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52 Degrees Above Zero
Honda Hawk
(First published in the "Used Bike
Guide" 2002)
By PeteG
Bike showrooms always have their own
type of mystique, a kind of 'ether' that draws you in and refuses to let
you go unless you tug so hard gobbets of your soul
are left oozing on the frame of the shop door just above the
many claw marks on the ceramic tiles from previous viewings. Then imagine what
happens after sixteen years (yes that's right, 16, one-six years) without a motorcycle. Now don't
go having nightmares about this but it happened to me and yet
I can't even begin to describe it, all I can impart is the
fact that I aged even more years than normal through the process
of being dragged screaming from the showroom by several burly chaps under the direct orders
of my girlfriend. The reason for the 1.6 decades sojourn are many and varied and probably constitute
a story on their own but needless to say it was not entirely through
choice but it was definitely
Ground Zero.
I have recently moved counties and the
sale of the house enable some 'bleeding off' of moneys that could possibly
purchase a motorcycle - nothing over the top you know, just a runabout
hack to ease me into two wheeled heaven once more. Mmm, you've heard that
before I can see. Four weeks later the collection of a 'just barely'
second hand Suzuki GSX 1400 stretched the grin on my face the whole length
of Lincolnshire but I will not bother you with this story at the moment
but rather tell you about the second bike to cross my path within a couple
of weeks of the first. It was obvious to me that I was going to need
another bike - a run-around, a hack, call it what you will but as I had
'bit the bullet' and rid myself of the car I would need something to ride
in the wet / to work / to do the shopping. (At this point it is probably
best to insert your own 'second bike excuse' to make the story seem more credible.) Whilst considering something else
to back up my claim for the need of the second bike my
girlfriend explained that she was considering getting back into biking and thought about
buying a bike to suit her. "Wise decision." said I rubbing my hands and picking
up the current edition of Used Bike Guide. "Well," she continued. "you
could use it as a run-around until I need it." "Bless my good
fortune in living with such an intelligent woman." said I thumbing to
the 'Readers Free Ads' section. After several lengthy conversations about what type of bike would
be best for her she decided that it would have to be a low seat height and
a Vee twin as she has always had a soft spot for Italian Vees
and a clinically distinct but
womanly shortarsedness.
After looking at the prices of several Ducati Monsters
she amended that decision to Uvavu XV535, or is it Iranu? After 16
years off the fun seat I was not going to be too choosy
about what the second bike would be and after riding British iron since I was
seventeen I have quite a cosmopolitan taste. So the Yamaha Viagra seemed
like a good bet - or is it a Virago - yes sorry.
I was just getting used to the idea of a 'toy' hog
when low and behold we found ourselves in the bike showroom once more and she
spotted the Suzuki SV 650, I spotted the Honda SP2. The showroom wraith spotted us both and
hovered across to tempt us. Equally both machines were out of the question due
to a serious lack of
beer/motorcycle tokens.
It was obvious that far more coins of
the realm would have to be earned before such machines would make
themselves available. Just then a strange thing happened. We found
ourselves in yet another bike showroom, this time innocently purchasing
some new boots. Just as we were about to leave I noticed the girlfriend
had straddled something. This was odd as she doesn't often get her leg
over anything - including me so I stopped and was dismayed to see her sat
on what looked to be a moped. "No, not possible." I thought and closer
inspection proved that the offending cycle was not in fact a moped but a
very serious (but petite) motorbike. A meaty frame arched over a very
determined looking 52 degree Vee engine which sported the name Honda. The
tank had obviously been abused as it had the unenviable word 'Bros' on it.
Obviously some deaf 80's pop fan had owned the bike and decided to deface
it by putting an awful sticker on to cover up some scratch or other. The
weirdness went even further as he had also graffitiorised the other side
of the tank with the same offensive sticker. "Get off it." I insisted
to the girlfriend pointing maliciously at the bike. "It belonged to Satan, you
could catch something from the seat." My worried face was noticed by the 'operative' patrolling
the shop and he calmed my nerves by explaining that Honda named
the bike 'Bros' and it was they and not some musical deviant who
had placed the tank badges upon it. I was bemused by this,
why didn't they call it the Honda Zunk, or the Honda Clumptf? either epithet would
have had more credibility than 'Bros'. Then I remembered that all Japanese bike manufacturers have been competing
with European car manufacturers for the past twenty years in an attempt to find
the worst name for a
motor vehicle.
