It all started back in early April when I posted the Honda Hawk GT Build Part 1. I had just pulled it out of my dark, damp, and disgusting shed, and found that it had become the meeting place for all of the local spiders. Once the arachnid population was evicted and the sunlight hit it, I came to the realization that my long term neglect had really taken a toll on my once loved motorcycle. Every piece of aluminum was corroded, and all of the steel was rusting. It was flat out sad looking. The only way to properly correct this situation was to strip the whole thing down and start over.
The Honda Hawk GT Build Part 2 blog post was appropriately named “the resurrection”, because the bike was completely stripped down, the engine was soda blasted, parts were polished and painted, and it started going back together again. When I began the rebuild, I quickly remembered just how much I enjoyed building this bike the first time about 8 years ago. Every hour of work that went into this bike was truly enjoyable. Honestly, I like working on it about 10x more than I like riding it. Strange, I know.
Today’s Honda Hawk GT update is sort of the final results, because the bike is now semi-legal to drive on public roads, though not completely because I haven’t gotten an inspection sticker yet. If it ever stops raining this year, maybe I will get a chance to ride it. If not, maybe I will turn it into a boat. In any case, yesterday after mowing my lawn, I pushed my bike out to the middle of it and took a few quick snapshots. In my opinion, vehicles always look cool on fresh green grass. I think it is because they appear lower, though maybe I just have a weird concept of coolness. Anyway, here she is in all her glory. The finish 1988 Honda Hawk GT NT650 project. Tada!
How close does the muffler come to the ground when you sit on it? Looks good
I really don’t know, but the grass makes it appear closer to the ground than it really is. I would bet it’s 4-5 inches.
You’ll find out at the first speed bump!
I sure will! Luckily, in the 8-ish years I have owned it, I can’t remember ever needing to go over a speed bump. I have had both wheels in the air before, but that was a sweet jump, not a speed bump.
Jeremy, have you ever posted the old building process of your bike?
I’m pretty sure It would be very intresting to read. I like the finish result except muffler, but everything else is look excelent. Beautiful custom!
If you have the link, please send me an e-mail on 9ericoff {[at]} gmail_dot_com
Thank you!