Re: Any 650 hawk owners?

I have a VFR, had a Hawk, and race an SV. If you're doing mostly in city stuff, fun curvy roads,
and don't feel like you need a lot of HP, the Hawk is simply Brilliant. Plus it's fun to stop and
talk to other riders. Anyone that's ever had a Hawk is sure to come talk to you once you park it
and hop off. It's a tiny, flickable bike with tremendous balance and a phenomenal chassis. Stock
they were pretty lightly sprung, if you weigh 140# or less they'd be okay, but if you're heavier
and really want to see what the bike has to offer you'll need stiffer spring front and rear. Good
torque -- top gear roll ons will beat the VFR from 60-80 (gearing plays a part here too), but
after that they just don't have the HP to accelerate really fast. If you don't get caught up in
all the horsepower hype, the Hawk is about as much fun as can be had on two wheels.

The hawk is probably the only bike I've ever had that I regret getting rid of, and the one I had
wasn't even in the best shape when I got it.
If the Hawk didn't give up so much power to the SV, I'd still have one to race.

As far as used bike pricing, I would bet that a used SV would cost less than a used Hawk of
similar condition and mileage. SV's are a dime a dozen, you should easily be able to pick one up
for under $3000. Hawks in good shape are getting hard to find, so if you find one for a good
price, jump on it.

About 7 years ago I almost scored an '89 Hawk in mint condition with 1700 miles on it. A woman's
husband was overseas in the military and never rode it anymore and told her to sell it. I got the
paper, saw the ad (the first morning the add came out, at about 8:15 AM) and that the bike was
only about 5 miles from work so I drove over there immediately. Got there and found out that
someone had already talked to her a half hour earlier and was coming that night to get it for
$2000. She even let me look at it, I almost cried. If I had gotten that bike, I swear I would
still store it in my basement in the off season.


>Certainly the SV650 seems like another good choice, but they seem to be going
>for $4-5000, which is considerably more for a similar bike. Given the
>reliability reports from the responses, probably not much benefit of the SV,
>other than being easier to find...especially since I rarely use half of the
>throttle on the VFR.

The SV's are a great ride, they just don't have that special feel that the Hawk has though.



Steve George
Carney Racing
WERA North Central EX #684
CCS EX #684

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