The Resurrection: Honda Hawk GT NT650 Motorcycle Project

Back on the 4th of April, I showed off my terribly neglected motorcycle.  It clearly needed a bath, along with a complete tear down, and rebuild.  We left off with a picture of a motorcycle frame & suspension sitting on a wooden block in the middle of the garage. It was not a pretty site, and it only got worse from there.

I continued the tear down even further because I was in far too deep to turn back. The frame, engine and suspension were all completely separated.  The frame itself was still in great physical shape, but had multiple generations of arachnids living in, on, and around it.  Their eviction notice came in the form of brake cleaner, sorry spiders. Under the spiders, was a creamy nougat filling of chain grease that had to be removed with a putty knife.  It was disgusting.  The rear swing arm was covered in that white corrosion that happens to aluminum when it sits, and needed the ol’ brake cleaner treatment as well.

The engine….well…. all the clear coat had “spiderwebbed” (strange coincidence, I know), and began chipping off completely in some places. In the really rough spots, the corrosion had gotten right down to the aluminum case.  All of the steel parts were either rusty or beginning to rust, which just added to the disappointment.  The once chrome oil hose looked like I had found it in the woods, and the rubber carb manifolds were nearly petrified.  Just look at it, it’s shameful!

Once I had the engine stripped to the bare minimum, I sealed it up really tight with rags, tape….rags, and then even more tape.  Then I took it outside, and soda blasted the whole thing from top to bottom.  An hour or so later, it looked like a brand new engine again.  Win!  Sadly, the bare aluminum would have taken 47 years to polish, so paint was definitely in the engine’s future.  As you know, you can’t put paint on properly without priming it first though.  Onward with the primer!

Endless amounts of time then passed.  Waiting for primer, paint, and then clear coat to dry is worse than having to wear those ridiculous hats at a royal wedding.  Seriously.  You can’t assemble anything, and if you do another coat of paint at the wrong time, you ruin the entire paint job.  Go ahead, ask me why I know that….

While I was waiting for paint to dry (again), I washed, waxed, cleaned, wire-brushed, and polished every part that I could.  Days pass, and assembly time had finally arrived. Celebration took place with each newly attached part.  I even made myself a little tray for the top of the engine that holds all the electronics & fuel pump.

Now, I obviously want my bike to have a million horsepower, but I also want it to look unique. Naturally, I had to build myself a sweet exhaust system to add to the uniqueness.  I haven’t quite figure out the muffler yet though, maybe that will happen this weekend.  I do have an idea, but it could be too crazy to actually work in real life.  We’ll see.  Before long, I had a cool looking bike again, and last night it even moved under its own power for the first time in probably 3 years.  “Loud” is the best way I can properly describe it.

More to come upon completion……

Jeremy Nutt

Hi, I'm Jeremy.

14 thoughts to “The Resurrection: Honda Hawk GT NT650 Motorcycle Project”

  1. I think the bike itself is crap (save for the single-side swingarm – I’m a VFR owner ;-), but empirically, the engineering knowledge and craftsmanship skill is extremely professional and impressive. Perhaps the choice of vehicle only highlights those attributes even more. Nicely done.

    1. Larry, as a VFR owner, you clearly know awesomeness when you see it, which is why I am going to take that as the nicest compliment that I have received this month. 🙂 Thank you Larry!

  2. Come on Larry, The Hawk GT is one of the best bikes I have ever owned (at least 8-9 bikes). Mine is completly stock and the seat is mint and it starts everytime. I have to store mine the for long NY winters and all I do is change the oil and plugs and ride it for another season.

  3. Always loved the unique design you came up with on this build. Oh yeah…..how bout that exhaust?

    1. Hi Andrew. I made the tail section out of 1×1 steel box tubing (for the structure), and fiberglass. The tail lights are from a 1964 Chevy Impala. I then painted it yellow. Cool huh?

  4. Hello, I love your rebuild here! I’m looking to use the NT650 Hawk rear single swing arm for a cafe racer I’m building right now. But I am having a very hard time finding the NT650’s rear swing arm pivot rrod diameter so that I know if it will fit my old Honda bike. Do you happen to have this?

    Thanks,
    Jared

    1. Hi Jared,
      Thanks for the kind words! Unfortunately I don’t have the measurement that you are looking for because my bike is together and packed away in my garage at the moment. However, I am a member of a hawk forum where I am sure that you could find the answers you need. Check out http://www.hawkgtforum.com/ Also, I’d love to see pictures of your cafe racer build if you would be willing to share them. If so – send them to blog@1aauto.com

      -Jeremy

    1. Hi Dylan,
      I am glad you like the tail of my bike! Unfortunately I’m probably not going to build another anytime soon. Try building your own! The frame is 1×1 square steel tubing, and the rest is fiberglass.

    1. Thank you! I believe I used a mixture of 3/8 steel fuel line that I bent myself, and 3/8 rubber fuel hose from an auto part store. Years ago the factory parts were still available through a dealer. So for a factory restoration, I’d try a dealer first if you haven’t already.

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