Just to put things in perspective (Opinion) | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Just to put things in perspective (Opinion)

I like your choice of bike, @bitzz and @Priller . I only knew 4 other Hawk GT owners in the GTA. I use to live in Toronto and rode my 1989 daily. It had over 120,000 kms on it when someone smashed it when they were coming out of a parking lot.

I currently have a few '88s and my daily ride '91 and enough spare parts to built 1½ more. Down time is as long as it take me to find a part in the basement. And that is a rare event.

(I moved out to the west coast where there are mountains, river gorges, forests and curves everywhere and the RC shines here. And when I said "daily ride" I mean 365.)

Rubber bits are a problem and diaphragms for CV carbs need periodic replacement. Fortunately there are suppliers of new ones and replacements last a long time.

Ethanol in fuel (moreover the water it absorbs) is a big problem and pulling carbs is getting riskier because the rubber inlet manifolds are running out of New Old Stock.

I have tried to get many younger riders into Hawks, but they really do seem to have problems with every bit of what I think is easy vintage maintenance.

I warms my heart to hear of another Hawk still in flight. www.hawkgtforum.com is an amazing resource and community to check out -- if you haven't already.
 
RC-31 said:
I like your choice of bike, @bitzz and @Priller . I only knew 4 other Hawk GT owners in the GTA. I use to live in Toronto and rode my 1989 daily. It had over 120,000 kms on it when someone smashed it when they were coming out of a parking lot.

I currently have a few '88s and my daily ride '91 and enough spare parts to built 1½ more. Down time is as long as it take me to find a part in the basement. And that is a rare event.

(I moved out to the west coast where there are mountains, river gorges, forests and curves everywhere and the RC shines here. And when I said "daily ride" I mean 365.)

Rubber bits are a problem and diaphragms for CV carbs need periodic replacement. Fortunately there are suppliers of new ones and replacements last a long time.

Ethanol in fuel (moreover the water it absorbs) is a big problem and pulling carbs is getting riskier because the rubber inlet manifolds are running out of New Old Stock.

I have tried to get many younger riders into Hawks, but they really do seem to have problems with every bit of what I think is easy vintage maintenance.

I warms my heart to hear of another Hawk still in flight. www.hawkgtforum.com is an amazing resource and community to check out -- if you haven't already.
Click to expand...
I have heard (never tried it) that wintergreen oil will restore rubber parts.
 
RC-31 said:
I like your choice of bike, @bitzz and @Priller . I only knew 4 other Hawk GT owners in the GTA. I use to live in Toronto and rode my 1989 daily. It had over 120,000 kms on it when someone smashed it when they were coming out of a parking lot.
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I sold mine ages ago when I started working on the road and it was just gathering dust, but it served me very well until then. I spot one out and about every so often, so they're still in the wild. Not bad considering they didn't sell well when new and are getting on 33 years old now. A buddy just phoned me yesterday to say he saw a grey one on the 401, bone stock.

RC-31 said:
(I moved out to the west coast where there are mountains, river gorges, forests and curves everywhere and the RC shines here. And when I said "daily ride" I mean 365.)
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The Sunshine Coast and a Hawk GT would be bliss. I moved back from BC in 2019, and very much miss the roads. When I lived in a condo in PoCo, one of my neighbours had a grey market Bros 400 from Japan. It wasn't much lighter than the 650, if I recall, so definitely not a better bike. There were a few Bros' kicking around Vancouver, I think, mostly brought in by Windbell in North Van. They have lines on parts from Japan, so if you're trying to find something rare, they might be able to help.

RC-31 said:
I have tried to get many younger riders into Hawks, but they really do seem to have problems with every bit of what I think is easy vintage maintenance.
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It's not the hardest bike to work on, that's for sure. Rocker valves and everything pretty easily accessible, chain adjustment is a doddle.