We
left the shop agreeing that that particular bike was pricey for the
condition but she insisted that the Bros was just the job for her. Scanning the
UGB bible we found no reference to it but more research proved the engine to be the
same as in the Deauville, what's more further reading confirmed that it would be
very suitable for the job
at hand.
Several weeks of scanning the bike ads.
showed that the Bros was a bike that kept it's price and unfortunately we
were working with a budget of no more than £1,500. One evening under
pressure from 'She who has money to spend' we sat
and nosed through some of the free ad. sites on the Internet. Eventually
we spotted a 1988 Honda Hawk, and bless my cotton socks it lived
just 20 odd miles away. Two weeks previous we would have thought that a Honda
Hawk was an ancient 400 cc bike from the days when the
only plastic on a bike was the key fob but the research done
gave us advance warning that the Hawk was a Bros wearing a
designer shirt rather than a pyjama top, oh and was probably an import. It was
over our budget but we thought we would find out if they would come down on the
price. The photograph showed it to be in good condition so a phone call
later we arrived to view
the bike.
First impressions showed the bike to be
very tidy except for a scrape on the front header pipe that the owner said
was there when he bought it. I could find no other damage and no signs
that the bike had come to grief, so a quick check over the
frame and forks later I took it for a spin. It rode well
and the exhaust can (which is obviously after market) made the thing sound
like a proper bike, particularly on the run down. The mileage had been advertised as
11,000 which with the history that came with it proved it to
be correct and it was as we thought an import. The girlfriend fell
in love with it as soon as she heard it so after
the chap agreed to sell for our knock down price we agreed to pick it
up a few days later. He also kindly agreed to put a full test on it too.
I rode it back home and I have to say it behaved very well
considering that the roads were
quite wet.
The Hawk has to be warmed up fully
before any kind of performance can be achieved. It starts easily though
and runs smoothly on tick over. On the road, the clutch and gears are
positive and the ride is smooth at low speed but strangely I expected the
Vee twin to be torquey at low revs which it isn't. In truth to get the
best out of the power on offer the revs have to be above 3500
but once you get used to this there is a good handful of
pump. The bike is narrow and small, about the same kind of size
as old British twins yet not quite as nimble but the centre of gravity snuggles
quite low down by the feel of it. The back wheel is
nice and wide for such a small bike but the Pirelli tyres that
are on it at the moment are a little too hard and
this causes an odd 'slippery' feel at high speed. The bike lunges up to 80
mph quite quickly and sees off 90 soon after but the back end begins to flutter over
95. I saw 98 appear on the speedo and I suspect that the claimed
110 mph could be achieved
with perseverance.
Cornering is good and the power can be
brought on quite early even with hard tyres and the ground clearance is
very good but for the knee sliders among you a word of warning. It may be
the set up of this particular bike but to achieve just the right balance
of neutral throttle in corners is difficult and the engine
braking on this bike is severe so you have to plan well to
get a really low lean or you could find yourself doing a bit
of roadside gardening. My first arse rosette exercise session on the bike came from this
very situation but to be fair I had not warmed the tyres
up fully. The front brake too can be a sobering experience if you
like me are used to double discs. Several times during the test
I thanked whatever god I don't believe in for putting a dirtrack on that bad
corner that I went too fast into. Once you get used to it you either brake earlier
or go slower, or end up going down some farm track pretending to the
other motorists that you are
going visiting.
To sum up I have found no little
horrors with the bike and it seems very reliable and returns about 50 mpg. The
only gripes I have is that the foot pegs are just a tad
too high for my legs and with this particular bike the headlight is
on all the time the ignition is on so the battery gets a clubbing every
time you start up but that can be fixed. It's not a
sports bike and never will be and if you are my svelte 16
and half stone size the 55 hp will make weellies hard work
but it's good looking, even tempered, great sounding (with non-standard tin), easy to clean and
maintain, and great fun. Oh and by the way, if you are reading this and don't have
a ride at the moment, don't be like me - wake up and do
what ever it takes. Get
a bike!
Original Images and text Copyright of
the author. © 2007 Tricky
Imp Productions
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