy talk meaning it sucks. I added a Givi Airstar 240 because the wife complained about wind blast.

About the only bad thing I can say about the bike is it only gets about 100-105 miles to a tank of gas.

Here I am about to run the Dragon going south. I'm 6' & weigh about 205lbs. I laugh like a retard when I ride this little marvel of a bike. The bike handles like it's hard wired to your brain. You think & it turns. It handles so good that I've actually levered back tire off the ground when the center stand was dragging. As soon as the back tire returned to terra firma, it goes right back to where you point it.




More pics in my gallery.

KC-10 FE out...
lane:

 

OK, I'll be a little un-pc and say I didn't drink the cool-aid most other GT owners did. I sold it in less than a year.

Not that many twisties where I live so a bike has to have something in the motor department. The lil' hawk has none. I mean it's a shadow 500 motor for goodness sakes! :yield: Now I have owned two of its bigger brothers, the SuperHawk and IMNSHO it's a much better streetbike and a better buy. The GT never left me with a frown but the SuperHawk always left me with a grin.

My GT also had a habit of cutting out in certain crosswinds.

 

I have ridden them, a great bike if you like to turn. A buddy of ours used to upset liter bikes in tight sections, they couldn't stay pinned like him. Don't expect a big punch though. Comparing a Super Hawk to a Hawk Gt is like comparing a TL1000S to a SV650, just doesn't work IMO...:caked:

 

It's fairly well known that the GT has a direct link to the VTR. Here's a quote*:

"Honda brought along two members of the VTR's family tree - the Hawk 650 and VR980 prototype. The prototype used the smaller Hawk's beam-frame chassis and bored and stroked version of the 650's narrow-angle V-twin. The VR980 prototype was designed and built by American Honda as a concept bike for the factory - a response to the public's call for a larger Hawk V-twin. Many of the design features seen in the VR prototype were carried over to the production VTR"

If you want to have your cake and eat it too, you can add a VFR800 swingarm to the SuperHawk.

*http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/honda/honda-vtr1000f-super-hawk-1454.html

 

If you don't buy it, send that number this way, I will. Fun bike, that's all I'm going to say.

 

One more bike I regret selling. As soon as I can find another and have the means to buy it, I will. Go ahead and buy it, you won't regret it.

 

Buy the little bird you most likley won't regret it. I own one and 2 Super Hawks. I also own a well sorted '99 VFR and have committed to buy a 6th gen. advertised right here in the VFR world classifieds.

My Hawk GT is also well sorted with Racetech and Fox upgrades in the suspension. It is also kitted with an M4 full system and Factory brand jet kit and Uni pod filters. It's never been on a dyno but I'd be surprised if it made 46-48 hp kitted the way it is now. The M4 system, I might add, is no longer available from M4 for the Hawk GT. Those little bikes have held their value well and there are lots of parts still available for them. After all the newest Hawk GT's are going to be 17 yrs. old. If you have tight technical twistys near you you will like the bike. If you slab most everywhere you go you may not like it as much.

 

http://www.hawkgt.com/photoalbum/index.php?cat=10187 Some of my stable.

 

Hawk is a great,light little bike, and with a pipe, jet kit, and airbox mods pulls unbelievably hard between about 35--75mph, the range for city driving.
it's best for people on the smaller side.
the fun in this bike has nothing to do with power ratings.
easy to ride and with lots of rubber on the road.
conclusive proof: u don't need 4 cylinders.

on the highway it can cruise smoothly at well over 100mph, but of course there's windblast.

best of all?? It's a HONDA!

VERY active website at: HondaHawkgtforum.com

 

forgot to mention above.....



you need to add sprocket changes to mods above: i recommend down 1 in front and 2 up rear.

this bike is all about MIDRANGE and is brilliant (underline that) in the 4000-6000 range.

HOLD ON TIGHT, BABY!!!

 

Upon a recommendation, I did the above sprocket change on my Hawk. It does improve the acceleration & keeps the bike in the power band at typical road speeds.

The downside is it decreases MPG by a very noticable amount.

KC-10 FE out...
lane:

 

Just to follow-up...

I did buy a Hawk about a month ago:thumb: . Found an '89 closer to home that was actually in better shape, less miles.

Truly is a fun bike--not the fastest or most powerful, but I can just hop on and go. As Mr. KC 10fe mentioned, it does seem to be a "little marvel of a bike". I love to just get out and "thwack" the living daylights out of the little twin and it just seems to keep begging for more. Knees are a little cramped while riding--may look into a new rear shock to try to raise seat height some.

So thanks for all your input, gentlemen. I thought I'd get lamblasted about the Hawk on this forum, but I'd have to say because of many of your responses were so positive, I just had to buy it. Now if I can get my wife to learn to ride and love it, I can get me that RWB VFR that I REALLY want. ray:

 

your Hawk was a good purchase. the bike doesn't get the respect it deserves because most riders are power-mad, and just 52or so HP does not seem like enough.........until someone gets aboard and wrings the throttle!! opinions change quickly with a few miles of experience.

I recently posted on this site several pix of my Hawks, so check 'em out!

 

Hey Mr. Squirrelman, Are you running that gearing change on your Hawk GT with the stock sized rear tire or the more popular 160/60-17 tire. I found the gearing change caused by the smaller diameter 160/60-17 tire to be and improvement. But would think the gearing would be too deep using both the sprockets and tire.

My Hawk GT

http://www.scpmc.net/cpg148/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10311&pos=-1421
http://www.scpmc.net/cpg148/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10311&pos=-1422

 

Yes, I'm using the 160/60.
In gearing down i knew i was giving up some top speed, but i don't like fighting the windblast up there anyway!

 

My wife rides an '88 hawk, and the few times I've ridden it, it's an utter blast. It's so small and light, it's incredibly easy to ride. Makes my '86 VFR 700 feel like a beast (ok, it kinda is). At 100lbs lighter than my bike, narrower, lower center of gravity, it just moves like it's connected to your brain.

It's just not got much up on the top end. But then, at 100lbs lighter, it doesn't need as much, either.

Her's is jetted, muzzy pipe (loud as hell), and recently destroyed it's front sprocket and countershaft, so it's early retirement for the winter while she rebuilds the tranny with a new countershaft.

I wish I had the 17" rims her bike has, MUCH stickier rubber available.

 

TOO BAD about countershaft! I know someone hereabouts selling a good engine, so ,PM me if interrested.

Luckily enough,l I have same choice before a ride: VFR or HAWK?

Depends upon distance, VFR better on long runs.....on short distance, Hawk better.

I always ride the Hawk if i'm fatigued, hungover, or lazy.

So much lighter is so much better!