RC-31 said:
I warms my heart to hear of another Hawk still in flight. www.hawkgtforum.com is an amazing resource and community to check out -- if you haven't already.
Click to expand...
I lurked on that forum a lot when I had mine. My problem was I listened to the racers worshiping at the altar of Hord back then, so I over tuned mine as a street bike. I've told this story here before, but adding a Stage 3 jet kit, Uni foam pod filters, and M4 exhaust, added up to a finicky bike that got about 100-120 km to a tank with filters that needed constant cleaning and oiling. I also did Race Tech cartridge emulators and springs up front with a Penske double clicker shock out back, but in my inexperienced hubris ticked the 'race/track' box for the spring rates, so it was punishingly stiff on the rough roads west of Ottawa where I lived at the time.

Definitely a 'wish I had it back now' bike, as the one I built would've been a lot of fun on a trackday...

TK4 said:
Bring back the mullet !!!
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Lots of the racers are wearing throwback wrap-around shades these days, so a mullet or two may not be far behind...

1624634969227.png
 
Priller said:
My first bike was an '88 Hawk GT (RC31 to @bitzz ), and none of the major shops at the time (neither of the Cycle Worlds or McBride, to date myself) would touch it because it was over 10 years old and had a carb. I taught myself a lot because I was forced to do the work myself, so in hindsight they did me a favour, even if I did make a lot of mistakes along the way.

Maybe I'm getting all "kids these days", but I feel like collectively we're much less likely to work on something ourselves and more likely to pay someone to do it for us (or just buy a new one) than we were. I could see this leading to massively underestimating the work involved to keep an old bike on the road, as there's zero concept of how the thing works and what has gone, and what will go, wrong...
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I wanted to post this in the memes thread:

1624637502857.png
 
TK4 said:
I wish I could still grow one ! Being follicly challenged has its disadvantages.
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I can mail some to you, one by one. Hair of the month club.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: TK4
RC-31 said:
I like your choice of bike, @bitzz and @Priller . I only knew 4 other Hawk GT owners in the GTA. I use to live in Toronto and rode my 1989 daily. It had over 120,000 kms on it when someone smashed it when they were coming out of a parking lot.

I currently have a few '88s and my daily ride '91 and enough spare parts to built 1½ more. Down time is as long as it take me to find a part in the basement. And that is a rare event.

(I moved out to the west coast where there are mountains, river gorges, forests and curves everywhere and the RC shines here. And when I said "daily ride" I mean 365.)

Rubber bits are a problem and diaphragms for CV carbs need periodic replacement. Fortunately there are suppliers of new ones and replacements last a long time.

Ethanol in fuel (moreover the water it absorbs) is a big problem and pulling carbs is getting riskier because the rubber inlet manifolds are running out of New Old Stock.

I have tried to get many younger riders into Hawks, but they really do seem to have problems with every bit of what I think is easy vintage maintenance.

I warms my heart to hear of another Hawk still in flight. www.hawkgtforum.com is an amazing resource and community to check out -- if you haven't already.
Click to expand...

LOL - I thought that was you! The GTA Hawk scene hasn't been the same since you left.

@bitzz - how did I miss that you had a Hawk? In case you didn't know, there's an annual Hawk Rally every August in Elmira, NY, just 4 hours away form Toronto. You should come join us! Of course, pending reopening of the border.
 
Wingboy said:
I have heard (never tried it) that wintergreen oil will restore rubber parts.
Click to expand...
Some printers I knew 40 years ago used rubber rejuvenator to get a few more wipes out of their windshield wipers. It might work as a get me home or to buy time to shop for the right thing.
 
nobbie48 said:
Some printers I knew 40 years ago used rubber rejuvenator to get a few more wipes out of their windshield wipers. It might work as a get me home or to buy time to shop for the right thing.
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Yes. Forgotten about that stuff. Used it on the dampener rollers.
 
