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Modifications

My hawk in various stages of modificaitons. From left to right, April 2000, May 2002, and October 2002.

Suspension

Fork springs

Cartridge emulators

cbr600f2 preload caps

set up

shock

front tires

rear tires

cbr600f2 front wheel

cbr600f2 forks

Engine

two brothers left side exhaust

two brothers with modified collector

Uni pods

Jetting

Clutch replacement

Factory shift kit

Accessories

Custom rear subframe

Clip-on handlebars

Hiperform frame sliders

Napoleon bar end mirror

Brake pads

Stainless steel brake lines

Chain and sprockets

Buell turn signals

Chain roller

BD tech rearset adapters

Mitch's rearstand

Aprilia rs250 upper fairing

Carbon Flyscreen

When I bought my hawk, the only mods it had consisted of a Two Brothers left exit exhaust system, and some little aluminum turn signals. I've spent PLENTY of time modifying my hawk. The odd thing is, I never had any particular goal as to what I wanted my bike to end up being. The fact that it's ridden on both the street and the track makes it very difficult to decide what to focus on. As of right now, the modifications are still in progress, and I don't see them stopping anytime soon! By the way, if you want a little more background info on these modifications, take a look at the FAQ section of www.hawkgt.com. I'm only giving my own opinions on what I did.

Suspension

I've been messing with the hawk suspension since day one. As you can tell from my list of suspension mods below, I've tried a variety of set ups. Some of the cheaper things I did, like the transplanted 900rr shock, or trimmed hawk springs, were very effective considering the amount of money spent. They are definitely worth it for general street riding. But after going to the track a few times, I decided I needed a Fox shock and full Racetech front end. I'm still trying to optimize all of the adjustments I have available to me, but here are my thoughts on the suspension mods I've done so far.

Racetech Springs (.85kg/mm)

Hawk springs

Hawk springs with 2 coils cut off

1993 cbr600f2 springs

In stock form, I felt that the fork springs were much too soft, which was most noticeable with the amount of dive when braking. The first thing I tried doing was increasing the preload on the stock springs, by using 1" diameter PVC tubing. This helped, but I wanted it to be a little more stiff, so I cut 2 coils off of the stock springs. It was only marginally better, so I got a hold of some f2 springs which were ok also. For a while I though these springs were fine, until I rode a few of my friends' newer bikes. Then I realized that I still needed a much stiffer spring. I called up Racetech in Pomona CA and ordered springs that were specific for my weight (400 lb hawk + 160 lb rider) and riding style, which corresponded to a 0.85 kg/mm rate for aggressive riding. These springs, along with the racetech valving have made my front end just as good as any new bike right now. I felt that I had wasted almost 2 years trying to optimize my front end without the right springs!

Racetech Cartridge emulators, 2 turns in from loose, 10w,15w fork oil

The damping rates for the stock forks didn't feel that great either; it was either overdamped or underdamped, depending on what was on the road. The Racetech cartridge emulators are one of the most effective widgets that you can get for your suspension. Take a look at racetech's homepage for an explanation on how they work. They do exactly what they're called; they emulate cartridge style forks found on newer bikes. I've tried different compression settings, and have settled at 2 turns in from full loose as my favorite with 10 weight fork oil for the street and 15 weight for the track. Using 10 weight is very smooth on the street/canyons, but will give an ocassional wallow on the track; 15 weight gives a very solid responsive feel on the track, but is slightly uncomfortable for the rough pavement on the street. But in colder weather, 10wt is definitely the way to go for both street and track.
I've heard on the www.hawkgt.com mailing list that others have been able to modify the compression valve on the emulator to have more low speed damping. They do this by using a little JB weld epoxy to seal up one of the two damping holes and the spring loaded washer/cover. I haven't tried this myself, but it sounds like it should work.

f2 preload caps

The f2 fork caps fit right on top of the hawk tubes, and have an adjustment screw for preload that the hawk doesn't. The only real advantage to the caps is initial set up of your preload. From then on, they can pretty much stay the same. I remember reading on the hawkgt.com mailing list about the fork caps on the the 94 cbr600f2 and 95+ f3 models cartridge forks... supposedly they are useable as well, but the extra adjustment screw for rebound damp is not utilized.

