It's here!
 

I ordered a hawk on thursday, and got it today! The crate framework had some damage, but none to the bike. I've been outside since 3pm putting it together, but still not finished. I probably would have been done, but I've also been removing bolts and putting loc-tite on them. I got it off the pallet, but still have the shock bolt and headlight to put on. I'm not in too much of a hurry anyway. :lmao:

I also have been gooping up the electrical connectors with dielectric grease as I go, too. The more I do now, the less I do later is the plan.

Congrats on the bike ! And Wise move with the grease

is there a certain way the handlebar caps are to be oriented? I noticed that there are dots cast into the tops, but wasn't paying attention to them when I was un-crating it. I put both caps with the dots forward, but want to make sure. There didn't look to be any difference when I was test fitting.

Great deal, make sure you MCO says motorcycle when getting it titled and registered. Did mine in Salem in Marion county.

They're supposedly in the mail, but we shall see. I'll look the paperwork over when it comes in.

that red is nice!

I was actually surprised by the black tank, but it has grown on me. :)

You're doing a good job, don't be in any hurry and do it right the 1st time on assembly. It pays off in the long run.

Yes dots go toward the front. Doubtful if it makes any difference though.

It makes a difference in terms of clamping load. The clamps are supposed to be perfectly mated on one side and have a significant gap on the other. If the clamps are backwards, you'll have a small gap on both sides. With the caps incorrectly oriented, you may not have the clamping pressure that is required to hold the bars.

Congratulations on the bike Jeremy....have fun! East Central Hellinois here...another inmate:crazy:

The old saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" on CBs can't be stated strongly enough. Theres plenty of real life evidence right here on this site that if you take care of these bikes they provide a ton of entertainment and memories.

Just a heads up, the header pipe does not like ac stick or mig welding. I had to take it to a welding shop, and they put a new piece of sheet steel around the CAT area, and had to use heli-arc to get that to work. It's thin and very low carbon.A dremel and 1/8" end mill took care of the globs of weld just inside of the mounting flange. So far the rest of the assembly has gone fairly smooth, except for the weld nut that's on the side of the swing arm to bolt on the chain guide (the one that needs a re-design). I took the bolt out, ground back the offending raised area that don't fall in line with the chain, went to put it back on with loctite, and "pop". Thankfully, the steel seems to be pretty good there, and I was able to weld on a new m6 nut. I was bolting it back on with a 1/4" ratchet with my fingertips when it popped. Just something everyone should watch out for...

Today, I put on the mikuni knockoff, changed the rear sprocket to 45 tooth, and put on the new unibear chain. If you keep the 15T drive sprocket, a 128 tooth looks like it's a perfect fit. I'll know for sure once I set the wheels on the ground. I think the last thing to do is adjust valves and put the brake pedal return spring on. Oh, and the battery. :lmao: