Hi~! Am new to SH Forum...have a '98 Super Hawk & love it's characteristics (i.e., motor, sound, looks, etc) but have a few questions:

I'd like to do some minor rider/ergo-mods to the SH to make it a tad more comfy for sport-touring w/emphasis on 'sport'...My size is ~6'3"+...205lbs.

Have heard the first thing that one should do is 'replace the stock seat'...what brand/type is recommended?

Also, what are best options to raise handlebars a tad...and perhaps lower footpegs slightly (w/o buying a VFR-800!)

Have seen the "Super Hawk 996" upper fairing logos...where are those available?

Thanks!
Misipy

 

Most people go with the Sargeant or Corbin seats. Anything is better than the stock seat.

Every once in a while you can catch some Heli-bars for sale here. You could also do what some of the others have done and put some new mounts on top of the triple clamp and go that route.

Footpegs are another matter and lowering them would make them more prone to scraping the ground which usually doesn't result in good things. Try going back instead of down. A few folks on here have made some changes to their stock pegs to make them go back a little but others just get a new rearset.

 

Here is a link for the markings:
http://www.hondapartsline.com/fiche_...1998&fveh=4077

 

Genmar risers will raise the bars 3/4 of an inch, are reasonably priced and don't require extended brake lines...

http://www.zianet.com/genmar/

 

I don't know what you all are complaining about the ergos/saddle with the hawk. If you want a comfy bike you should have gotten something else.

Im 6'2" and since I lost a bit of weight I have no problem getting down behind the wind screen. The saddle is fine. I drive mine daily to work 130 miles round trip with lowered forks, stock seat and Gilles raised foot pegs.
I did a 700+ mile trip out to Vegas and back in 24 hours last month and had no problems. I'm also almost 40.

 

I have used all 3 seats (in fact have all 3 in my garage) and right now I have the Sargent on it, but I am not 100% sure it is better than the stock seat.. I have only done a few long days on it so far, I did far more on the stock seat and I ached about the same afterwords.. The Corbin is worse in my opinion. Really each person's rear is different, so what works for one person won't for another.

Buell footpegs are an option there, do a search on the forum for that and you will find a few taller people have put them on for more leg room.

 

Thanks to all for the quick responses!...they were all helpful. I may try a seat &/or the 3/4" risers mentioned.

I'm not going the Corbin route for sure, I had an early one (am sure they're better now!) for my ole trusty '84 FJ1100 and it was awful...stock was mucho better.

Zman...only 40!?...If I was 40 I probably would not be complaining either! :-) I recently did ~825 mi to the Barber AMA SuperBike race & back to FL recently and did OK...but have just been looking at some ergo-mods that would take the edge off while droning those long-er days in the saddle.

 

I second Lazn, mostly. I had a Corbin and hated it. The stock seat isn't great, but its worlds better than the corbin. No experience with the sargent tho

 

Howdy and welcome to the house of the super hawk.

I took that thin wire clip off the fork tops, ground off the little nub that keeps the bars from moving to or fro if they come loose and pulled the clip-ons toward me. Also rotated the pegs rearward 1". Position is comfortable for me but you need to use core strength to keep the weight off your hands and a little help from the wind on your chest at highway speeds. Re-adjust your shifter and rear brake levers.

Rotate your clutch and front brake levers downward a little to the angle of your arms.

make sure your suspension is set up for your weight.

ride for a while and determine where your at ergonomically and then if you need to spend your money, you'll have a better understanding of what you're lookin for.

 

**** the stock seat. It's literally a torture device. I did 1700 miles on it. No way in hell will I ever do it again.

 

Yeah. i can imagine that the oem seat is quite intolerable for touring, riding a lot of straight roads, and or staying in the same body position for any prolonged length of time.

I guess i don't have an issue with it because I don't stay in one position on the seat for long periods as in highway riding. I head for curvy roads and consequently get to move around move around on the seat quite a bit, and for that I am thankful.

You could buy a sargent, have your seat redone, or have a piece of foam sewn into your riding pants, if you use them. Which reminds me, I don't understand why more riding suits don't include a padded butt. My daughter did a lot of sewing in her younger years, so I asked her to add padding under leather patches on the knees and butt to my levi jeans. She sewed the leather in a diamond pattern and the foam padding made little bulges in the leather making for an extremely comfortable, warm, and functional pair of riding pants. Kept my knees warm and was very comfortable on an otherwise hard seat. A bonus was that when you knelt down to work on or check something out, sat on a curb or wall to take a break, etc., you had a comfortable padding to soften things up a bit. I told her she should market them but she never pursued it and that was back in the 70's.

Anyway, I know what it feels like to do extended stints on straight roads where you stay in one position until you skin compresses to the bone making you just want to stuff a pillow under your ***. haha. Another option my wife employed when she bought a pillow at the dollar store just to get her home.