1.25" sag

fork tubes raised up 0.5" in the triple clamps.

Right now the bike has been set to an amount of sag right in the middle of the 1.0/1.5 inch race/street range. The front end of the bike is slightly lowered, effectively making the head angle steeper, improving how quickly the bike could be turned in. The steering is still relatively heavy though, since it's head angle is still a few degrees more than most new sportbikes. But the exceptionally light weight of the hawk allows it to be flicked in the corners easily with a combination of countersteering and body positioning.

Fox Twin Clicker shock (current set up)

1993 cbr900rr shock with 900rr spring and 1 coil cut off

1993 cbr900rr shock with hawk spring

        The 900 rr shock I put on the bike definitely improved the handling. I thought the majority of the improvement was having the higher ride height in back. That shock was from one of the earlier 900rr's, so the tail end of my hawk was raised about 2 inches, and it really sharpened up the handling (by the way, the bike leaned more but my kickstand still works fine). For the stock hawk spring, it seemed like there wasn't quite enough rebound damping available to overcome the stiffness of it. Then again, it could have something to do with the way I only weigh 160lbs with all of my gear on.
        Modifying the 900rr spring is something that most people on the hawk list haven't tried. All I did was cut one coil off othe the spring with a grinder, and use a propane torch to bend that end flat again. It worked better than the stock hawk spring, simply because it was right in the middle of the too-soft 900rr spring and the too-stiff stock hawk spring. To compensate for the shortened spring in both stock hawk and modified rr cases, I used a 2" galvinized steel pipe flange from the local hardware store (it was just the right size, with a 1/2" thickness and 2" inner diameter, and cost about a buck and a half).
        When I finally got to be a little more serious at the track, I decided to drop $500 on a fox shock. When I put the thing on, I could not believe I waited so long to get it. It really is that good. The bike became dead stable, butter smooth, but just as nimble as before. The spring I'm using is the medium rate one, and the ride height raised the tail about 2.5 inches. As of now the damping settings are at 7 clicks out on rebound, and 2 on compression. I still have a bit more dialing in to do though.

Dunlop 208gp 120/70-17

Dunlop gp-star 120/70-17

Dunlop 207gp 110/70-17 120/70-17

Dunlop KR106 587 slick 120/75-17 (hard compound)

Metzeler racing slick 120/70-17

Metzeler mez1 race comp 110/70-17

Michelin Pilot Race 120/70-17

Michelin Pilot Slicks 120/70 (medium compound)

Dunlop K505 110/80-17

By far one of the the biggest improvements in setting up your suspension is to just get a new set of tires. My hawk came with the Dunlop K505 tires. Those tires only lasted about 2500 miles for me and my canyon riding. After that, I've always run race compound tires, which surprisingly don't wear out much faster on the street for me. It's the track riding that really eats them up.
In regards to the best size tires to run on the stock front rim, debates resurface on the hawk list quite often. With a 2.5 inch wide rim, there used to be a limited selection of DOT race compound tires available. The race compound 110/70's I've tried up front left about 1/4-1/2 inch of unused tread on the sides. I've tried a 120/ 70 Dunlop 207gp on the stock rim, leaving about 1/2-3/4" of unused tread. Some hawkers have stated that it was bad to run the 120 wide tire up front on the stock rim. I personally have never had any problems with the 120 wide tires on the track or the canyons; there's more than enough clearance to the fender, the tire profile is still nice and round, and the extra tread that you're not using isn't much worse than the 110/70's. Lately though, most manufacturers have come out with 110 width race compound tires which work great; they're not quite as squirrely as the 120, but then again you wouldn't notice a difference until you're riding at 9/10ths pace. In conclusion, if you want to run a race compound front tire on your stock rim, get a 110/70. If you fitted a wider front rim, go for the 120/70 or 120/60, depending on your preferences.

