Say hello to my little friend.

[misnblu]

Catchy title from one of my favorite movies.
I thought I'd start a thread on this build for my 1998 FireHawk I purchased in August of this year.
Coming from a 1973 Kawasaki KZ400 from 25 years ago I wanted a liter bike as the 400 was outgrown quite rapidly.

Like the Kawi when I purchased it, I'll be restoring, and modifying the Hawk as I don't ever keep anything that moves me stock. It's what I do even with the cars I build.

Here's the bike as she stands, literally.

On the stands ready to be torn down.

Here's a pic of the old Kawi. This isn't actually mine pictured but exactly what I had for a year riding it.

My first steed. Quickly outgrown and sold a year later.

I actually bought the bike for transportation while the car is tire down with the various upgrades needed to go turbocharged.
I didn't have room for another car so the bike was the obvious choice and I'm quite pleased.

Among the list of parts I've gotten the rear passenger pegs will be deleted so I can take the spare set in the picture and modify them by cutting off the peg retainers and cutting off and smoothing the smaller bracing leg for a different look I want.
Hard to explain but I'll have pictures when done.

To be modified for rear peg delete.

I'll let the pictures do the talking on some of the items going on the bike.
520 chain with a 16/41 sprocket set.

CBR600F4i front calipers going on the front along with master cylinder and ss brake lines. Levers came with the setup but did buy a new set anyway so I can decide on long or short levers.

More to come as I try to figure out this forums idiosyncrasies.

[misnblu]

Anyway I'll continue with just some pics of some of the changes being made.

A nice little list for now and more sitting at home ready for installation.
I'm having a spare set of rims going to get powder coated and I'll be keeping my stock rims as they are. They'll be spares.

Jamie at DMR suspension is setting me up with a rear shock setup for my weight and riding style and will have the reservoir too.
I'm sending off my forks to Jamie for them to also be setup and upgraded and sending those off when I get home in a few days.

Scott's steering damper replacing the damper already on the bike which I don't like the style of and a complete set of Samco hoses in red for the cooling system.

So many upgrades and once my time at riding school is done I'll be able to enjoy every bit of what she has to offer.
It will be tracked as I really want to learn how to ride properly and once I get through my beginners and advanced courses the bike should be ready for a couple of track days breaking in the new Q3+ Dunlop's I'll have shod on the wheels.
Since I don't ride much these tires should last a couple of years before being replaced and that's why I chose these in particular.

More to come as I get home from a 7+ week stint on the open roads of America delivering freight.

[MacV2]

Fweee... Correct colour. Not fightered. Sensible mods. Even a bin shot !

Damm nowt to rip the urine out of...

[Dickiebig]

Looks like you on it enjoy.
Enough going on to keep you busy and sane in these these trying times. All the best enjoy

[fabiostar]

looks a tidy bike to be starting with, keep the pics going

[sirch345]

Nice colour choice

The bike is looking in good condition as Fabio pointed out

Chris.

[misnblu]

Yeah the original owner took good care of it and garage kept.
I'll be doing the same with her for sure.
I keep saying it but I'm excited as heck for this to be finished.
These bikes where I live are not that plentiful and a bit rare so it will definitely be a head turner when done.

Going home tomorrow and I'll have some updates coming in the next week on the progress.
I've got just about everything I need for the build so the wallet can take a rest and start spilling money again on the car build.

Thanks for the positive feedback and I never realized I had a bin shot.

Just a couple of more of both of my toys, bin included.

[haynesjones66]

looks like a nice clean bike. i think you'll enjoy it. do you live in an area with some twisties?

[Kev L]

Looking good matey, not the right colour obviously, but nice anyway

[misnblu]

looks like a nice clean bike. i think you'll enjoy it. do you live in an area with some twisties?

Oh yeah there's plenty of places with nice pavement and lots of curves.
I used to venture those roads with my cars to have some play on the curves.
We still have lots of back roads to explore and I'm always taking the long route to places I'm going.

On the color many of you probably won't like it but I'm mixing up the colors on the bike to reflect my years of car builds and to commemorate via colors on the bike the most memorable builds I've done. It will be different and I've envisioned the final product and it will look mint.
I'll let the final product lend itself to your comments when that time comes.

[Kev L]

[Dickiebig]

You know for one moment I thought the title of the thread ment something completely different..........but then I would

[misnblu]

You know for one moment I thought the title of the thread ment something completely different..........but then I would

Never looked at it from that point of view.

Some updates as the year down has begun. Not much time but it's progress and I'll first show what Santa brought me care of my wallet.

Some really nice goodies for the bike.

[misnblu]

Some more done to the tank with a protector and grip.

I've already started with the tail section on the tear down and decided to eliminate the big cumbersome tag light and go with some tag led's specific to illuminating the tag.
I like the look of this with the tail and have other ideas going into play for the rear of the bike.

The seat cowl had some broken tabs so I'll be using one of the spares I bought to replace the broken unit.
There's also some dodgy wiring that will be fixed and the battery box lid is broke as the other owner used duct tape, literally to close the lid top over the battery.
Wiring by the previous owner was not his forte and I'll have to do some corrective work once the tank comes off and the fairings.

Rear reflectors have been shaved as the front fork reflectors as I'll be doing some trucking dot led's in areas to make the bike more visible from the sides of the bike. That'll be done next time I'm home.

Here's a few more pics.

Tank removal is next then the front fairing and the forks removed to be shipped to Jamie at DMr Performance for upgrading.
So much to do and so little time.

[alanfjones1411]

You're going to be a busy fella.