not quite street legal :)

[johnson_steve]

So I've been working on this bike this winter it used to be my fathers and it happens to be the bike I learned to ride on when I was 15 when I acquired it last fall it had been sitting for about 8 years. It didn't run, had mice living in the airbox and no front brakes. I got it running and although it's not quite finished I couldn't help myself I had to take it for a ride.

Let's see; no plates, chain guard, front brakes, mirror, battery, seat, signals, headlight or mufflers.

yes that's a legal headlight officer:

It's a little loud:

Do you guys like my kill switch; you touch that alligator clip tied to the choke to something grounded like the handelbars but not your skin or you get zaped!

What do you guys think? I should probably go weld up some pipes now but I think I go disturb the neighbors some more instead.

 

[HerrDeacon]

Looks good so far Steve. Would look nice with a small short seat and short pipes on it. Has a nice stance already. That's a pretty high-tech kill switch you have there, you should mass produce them and sell them on ebay!

You better hope animal rights don't read this and find out you kicked some mice out of their home  ;D You're going to have to pay some homage to them somewhere on the bike. Probably call the bike Mickey.

Keep the pics coming as you progress.

 

[NJWanker]

Looks um.... Comfortable . But the potential is there . She'll have her day.

 

[coolatula]

Looks like a pretty easy project to finish up. I've always liked those tanks.
It is a 400 Manual shift Hawk correct? My brother-in law had a brand new one just like it and his had a very stiff,non-compliant rear suspension. I hated iding on the back of it sue to the spine jarring ride. They made them in manual and auto(actually semi-auto I think) shift. You see very few of the Honda-matic ones running around.


Two short cone tip mufflers down low coming out the left side would look killer on that bike. I really think the single side stacked muffler look is cool whether they are low or high mounted.

 

[johnson_steve]

Don't worry I believe the mice moved in with me (not that they asked for my permission ) It is indeed a manual hawk 400 with about 18,000 miles on it my dad was the second owner. I to like the tank but I'm afraid it will be spending the rest of the season flat black because I have to bondo out a dent that you can't make out in the picture. I will tear it down and have my brother (who paints buels for a living) give it a proper paint job next winter.

I welded up a set of 2 in to 1s using the stock pipes & a $2.50 exhaust coupling from checker auto; It's very much like whats in the pictures except the 2 pipes "Y" together then tuck under the bike into a chrome cone muffeler (1 of the 2 that came on the bike when I got it.) which is mounted diagonally (no more centerstand) and exits about 1" in front of the rear tire on the brake side. I know it's a little restrictive but it sure looks & sounds cool and cost me $2.50 and 3 hours of my time with an anglegrinder and mig-welder.

I'm surprised that the cop I passed the other day didn't pull me over, but I have to get this thing on the road asap as I have no car so I have to walk everywhere to get parts and such.

Deacon: I'm currently working on a seat similar to yours for my bike. I've read your thread through several times and it seems easy enough. I'm quite comfortable working with foam and 'glass though I usually use it on boats. I have a tiny battery that I got for $30 that's supposed to put out 71amps at freezing and since thats almost enough to fry the 8awg cable going to the electric starter I think it will start the bike. It measures about 2"deep x 4"wide x 4 1/2" tall. I've welded a small piece of angle iron across the frame just behind the shocks so the battery only pops up about 1 1/2" above the frame rails so it should be easy to hide under the seat All the wiring on this bike except the stock cdi ignition unit will be custom. Turn signals and brake light are leds. I have to write the C code for my blinker controler today (I know it's overkill but an Atmel AtTiny13 cost's less then 2 bucks and I need to flash the blinkers somehow so why not add some pizazz) I moved the Ignition (key hole thingy) so that it is right behind my right knee while I'm riding. The speedo is going to be a 3 digit digital using 1" tall blue 7-segment led displays (like a digital clock) with a green led indicator for neutral and a red one for oil pressure. I 'll mount this to a piece of aluminum plate and bolt it to the stock gauge mounts. I think it will look bad-ass next sitting right next to the choke plunger The bike will sport a custom rectifier / regulator that not only doesn't use ancient technology from the '70s but is designed not to nuke my tiny battery even if I ride all day long. I'm mounting red and green stop and start buttons to the side of the headlight bucket (can you tell I spent to much time in an industrial setting?) the alligator clip is just temporary I can't really ride it like that as anyone could just jump on the thing give it a kick and take off with it wired that way.

Wanker: You are not the first person to worry about that but it doesn't bother me that much.

I'll post more pictures as soon as I can, but I'm afraid I didn't get anything done yesterday as I had to observe the holiday and also go see Kraftwerk.

 

[johnson_steve]

Afterthought:

Removed because I'm dumb.

 

[Rodney]

What tank is that you got on there?

 

[johnson_steve]

It's the stock tank. It locks and has plenty of room underneath to hide stuff. I love the orange I might have the bike painted the same color when I get it painted.

BTW:
The bike now has working headlight, turn signals and brakelight and is registered in WI. I got my motorcycle permit and after about an hour on the thing this morning I want a seat soon! My dad gave me a great Idea for the seat: to use the front half of the stock seatpan (with some chopping and welding naturally.) because it tucks under and over the back of the tank (no unsightly gap or bolt) and if I do it right I can use the stock seat lock and have a locking storage / electrical compartment. the hump will still be glass and fixed to the frame.

 

[johnson_steve]

A little bit better now.

I did use the front half of the seat pan with some galvanized steel angle to support the back (I know , I know galvanized but I weld outside.) the 'hump' is a separate piece I made from fiberglass it's sitll bare glass and rough upholstery (you know the kind where the vinal is held on by duct tape?) My original intention was to have the seat be removeable with a small storage tray for tools but it didn't work out that way.

I relocated the ignition (key thingy) to the right side just ahead of the top rear shock bolt:

I raised my battery another inch it's totaly up under the hump now. I think I'm to lazy to wire up the electric start. All signals are custom leds controlled bu an atmel attiny13 microcontroller. the front and back flash separately and I can program the pattern. I have a superbright green led as a neutral indicator and I added a toggle for the headlight (still no charging system)

This is temporary I'm making a fiberglass headlight bucket to match the hump and plan to go with 1 integrated everything light (with a multicolor led) and maybe integrated start/stall button (less clutter that way.) still working on the led spedo (1" tall blue 3 digits)

The exhaust is a 2 1/2" cherry-bomb type car muffler (it was about $20 and yes it was red.) welded to some 2 1/2" exhaust tubing (both from jegs) welded to the original header pipes (I switched sides and moved them abit.) It's very loud.

I've got everything I need to shorten the cables and a new motionpro twist throttle If I can bring myself to get of it for long enough. And she still doesn't have front brakes!

 

[sxecafe]

Sweet bike! I am working on a 78 hawk also. Where did you get the air cone filters and did you have to re-jet? I have heard the the smaller blocks like the 350s and 400s run rich so there is no need to re-jet them. True? Let me know as I really love how that looks.

RT

 

[johnson_steve]

emgo filters off ebay. they aren't washable but for about $16 a pop you can't go wrong you need to find them by size I believe It's the outside diameter of the carbs at the airbox end. I don't know off hand what size I bought but I'll check next time I'm at my dad's. I got my jets from Z1 for $2 a pop I got 2 each of 5 sizes. I havenot got the carbs dialed in yet so I can't tell you for sure what size to use. rejeting was dead simple Id you know what your doing you can do it with just 2 screwdrivers without even removing the carbs.