Dunlop 207gp 170/60-17

Dunlop D207ZR 170/60-17

Dunlop KR108 501(hard compound) slick 155/60-17

Michelin Pilot Race 170/60-17

Michelin Pilot Race 160/60-17 (soft and standard compound)

Michelin Pilot Slick 160/60 (medium compound)

Metzeler mez1 race comp 160/60-17

Metzeler Rennsport soft 160/60-17

Pirelli Dragon Corsa 160/60-17

Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa soft 160/60-17

Pirelli Dragon Corsa slick 160/60-17

Bridgestone BT-58 170/60-17

Dunlop K505 150/70-17

        Out back on the stock 4.5" rim, the more popular race compound tires should be a 160/60 size. The 170/60 207gp worked out just fine, with absolutely no clearance problems, and scrubbed tread all the way out to the edge of the tire. I've tried both the 160/60 and 170/60 Pilot Race's, and the 160/60 is the one I like the most; I wasn't able to get the last 1/4" of tread on the left side of the 170 pilot at willow.
        For some reason, the 170 width D207ZR street tire did not work so well on the hawk; the tire did not wrap around the rim as "round" as the other 170's I've tried. The profile of the tire, along with the harder compound, made for some rear wheel sliding whenever I was hard on the gas and had the bike leaned over. The sliding was actually very predictable, but definitely not very confidence inspiring.
        From the standpoint of grip, all race compound tires have worked wonderfully for me as long as they were warmed up (the Michelin's take a while longer). There are also subtle differences in feel that are noticeable on both the track and the street. The Dunlops tend to have a stiffer carcass than the Michelins, allowing you to feel a little more of the road. This may be a good or bad thing depending on what you're trying to do with your hawk. I tend to like Dunlops for the extra feedback and faster warm-up. I know there are several other great tires available from other manufacturers... as I find the opportunities, I'll be sure to try them out.
        As for the Metzeler/Pirelli racing slicks, the trackside vendor told me that those tires were identical to the DOT approved race compound tires, in construction and rubber compound... so he told me not to expect any huge drops in lap time. Well, it turns out that those slicks allowed me to drop one second off of my best lap times. I'm not sure if they really did better, or if it was a mental thing where I felt more confident in them. But one thing I noticed was that they would last a bit longer than their DOT approved counterparts, mainly because they didn't any any tread to flex, so they ran a bit cooler.
        The Dunlop slicks have been very interesting. It took me a while to get used to the strange 75 series front tire. But once I lowered the front end 1/4" more to compensate for the taller tire, the hawk had this awesome tendancy to want to turn in harder... it's almost as if the bike just wants to stay leaned over, and ya gotta give the bars a good push before it'll stand up again. I believe my lap times with these dunlop slicks are identical to the times I could get with the Pirelli/Metzelers.

CBR600f2 front wheel

One of my favorite mods was mounting an f2 front rim. I bought this wheel used for $100, including the rotors, axle, spacer, speedo drive, several nasty dings, and red paint. I stripped off all of the paint using "aircraft finish remover" from Kragen Auto Parts, and put on a nice, big 120/70 tire. The wheel can be direct bolt-on onto the stock fork legs, with the exception of having to shave a little bit of the brake caliper hanger for running the single hawk brake (the rotor was about 0.1" closer to the fork leg). Eventually I switched to f2 fork legs with dual brakes, which is pictured above. One thing that disappointed me was the fact that the wheel and tire is slightly heavier than the hawk rim and tire. The extra weight along with the different tire profile made the bike feel slightly less nimble. However, the stability in a full lean was drastically improved. For those of you that are familiar with Willow Springs International Raceway, the way this rim settled the bike in turns 2, 8 and 9 helped me go from 1:39 down to 1:37 in one weekend. I was considering mounting a steering dampener before, but I don't feel that I need one anymore.