 

I have the Sargent and it fits my backside perfectly. I did not know how bad the OEM was until I rode Hawkrider's bike - the next week I ordered my Sargent. I can tell you that even after a 250 mile ride, it still feels good to sit on my bike -
Also I can recommend VFR clipons. For me just that little extra height made a significant improvement.
Finally, a double bubble screen made a difference for me. Perhaps not a huge change in airflow, but enough

 

Mine does, it's a Wolf suit, dont know if you get there suits in the US it is good gear reasonably priced, it is only a thin small piece of padding and it just sits at the base of your tailbone but boy does it make a difference!

 

Yeah she put a thin piece of foam padding across the butt, but i really think the diamond pattern stitching was the ticket. You really don't want much back there because it would interfere with stability on the seat. Most don't know about it because they've never had the opportunity to experience the improvement.

 

I did a couple things to mine to make it more sport tourable. I'm 6'1 and like you found that after a long day riding that the pegs would be more comfortable lowered and the clipons higher. So here is what I did.

I did the superbike bar mod,. Alot of people seem to be leary about drilling into the top triple but I have over 5000 miles on mine since and no problems. I always do a quick check of the triple for cracks before every ride. Here is a good thread on it.

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ight=superbike

As for the foot pegs I did the "buell peg mod". This is the best mod for you dollar comfort wise. I think it cost a total of 50 bucks. Here is a good thread finepooch made with a couple pics, it only drops the pegs about an inch but trust me it feels like 6 inches when you first sit on it.

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ighlight=buell

Do a google search on the buell peg mod, alot of sport bike riders have done this for longer trips and its easy to put the stock pegs back on if necessary.

Between these two mods it makes the bike a very comfortable sport tourer. I have no soreness problems after a long day riding besides my a**. But I am going to buy myself a Sargent seat for Xmas and ride it till it dies.

 

I tried the Helibars, but found the angle (a lack of droop as compared to the stockers) hurt my wrists and am much happier with the Genmar setup and stock bars. I also filed the nub on the stock handlebars to allow them to rotate out a bit, now just enough to clear the fairing at full lock and had room to install a lever type cruise control, big comfort factor as it eliminates the throttle return spring with the flip of a lever. Buell pegs, a sargent seat, foam grips and it's an old man's motorcycle. Still a rack, but for me worth it for the power and handling. And I look good on it.

 

can this be verified by at least one person with normal visual acuity?

 

I sent my stock seat to Mean City Cycles, Maiden, NC. They redid the foam with hospital grade (5.5) memory foam. $100. It's way much better now. Put over 1000 miles on it the next 4 days after I got it back. Comfy. They also do double foam, gel pads, can lower, raise it. Good guys.

 

Tried the sargent seat, it was tilted back to front with the result of the 'boys' wanting to slide into the tank. Had to be real careful of seating position at RR tracks, speed bumps and pot holes.

One unnoticed impact was all it took for me to e-Bay that unit and go back to stock.

But other riders have 'nads of iron or seem to enjoy the occasional impact. I can't figure.

 

That's strange as my stock seat has much more forward slant to it than my Sargent seat.

 

Actually, my experience is like 8541Hawk's... The Sargent is higher near the tank, and wider, putting me comfortable in the middle of the saddle with less nut-crunch...

 

Interesting>how did the seat turn out relative to the OEM in terms of height. slant, other?

 

I had it replace to pretty much the same as stock. May send it back to raise it at the front a little, as it slopes forward a little (as does the stock). They can adjust it about any way, higher, lower (may be less foam) slide forward, backards. Give them a call and talk to Alan. He'll tell you more of what he can do base on what you may what.

 

apersheate the get back and welcome. I like the oem shape but have never ridden the SH on anything else. Without knowing, if i did send it to em, i would just request the same shape but with the better foam.

thanks, nathan

 

Thanks guys!...and Dannyz,... all your posts have been a VERY big help in giving me more ideas than probably I have time for! But...alas it's given me hope to retro-fit the SH into perhaps a more comy-sporttouring machine.

I'd thought about trying to graft on a set of Superbike-type bars before (as I'm mostly a dirtbike rider @ heart -'07 YZ250...and have used the bar-risers, etc in past). I have a spare set of Pro-Tapers that I was contemplating doing just what others had described in past threads (have read them all!)...but fairing/tank clearances were something of concern. The bar-risers that DannyZ exhibited above certainly looks the best/simplest route, however the Superbike setup is certainly trick-looking and unique.
For sure am gonna spend some time over the winter making some of these mods...the bars, Buell pegs or other rearsets, and a Seargent saddle are high on the list. The stock seat is tilted too far forward toward the tank for me on long-er rides...I don't notice the foam so much, as the forward tilt.
It's been an enjoyable read-of-the-threads on these mods...thanks again!

Misipy
Tallahassee, FL

 

So this would be buying direct from Genmar? The price seems good at $117.95 including shipping. Just wondering if they are a trusted site.