Monday, June 18, 2007

From Honda 305.com: SuperHawk meets Trition.

This little dear is Vince Lupo's great SuperHawk from 305 Honda.com and is the True work of the Cafe Racer as art..lets hear it in his own words:

"The engine and transmission are both fresh -- the pistons are one over stock, the head has been ported and polished, and the carbs are now running 155's instead of the previous 135's. My first test ride showed noticeable improvement in bottom end pull, and it reaches 80mph in a hurry (don't want to push it too much as the engine/trans are still fresh). The checkered stripes on the tank and fenders are hand painted, and all the decals are custom made. I think the idea was to take cues from some vintage British bikes and incorporate them into my bike. The exposed springs on the forks didn't quite turn out as I had envisioned, but it's the best that could be worked out considering the design and layout of the SuperHawk's forks. Frank's Engineering could have made some for me, but they are hand made, take a minimum of two months to make, and would've added about $ 1000.00 to the cost of the front end. Plus, in the final analysis, might not have looked much different than they are now. Ah well, if I get tired of them I can always put the gaiters back on that I had before (but the look is growing on me)."

"The EMGO Dunstall mufflers and the Dunlop K82 TT100 Lightweight tires. The mufflers are relatively inexpensive, are really well finished, and I consider them to be 'period' because of the fact that their design goes back to the SuperHawk era. I think the only difference between them and real Dunstalls is the welding seam near the outlet of the muffler (if I can find real Dunstalls then I might consider replacing them). They give the SuperHawk a much needed 'bark' as well as a performance tweak. The wheels are made up of Akront rims and stainless spokes, with original hubs cleaned up and their centers painted black. The tires, while perhaps more of an early 1970's design, still look the part and inspire much more confidence on the road than Cheng Shin's. I had to get them from England through Wheelhouse Tires -- they aren't cheap but they are fantastic tires and well worth the piece of mind.
I know that some 'purists' don't like my bike -- I actually had a fellow at a show say that the wheels and tires were 'too nice for the bike' -- and I'm sure some will gasp at what I've done to the front end, the checkers, decals, white pinstriping on the seat, etc etc etc. All I can say is that I'm sorry -- this is what I had in my head and I had to get it out of there! "

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