CBR600f2 forks

When I decided to take advantage of the dual brake rotors I could put on my cbr front rim, I looked into the hawk list to see what parts I needed. It turned out that all I really needed were the lower fork sliders to mount the brake calipers; my aftermarket springs and valving were still useable. I ended up getting an entire 1993 f2 front end anyway, and putting in my race-tech goodies. It truly was a bolt-on job, since I could use the same triple clamps, clip-ons, speedo drive, fork innards, etc. The 1994 forks are actually a better year of f2 front end to get since it has a cartridge style fork like the f3, but it retains the wheel with speedo drive. One good thing about my set-up right now though, is that the race-tech cartridge emulator is difficult to discern from a true cartridge fork. That's a good thing, because otherwise I'd be kicking myself for not thinking ahead to get the cartridge front end in the first place!

Engine

two brothers left side exhaust

This exhaust came with my bike when I bought it used from the dealership in 1997. It was actually one of the main reasons I wanted this particular bike. I swear I almost fell apart when I heard the v-twin rumbling during my test ride. I feel that this particular exhaust system got a bad rap on the hawk list. Yes, it does drag on the asphalt in hard left turns, but only if you're draggin your foot peg too; this wouldn't be an issue for anybody riding on the street (any sane person, that is). And according to dyno charts posted on various hawk racers' pages, the tbr exhaust doesn't quite do as well in the midrange as other pipes like the supertrapp or M4. I don't feel that I'm missing any kinda midrange, since I'm usually around mid to high rpm anyway. One thing everyone agrees on though when it comes to this exhaust, is that it looks really trick with the wheel opened up on the right, and it sounds incredible.

two brothers exhaust with modified collector
One bad thing about the left exit exhaust is that it didn't go too well with other modifications I did. The 900rr and Fox shocks that I used raised up the rear of the bike about 2.5 inches, and that made the swingarm effectively closer to the exhaust crossover pipe. The chain would subsequently hit the exhaust. After dealing with the racket that made, and beginning to go to the track more often, I decided to move the exhaust over to the right side. Since the muffler was already damaged from 2 previous crashes, I didn't want to bother getting a pretty new crossover pipe. I ended up going down to the local muffler shop, and asked them to cut and replace the section of tubing between the collector and the exhaust can. Now, I have a high mounted muffler (with the badge on the wrong side) attached to the stock footpeg. I wasn't expecting it to come out slanted so far upward, but it looks kinda cool... almost streetfighterish in a way. The quality of the tubing and welding aren't much to talk about, but for only $25 of parts and labor, I'm not gonna complain.

Uni pods

I purchased some generic Uni foam filters for the carburetors. These little guys are quite a bit noisier than the stock airbox, but I can tell that the bike breathes a little easier at high rpm's just by the way is rev's up a little faster. I don't remember exactly what which size of pods I put on my bike, but I've heard from the hawk list that the pods for ex500's work just fine.

Factory 3.0 jet kit

Stock needles with shims

Before I got the Factory brand jet kit, I tried shimming the stock carb needles with some washers, as suggested on the hawkgt mailing list. With the uni foam pods and tbr exhaust, I've settled on a 148 front and 150 rear jet, with the stock needles shimmed up 0.060", and the mixture screws turned out 2.75 turns. This seemed to work ok for the riding I do, which ranges from 0-6000 feet. I did notice that the bike had a slight surge at the middle of the rpm range, but it wasn't too significant.
Eventually, I decided to The Factory config 3.0 jet kit helped to fine tune things a little. I was able to get rid of the slight surge at the midrange, and also make it run a bit stronger at low rpm's. I ended up with nearly the same settings as suggested in the hawkgt faq archives: 148 front and 150 rear jets, needles with clip in 3rd slot from top, #42 pilots, and 2 turns out on the fuel screws.

Clutch replacement

When my bike hit about 50k miles, I began to notice an excessive amount of clutch slip. This was most apparent when doing a full throttle 4th to 5th gear shift, or trying to pull wheelies. I went to the local motorcycle shop, and got a hold of some kevlar friction plates (they told me the steel plates only need replacement every other time). I'm not even sure who made them since they were out of the package. And while I had the clutch cover off, I installed a Factory shift kit which included a new gasket. To do the actual replacement, I followed the instructions in the service manual, and also on the hawkgt.com faq archives. It's not terribly difficult, but I suggest paying very close attention to how things go together. I ended up draining the oil and popping the motor open two additional times since I didn't put things together correctly.