Use to use wintergreen mixed in a concoction for softening/grip on slot car rear tires
 
... TO BE FAIR
Up till about 1970 there weren't many "bike" shops and the owner was expected to jet the thing, service the chain, remove the head to "de-coke" the cylinder, do a valve job (that's re-move and grind the valves, then lap them to re-seat them, not adjust the valve lash) on a regular basis. A piston and valve job would last about 10,000 miles, oil changes every 1,000 miles... NO FILTERS, crappy non-detergent oil.
If you were brought up on 1990 and newer bikes you could spend your entire motorcycling career doing no more than oil changes and tires.
Look at a '60s Ducati owner's manual. They expected you to REBUILD the bike.
 
bitzz said:
... TO BE FAIR
Up till about 1970 there weren't many "bike" shops and the owner was expected to jet the thing, service the chain, remove the head to "de-coke" the cylinder, do a valve job (that's re-move and grind the valves, then lap them to re-seat them, not adjust the valve lash) on a regular basis. A piston and valve job would last about 10,000 miles, oil changes every 1,000 miles... NO FILTERS, crappy non-detergent oil.
If you were brought up on 1990 and newer bikes you could spend your entire motorcycling career doing no more than oil changes and tires.
Look at a '60s Ducati owner's manual. They expected you to REBUILD the bike.
Click to expand...
1624666967492.png
 
bitzz said:
THAT'S NOT A MOTORCYCLE!

Notice the price? $245 when a BSA or Triumph 500cc was $1000
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I don’t think the Cubs spooked the Europeans, Honda’s Dream lineup was their Nightmare.
 
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nobbie48 said:
People that like restoring old stuff should live next to insane asylums to minimize moving costs.
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This made me laugh out loud, thanks for that!

nobbie48 said:
If they think they can make money on it as a hobby they're on the wrong side of the fence.
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Agree 100%, anyone who thinks of working on old bikes as anything but an expense is a dreamer! I think some people new to the scene overestimate what elbow grease can do, and underestimate how much tires, gaskets, o-rings, grommets, bearings, cables, hoses, etc. will cost

I do see some interesting changes in the dynamics these days. I have 3D printed a couple of parts for some of my bikes, including parts to replace rubber, like this air intake boot for my DT400.

https://imgur.com/a/ETR8oej

It won't help win a concourse competition, but this print alone saved me from spending 100$ on 40 year old rubber off of ebay 🤦‍♂️ Maybe this technology will grow to help make these sorts of parts more accessible? Who knows. Fingers crossed. But at the end of the day, that 100$ saved was a drop in the bucket
 
tricky said:
This made me laugh out loud, thanks for that!



Agree 100%, anyone who thinks of working on old bikes as anything but an expense is a dreamer! I think some people new to the scene overestimate what elbow grease can do, and underestimate how much tires, gaskets, o-rings, grommets, bearings, cables, hoses, etc. will cost

I do see some interesting changes in the dynamics these days. I have 3D printed a couple of parts for some of my bikes, including parts to replace rubber, like this air intake boot for my DT400.

https://imgur.com/a/ETR8oej

It won't help win a concourse competition, but this print alone saved me from spending 100$ on 40 year old rubber off of ebay 🤦‍♂️ Maybe this technology will grow to help make these sorts of parts more accessible? Who knows. Fingers crossed. But at the end of the day, that 100$ saved was a drop in the bucket
Click to expand...
I would have been old school. Molds etc.
Do you have any idea of costs? Old school, 3D, and a 40 year old NOS that might not be worth using
 
nobbie48 said:
I would have been old school. Molds etc.
Do you have any idea of costs? Old school, 3D, and a 40 year old NOS that might not be worth using
Click to expand...
You molded rubber parts before? I'm impressed at the flexibility of that 3D printed part. A lot of the "cost" in the 3D printing is someone putting in the time to make the computer model (and test parts/modifications). If you are just paying for machine time and filament, that is a lot lower number.
 
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