I originally thought I would not worry about the bikes aesthetics until I got everything else working correctly. But it all started innocently enough. I first had to replace the missing mirrors, and as ugly as the stock Hawk mirrors were, I went looking for some Bar-end mirrors and found a great deal on a pair on ebay. Cool! But it had already started. Next I had to replace the damaged and stupid looking stock turnsignals and opted for a turnsignal eliminator. With the turnsignals removed the rear fender looked just ungainly, so I had to trim that down. I also had an extra, and much more attractive, CB-1 front fender left over from my previous CB-1 and I heard it would bolt right up to the Hawk. Unfortunately, it was the ugly electric-blue of the CB-1 and I didn't want to have such dramatically clashing colors when the existing front fender was fine.
So, we were in Wal-Mart and Kris went looking for material for some slip-cover thing she wanted to make and (I know this is done on purpose) the automotive section is right next to the craft section. Probably to help appease men. I started wandering through, always looking for some item that could be used on a motorcycle. Usually its some new and improved cleaning item. This time I stumbled across a wall of color-matched automotive paint. Thinking of my blue front fender, I idly glanced over the colors. I noticed a 1988 Honda Graphite Gray that looked really close (probably for a Civic or something), then I noticed a GM Gray that looked even closer to the stock Hawk color. So, I picked up a can, some primer, a can of clear coat, a packet of sand-paper and some tack paper and I was ready to go. All the supplied together didn't even add up to $20. So, why not? I thought to myself.
Back home, I started by sanding down the CB-1 fender, starting with 200 grit paper and working my way up to 600 grit. Primer came next and I laid a very thin coat and let it dry for 45 minutes before sanding the primer with 600 grit paper. This resulted in a very nice, smooth finish that easily covered all the blemishes in the paint. I then laid down two coats of base color, let it dry for about 30 minutes, then laid down two more coats of the metallic gray. The surface was really rough and course. Apparently I laid the base coat down too dry; my sweeping motion to avoid runs in the paint was too fast.
I was advised by the HawkGT.com listserv that I should NOT sand down paint with metal flake but that the clear coat will "float" the base coat and help smooth it out. I did this. I laid a thin coat of clear and let it dry until it was tacky, then laid another thicker coat on top of it and let that dry for 48 hours. It made a great improvement, but still had the surface texture of an orange. I was told that I could use 2000 grit wet sandpaper to smooth it out. I decided to go with the old rule of automotive paint; start gentle and work your way up. I got out the rubbing compound and used a moist cloth to work over the fender. This resulted in a very smooth but dull finish. Again with the clear coat. I laid two thick heavy coats and let that dry for 48 hours. That took out virtually all the orange peel texture.
Here are the two fenders side by side. The CB-1 in the foreground and the larger,
plainer Hawk in the background. The color match is not "dead-nuts"
exact but its pretty darn close.
I pulled the front wheel off the Hawk and dropped the front fender and slid the CB-1 front fender into place. I was worried about how to get the new fender, with fresh paint, into place without scratching it. Once the wheel was pulled, I was able to slide the new fender straight up from the bottom and into place without it coming into contact with anything. No scratches! No one had ever mentioned that the CB-1 front fender is narrower than the original Hawk fender. After a quick trip to Lowes, I returned with some longer bolts and some washers to shim the fender into place.
Finally on the bike; here's the front fender. Much nicer looking than the original
and seems to fit the overall bike much better.
Here is the before and after image for comparison. Before on the left and
after on the right.
I had also hoped to loose the passenger pegs to clean up the look of the rear of the bike. The main problem was the bracket that held the Super-Trapp was an ugly strap that was hidden by the right passenger peg. The passenger pegs also serve as brackets to hold the rear cowl in place. Without anything to hold the cowl, it will flop around and eventually crack. So I had to solve two problems to eliminate one thing.
I solved the first problem with the exhaust by purchasing an exhaust hanger for a 93-97 CBR 900. It was a smidgen short, but could easily be fit with a shorter strap to still hold the canister. The next problem was a bit more difficult to solve. I had to hand build a couple brackets that would hold the rear cowl in place. I was intimidated by building these, but I used the original aluminum brackets as templates and was able to bang the replacements into place relatively easy.
The bracket on the left (left side of the bike) was the easier one to build.
The one on the right (right side of the bike) was more difficult because it
had to work around the exhaust hanger.
The exhaust hanger was the last item to get to work. I was a bit disappointed as the angle and length were just a little bit off. Even after loosening all the exhaust bolts and trying to reset it, and trying to bend the pipes to make the distance and even attempting to tweak the titanium hanger it was clear that it was not going to line up. I had to come up with another idea. The best I could come up with to build a short strap to make up the lacking distance.
A quick trip to lowes to get two pretty stainless steel hex-bolts and the result was better than I expected. I just needed to clean up the shape of the strap to make it fit in a little nicer.
My only last complaint with the Hawk, actually has nothing to do with the Hawk at all. It has to do with the manufacturers of aftermarket options. Sure the Hawk hasn't been produced in ten years, but that shouldn't stop folks from making something even better for the beloved little bike.
iBut why wont anyone make this exaust system for the bike. Granted this is a photoshop'd rendering of what I hoped an exaust system could be, but really, how much R and D would it take to bend up one of these to work with an existing system... Would someone please make this system?
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Here are a couple more gratuitous bike shots because I think the Hawk is such
a cool looking bike. Plus the bike looks nice without the larger front fender
and large passenger pegs.
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