Factory shift kit

The shift kit is nothing more than a little spring and a new clutch cover gasket. This spring is a stiffer replacement for one on the shift mechanism. It essentially gets rid of false neutrals, but it takes considerably more effort to shift through the gears.

Accessories

Custom rear subframe

I made my own rear subframe out of 1/4 thick aluminum stock, and mounted a Sharkskinz RS250 style solo tail on it. I think the tail looks pretty darn sharp, and the entire assembly is noticeably lighter than stock. The seat itself is now just a 1/2" layer of foam, and it is actually reasonably comfortable... as long as you're hanging off the side of the bike! I decided to compromise on the comfort of the bike in the interest of lighter weight. At first, the seat was maybe 2" higher than stock. This put much of my own weight toward the front of the bike, and made me feel like I was gonna go over the bars whenever I got on the brakes. Later on, I actually cut away some of the fiberglass and brought the seat down closer to the stock height. I'm very happy with how it is now, but I spent a lot of time figuring everything out. If I were to do it all over again, I would have just gone out and bought a ready to use subframe from www.hiperform.com.

Pro-Flo clip-on handlebars (current set-up)

f2 clip-on handlebars

The f2 bars are about 4 inches lower than stock, and I've tried them both above and below the upper triple clamp. Below the triple clamp, it really puts too much weight on my wrists, but it allows for an aggressive crouch. Riding this for more than half an hour at a time can really make your wrists sore. Mounting them above the triples was good on the street, and still allowed for a good tuck on the track. One thing I had to do though was figure out how to route the stock cables nicely without binding them; it took a while but it can definitely be done...I had the clutch and throttle cables going forward from the bars.
On the hawk list, I found out about a company called Pro-Flo that makes a variety of motorcycle race parts. I got a set of their clip ons, which are a tremendous deal at $110. They have replaceable bars, and a true two piece clamp construction so it's easy to swap the bars above or below the triples. They sit just a little bit lower that the f2 clip-ons.

Hiperform Frame sliders

I picked up some of Rod Holland's frame sliders from www.hiperform.com. Unfortunately, I got these sliders a bit late, since I had a lowside at the track that flattened out my left side exhaust header. One of the reasons I hesitated on getting these sliders earlier was because of the two bros exhaust system I have, where the right side head pipe covers up the location for the right slider. I ended up making a bracket to move the slider up a bit, and it seems like it'd be sturdy enough. The bracket is nothing more than two pieces of 1/4" thick aluminum plate, with some holes for two big bolts. Click on the picture to the right for a close up view.

Napoleon bar end mirror

I picked up this mirror for pretty cheap from another lister. It had a big ding in it, so I only paid $12 for it to cover shipping. The mirror works fine at speeds under about 55, but on the freeway you can only see the general shape of cars since it shakes so much. In reality, it is only slightly worse than the stock mirrors anyhow.

EBC HH "kit" pads on F2 rotors (current setup)

EBC HH pads on F2 rotors

Ferodo 901 pads on F2 rotors

EBC black pads on hawk rotor

EBC green brake pads on hawk rotor

The EBC black brake pads were the first replacements pads I ever got for the hawk. They worked just as well as the oem pads, so I had nothing to complain about. The EBC green pads, on the other hand, had a tremendous "bite" that made it easy to control the hawk in hard-braking situations. One thing that bugged me about them was the way they wore out so quickly though. After that, I tried EBC HH pads with the dual f2 brakes; they pulled very hard and bit progressively harder without any fade. The dual HH brake setup worked very well, but my only gripes about it was that there's a little bit of brake squeal I can't get rid of, and the fact I know a single brake rotor was almost as effective with good pads. Eventually, the noise that the HH pads made really bothered me, especially in traffic. I did some looking on the hawk list archives, and someone stated that the reason the HH pads squealed was due to a material incompatibility with the stock stainless rotors; the solution was to use the EBC HH "kit" pads, which were meant for stainless rotors (not cast iron). When I tried these pads, I could not believe how strong they were. I mean, stoppies whenever you want, and even when I'm sitting toward the back of the seat and going uphill! As of now, they've developed a very slight squeal, but it is nowhere near as bad as it was with the regular HH pads.

