Finished...

Sorry guys! But towards the end of the build, I totally got all excited with getting her finished I really didn't take much or any pictures at all.

I did manage to finish the Hawkster up and took her on several rides. I did have some mechanical issues and they are all taken care of.

Thanks for following me on my rebuild transformation of my lovely Hawkster... I will continue to post pictures and other how-to.

Pictures taken at Jst Marina in Chula Vista, California

Fun filtered pictures....

Any questions on the build, don't hesitate to contact me... Sincity647

I was bleedin'...

I'm not much of a fabricator when it comes to motorcycles only because I don't have all the necessary tools to it. It's tough to fabricate something with just your basic around the house type of tools. It can be done, but normally they turn out looking ugly. Now having a CNC (computer numerical controller) machine would be a nice addition to my set of tools.

So I bought some Honda F4i rearsets online which costed me $50 for everything. That includes rear master cylinder. It was a steal of a buy and I thought I could make a plate to fit it on the Hawk. But I ran into some issues. First, the linkage bracket for the left foot controller was in the back and was hitting the swingarm. Since I was going to have GP shifting style, cutting it off wouldn't be a problem. But even after cutting off the bracket, I was running into clearance problems with the rear part of the controller still hitting the swingarm. I ended up grinding about 1/4" off the rear. Over all it end up working out nicely.

This is what I came up with.You can see in the picture where the controller was hitting the swingarm.

After painting...

No issues on the right foot controller.

Next on the list of thing to do... was routing the rear brake line. I bought the parts from Surplus Depot that sold Earl's Performance brake lines. I found this place by accident while looking for the metal shop to make my rearset adapters. I was able to use my existing hardware that I already had so I saved myself some money. I bought 40" of braided steel line and new brass compression fittings. It is really easy to do.

 First, drill a hole as big as the brake line. Since I already did the mod before, I didn't have to drill anything.

 Place the braking in the hole and push it through til you grab it in the front of the swingarm. There is a access hole with a rubber cover. Measure it up to the caliper.

It should look something like this.

Slide the screw part of the banjo onto the brakeline, then place the brass compression fitting on.

Make sure all steel braids are on the outer part of the brass fitting.

Put the banjo on top... and screw it on until it is fully secure. If you have a non-adjustable banjo make sure you have it at the right degree of angle before tightening it down. But I have an adjustable one... so I'm all good.

Fit and install. 

Do the same for the other side. Measure, cut if you have to and install. It's simple!

Lastly, I was able to finish painting my tank. I thought it came out okay. I still need to wet sand and buff to a shine. 

First coat of low gloss black...

Final paint... needs buffing.

Your comments????

Its gettin' hot in here...

What a day... a good friend of mines (Edson) came over to weld my brackets for the Monster seat conversion. I have to say... he made it look easy. I really need to get one of them Lincoln WeldPak Welders. It's small and packs a punch! Basically, welding is a controlled electrical zap that melts down a wire with flux in the middle... hence creating a strong bond between to like metals.

After I showed and explained to him what I was trying to do, he went right at it. He asked me if I wanted to try, but I really didn't want to screw things up. So he did all the work. Next time I'll have a go at it. I still have to make the seat tray for the battery and the mess of wires.

Edson... doing his magic.

Its like the 4th of July...

Boy that's hot! Really it is HOT!

da man... Edson

I must say even though I didn't do anything, it was still a great learning experience. I'm ready to try and do it on my own. The finished product! More work is needed. So stay tuned in...

Welding 101... Class dismissed!

Adding a touch of color...

Aside from all the bits and pieces that I painted red, I've been thinking about adding color to the Hawk for quite some time. At first, I wanted that Flat Black dragster hotrod look. But after staring at it and looking at other pictures of an all black bike, it definitely need just a little more color. I decided to add more RED. Reason being... Honda is known to be big RED when it comes to the motorcycle industry and I wanted to stick to that theme... What I came up with is a two tone paint job on the tank. High gloss red on top and Flat Back on the bottom... as of right now its a work in progess.

All sanded and ready to paint, but first...

Taping it up for some two tone effects... 

Several coats of red...

What it should look like when its finished drying... but paint shrinks when it drys and you get that orange peel effect.

 Damn... not sure what happened here, but its an eye sore! 

Probably from the heat station.

Going to wet sand it and hopefully it will look better after the clear coat and buffing.

Dried to the touch, but the paint not fully cured.

I couldn't wait til tomorrow... just wanted to see what the tank will look like on the Hawk.

SWEET!!!!!

Another angle...

Your thoughts?????

Back to business...

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I've got lots finished but I totally forgot to take picture of everything. When you in the zone, you simple forget about the time and everything else around you.

If you really want to stand out from the rest, its the details that set you apart. Too bad I forgot to take pictures of all the details... LOL!

But what I did take pictures of is the mock up of how the bike looks... The tank still needs to get painted and the subbie need to get built. Thanks to Andrew who provided me with lots of pictures with details on How-to's, I'm ready to tackle my next challenge... MONSTER SEAT!

As you can see from the pictures... I still had a bit of work to do on the subbie. The rails where to long. I had to fabricate something to hold the rear brake light.

Almost forgot... I changed my thermostat.

New Left, Old Right... I know its obvious... hahaha

It fit perfectly in the housing... still needed to drill out the by-pass hole. 

Spending precious time...

These past few weeks its been a battle trying to do some on the Hawk. I had a chance to spend time with my kids during Thanksgiving week which definitely take precedence over the Hawk. I don't get much time with them, but we I do! We always have a blast! From bowling to ice skating... to playing with XBox to remote control cars. Enough said, I just can't wait 'til I graduate again this month on the 21st. Then, hopefully I have land a job in Las Vegas to be with my kids once again.

Me and my kids... Sierrah Nilani, Elijah Keona,
and Savannah Kawehi on top of all of us!

 

Elijah Keona showing us how its done...

UTC Ice Skating 

Sierrah Nalain and My lovely girlfriend, Dina & Savannah Kawehi

 Random Photos...

 and the Amazing Spiderman!