Japan Meets Britain...

Vince Lupo said:
I got the wing from eBay (Apex Cycles), and it came with a visor that was meant for a CA95 or something small like that. I bought it thinking it would fit my 305 Dream, but the headlight shape is different. So, I just held onto it in the hopes that I'd be able to do something with it someday. As I say, I was curious to see what the wing would look like on the SuperHawk, so now I know!

Hmm, without the visor at all you say. Haven't seen the bike without the visor for quite a while.....maybe that might be the way to go.

Thanks!

i got one of those wing too for my 450, but from thailand, i haven't put it on for the same reasons you have, i might put it between my instruments, i have a aluminum instrument mount, or tip of the fender,
 
Tintin -- After I responded to your first comment, I went out to the shed and took the visor off. Haven't seen it like that in a few years (actually forgot what it looked like with the unadorned headlight), and I think I'm going to leave it like that for now. Very good advice, indeed! I think that's one of the big challenges with doing a 'custom' -- you need to know when to stop. On the plus side, at least all of these add-ons are easily reversible.

Thanks again, and here is the final look....
 
Latest shot of the bike with the new chromed headlight bucket. I think I like this better than the black one with the checkers.
 
Man beautiful Superhawk!

Hopefully mine will turn out half as nice ;D

Keep up with the close-ups its helping me put mine back together! Most of the important stuff was in coffee can and boxes. I actually found one of the main oil passage tubes for the clutch in one of the coffee cans today - I was actually pretty happy it was there kept me from having to get one at Ohio cycles. Thank god the previous owner never got the bike to the point where it would turn over...

Byrd
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement. The one final thing I had been wanting to do was to chrome the headlight bucket, and I think it not only breaks up all that black up top in the front, but also gets rid of that checkered tape that was really bugging me (the only part that's tape now is just around the rear shocks and the forks - everything else is custom hand painted). Plus I think it makes the headlight look bigger. As well, I had been looking everywhere to find a good loud horn that looked the part, and though at first I thought this horn was rather large (over 5" in diameter), I think it fits in pretty well.

If I could recommend anything, it would be to pick up a copy of Bill Silver's Honda 250-305cc Restoration Guide on CD (I think you can still get it from his website, www.vintagehonda.com). It is a treasure trove of information, and he is probably one of the most knowledgeable SuperHawk people around.
 
The chrome headlight bucket looks great.

I have both of Mr. Silvers books in paper - when i first received them I was like this for 50 bucks :-\.

Once I was in the bottom end Xing my transgears and paying attention to all of the little notes he puts in his assembly process, I realized how valuable this mans knowledge truly was. He has saved me on several accounts and I haven't even installed the pistons at this point...

I was going to ask you about the horn but over 5" is going to be pretty big on mine since I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible and going the cafe route. It looks factory on yours. I have a few factory horns that came in some of the boxes so i may just stick with one of these for now.
 
The horn is an 'Altette' style horn that's made in Italy by who knows. I thought it was a bit big too when I pulled it out of the box (plus it's quite heavy), but seeing it on the bike it actually looks okay - it's down low and seems to blend in with the engine a bit. Plus you can actually hear the thing -- heck, I can even hear it on the bike, for that matter. The previous one was a 'universal' vented chrome horn from British Cycle Supply, and while this isn't a jab at them at all, the horn is pretty anemic. No amount of tuning could get that sucker to make any kind of noise that an SUV driver yakking on a cell phone and drinking their mochaccino half caf would be able to hear. I didn't find the stock one to be much better than that.
 
Man, that is an awesome little rocket. I can't believe you have done the 'Ton' on that without shitting yourself....hahaha. It looks great though, does rev to hard on the freeway?

ROne
 
ROne said:
Man, that is an awesome little rocket. I can't believe you have done the 'Ton' on that without shitting yourself....hahaha. It looks great though, does rev to hard on the freeway?

ROne
Awesome ?!! How about some pics of that CX500 Cafe . I've never seen a cafed CX500 look that good. I need to see that .
 
In top gear (4th) it's revving about 6000 at 65 mph, which is quite comfortable for this bike. The 'ton' takes it up to about 9500rpm, and it takes a while to get there. I've only pushed it that far once, and that was before the addition of my K&N's and different slides in the Amals (2 1/2 vs. 3). I don't feel the need to do it again because I don't want to push the engine to those limits.

I have a copy of a Cycle Magazine road test from 1965, and they managed to get a stock 305 up to 105 mph.
 
One final touch before the White Rose / VJMC show in Jefferson, PA this weekend. Thought that the bike needed a bit more Norton (damn that pesky Norton!), so I added a pair of seat knobs from a Commando to the upper shock mounts, and moved the acorn nuts to the lower mounts. Retapping of the threads was required, but it was no big deal.

Done!
 
Hey NJ.........

Thanks for the comments man.....yeah, I'm really gettin' to like the CX now. Here is a couple of recent photos taken last weekend, I just bought my sell a reasonably priced 2nd CX as a parts bike, it's a 1980 model. It's interesting to see the visual difference in a stock bike as opposed to my '78 Cafe.

Cheers,
ROne

TheBeforeAfterCXs_1.jpg

TheBeforeAfterCXs_2.jpg
 
I like the wheels you have going - they look like Dymags, but I'm assuming they're painted Comstars?

I was reading about the Moto Guzzi V50 in this month's Motorcycle Classics Magazine, and they said that the CX500's dry weight is almost 90 lbs more than the V50 -- where do you think all that extra weight is?
 
Vince Lupo said:
I like the wheels you have going - they look like Dymags, but I'm assuming they're painted Comstars?

I was reading about the Moto Guzzi V50 in this month's Motorcycle Classics Magazine, and they said that the CX500's dry weight is almost 90 lbs more than the V50 -- where do you think all that extra weight is?

its all in the thighs...

but srsly, on my cx500 i took off my centerstand, exhaust h-box, seat, rear fender, rear grab bar and a bunch of other stuff...
theres a lot of just extra stuff on the cx that is really not needed. i need to find a scale so i can weigh my bike
 
Back
Top Bottom