Galfer stainless steel braided brake lines

Lockhart stainless steel braided brake line

I pieced together the brake lines for my f2 setup with the help of the local Galfer vendor at the track. They feel pretty good, without too much of the squishy feel of oem lines. The lockhart line was used on my single hawk brake, and was actually supposed to be for an fzr400. It felt just fine too. The bottom line is, stainless lines won't help you get stronger brakes. They look kinda neat, but they only change how your brake lever feels. A new set of brake pads are the best thing you can do to increase your stopping power.

Afam 520 44 tooth sprocket

Afam 520 16 tooth sprocket

PBI 520 42 tooth sprocket

PBI 520 15, 17 tooth sprocket

RK 520 X-ring chain

RK 520 O-ring chain

Afam 525 Chain and sprocket kit (16x43)

        I went through my first replacement chain in less than a year. The Afam chain I had worked just fine, but my ignorance with setting the correct chain tension caused little cracks to develop on many of the links. These little cracks were on the side links, going from the pins to the edge of the links. I soon learned that an overly tight chain will ruin it in no time, and will reduce the capability of the suspension severely. My mistake was especially bad since I had raised the rear end of the bike, effectively making the chain go through a wider length change. At the "long" part of the swingarm travel, the chain should have at least 1/2" of slack. This will make your chain droop like a dirt bike, but ya gotta trust that it'll have the right slack when you're sitting on the bike in the middle of the turn, with the suspension loaded. I've had many people tell me I run my chain too loose, but they don't really understand how much I really raised the tail end of the bike.
        The current coutershaft and sprocket set I'm running is a 17x44. To mount the 1-tooth-taller-than-stock countershaft sprocket, there's a slight clearance problem with the shift shaft. There are two ways around it. Some riders will grind a little bit of the tips off of the sprocket, and others will put a slight notch about 1/4 of the way into the side of the shift shaft. I ended up putting the notch in the shaft, figuring that if the shaft would ever be bent in a crash, it would happen at the base wehre it goes into the engine, not at the notch.
        I put on the bigger countershaft sprocket when I noticed that I was going past my horsepower peak in top gear at willow springs. In general, the optimal gearing has the horsepower peak in top gear coincide with the top speed. One thing I didn't anticipate though, was how much the rear tire choices have an effect on gearing.   The weather also had an effect too. I remember going around the fast portion of willow, redlined in top gear at an indicated 135 mph. But that was with a tailwind... it's usually around 120mph and I'm not quite into redline.

Buell turn signals

Yes, it's true. On the hawk list, I heard it mentioned that you can pick up some slick looking Buell turn signals for really cheap. I went to the Local Harley Davidson/Buell Dealer, and picked up all four signals for a 1999 Buell X1 Lightning for only $22. The appeal of these signals is that they are DOT legal, fit the hawk perfectly, and look kinda nice with a clear lens and a oval shaped body. I actually mounted my signals in such a way that they can be removed very quickly. I bolted the rear signals to the mud flap, and had the wiring for the license plate and signals tied into one plug for a trailer. So when I go to the track, all I need to do is unbolt the mud flap, unplug the harness, and the whole tail end is ready! I mounted the front signals similarly to a aluminum strip behind the fuse box since I'd have to pull several fuses anyway. A couple things about these signals though... you won't have running lights up front anymore, and they will blink too fast at first. To slow down to flashers, either get some higher wattage bulbs, or a different flasher. (about the picture.... the signal on the right is actually missing the clear lens since it kept hitting my muffler!)

