A different animal

I thought that surely, out of all my friends, I'd have the oldest bike but R1 buddy just HAD to go out and get himself a 1988 Honda NT650 Hawk.

Now I've never been a huge fan of naked bikes but no one can say this isn't a sexy machine.

So the first night R1 buddy brought the bike home (he's still got a R1 so the name is still valid) it ran, how do i put this gently, like CRAP. When I rode it the first time it seemed to pull slightly WEAKER than my old ninja 250. The Hawk would bellow it's signature v-twin song but not much happens. Hell, cars were beating it off the line. And then when it couldn't have been a larger pile of (very nice looking) crap, the battery died :)

While charging the battery, R1 buddy and I go to work on the Hawk to wake it up from its slumber.

Hawk - seat - gas tank

V-twin carbs are a pain to remove

grrrrr...

ah HA!

Pictures don't do justice to how mind-bogglingly gross that hole is. The gas tank goes in there.

Carb cleaning

KA-POW

While I was carb-cleaning, R1 buddy was going to town on the aluminum with a rag. Shine baby, shine.

If you thought the carbs were a pain to get out well, try getting them back in...

All slapped back together and ready to rock

Last thing we did was swap the hideous (possibly vfr) rim for the oem original

For more pics go here.