BD technologies! rearset adapters

Mike Pescetto from the hawk list has some homemade rearset adapters available for the stock hawk rearsets. He sells that at an exceptional price, and will make them in any combination of distance up/back you specify. Also included are mounting hardware for just a little more, which end up making the total price somewhere around a tenth of the price of brand new rearsets. I got these adapters when I found myself consistently dragging pegs at the track. This was not a big deal, except for the fact that my expensive alpinestars boots were getting destroyed too. I asked for the pegs to be moved up one inch and back one inch. This was good enough to keep my peg dragging to only an occasional dab and not a consistent grind. Unfortunately for me, the higher pegs are a bit uncomfortable for extended street riding. I'm 5'9" with somewhat long legs that get folded up a bit too much. Mike has a webpage that showcases some of the BD Technologies products.

Chain roller

When I first got the 900rr shock, the tail end of the bike was raised up a couple of inches, which effectively made the swingarm lower relative to the frame of the bike. Well, to make sure the chain didn't drag across the frame, I made this chain roller assembly, which was slightly different from the ones you see on the net. I got a section of aluminum L bracket, and drilled a couple of holes in it. Then I bought a motocross chain roller for $14 from the local motorcycle dealer, and mounted all of it to a threaded hole that was meant for the stock exhaust. It works pretty well. I can run a bit more slack in the chain now, which is a good thing since I didn't want to restrict my suspension travel with a overtightened chain. I get a lot of comments from people saying that I run my chain too loose... the thing that they don't realize is the chain tightens up quite a bit as the swingarm moves. It has 1/2" of slack at the tightest point now. There's a picture of it next to the rearset adapters above.

Mitch's rearstand

At one time, Mitch from the hawk list had some homemade rearstands available. Since then, Chris Porter has taken over and is now selling these. They're not the prettiest things out there, but they're extremely effective, very strong, and a great deal for the money (less than 1/2 the price of other stands). There were also other variations for other single sided swingarm bikes too, like ducati's or triumph's.

Aprilia RS250 upper fairing

I saw several other race hawks on the web that had this particular fairing from Airtech. It seemed to have just the right look and was sized appropriately for the bike. Initially, I actually tried mounting it to a subframe attached to the headstock, but the fairing needed to sit very high and forward to clear the handlebars. In the interest of getting that low nose-down look, I ignored the crashability issues and just attached it to the fork tubes. You'll notice that the brackets are nothing more than just some strips of aluminum and "plumber's tape" from the hardware store... nothing fancy here. Those ugly mounting brackets compliment the lovely krylon cherry red very nicely! hah ha

Carbon Flyscreen

When I was at UCLA studying for my b.s. in mechanical engineering several years ago, I was part of a student project called the Human Powered Vehicle (HPV). It essentially was a trick recumbent bicycle, built for a competition that included
three categories: a speed trap, road course, and judging for engineering innovation. This competition, sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), included engineering programs from about 30 other colleges and universities in the western United States.

Our bicycle had a huge carbon fiber, tear drop shaped body, about 9 feet long and 4.5 feet high. I cast the flyscreen off of the nose portion of the female mold, using the "vacuum bag" technique. The flyscreen consists of 5 layers: 4 layers of carbon fiber, and one layer of kevlar in the middle, using epoxy. I've been experimenting with different mounting options, and currently it is mounted on four points: two using thin steel rods that go to the top triple clamp/fork leg bolts, and two using aluminum strips that screw into the headlight housing. It's painted red, with the outer inch left with the natural carbon finish; I used regular automotive spray paint, with a clearcoat over everything. It makes a negligible difference for wind protection; it's only there to give the look of the bike a little more flavor.
As for cost... I don't quite remember, but I estimate that I used about $100-$150 worth of material and many weekends of my own time. There was a lot of excess carbon/kevlar that was trimmed away, and material used for the casting process. I've already received offers to make more of these flyscreens, but I really don't have the time. Between working 40-50 hrs/week, and trying to keep myself in shape at the gym, I barely have enough time to ride. If ya have any questions about composites or making one of these things on your own, let me know. Otherwise, there are other windscreens that are readily available off the shelf. Check out accessories for buells, ducati monsters, and also offering from vendors such as lockhart, holeshot performance, and arizona motorsports.

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