[ 1997: October - December ]

If your SuperHawk leans to the side too much, check the side stand mount bracket.  If everything is still OK, good preventive maintenance is to make sure that all bolts securing this bracket to the frame are in place.  On my CP-77, the 10 mm bolt (center of the bracket to frame) was missing.  This transferred more of the load onto the bracket when the bike was on the side stand.  Eventually, the bracket got bent and cracked.  The bike would lean so much that tipping over was a danger with a slight provocation.

Nothing exciting about the repair; remove old parts, clean frame and hardware, install replacement parts.  The only trick is getting the springs onto both the side and the center stands.  This is better accomplished by first attaching the spring at the frame/bracket to side/center stands and then guiding the assembly into alignment.

The seals I needed were for: a) shift pedal output shaft (in the left transmission case cover) and b) the point cam seal.  I've noticed a small amount of oil seepage at the shift pedal mounting, but more importantly, some oil had to be cleaned off of the points - some seepage around the point cam, evidently.

Here, I lift the veil of mystery from the numbering found on the seals faces, or in the parts book (sometimes).  Using the shift pedal output shaft as an example, the actual seal has the following lettering: NOK  SC  14  25  7.  The parts book limits itself to a laconic 14257 (alongside the Honda part number).  At the industry level, this is understood to be: 14mm ID, 25mm OD and a 7mm shoulder depth.  This method of notation seems to be ubiquitous; knowledge of same will save you thousands.

Back to the bike, the steel balls are going to replace the ones currently in the steering head (there are 19 in each of the races; top and bottom).  It is said that they should be replaced at around 10,000 miles.  Suffice it to say that the bearing supply house sold me a box of 100 stainless steel balls for $4.50, saving me close to $50.00 over the conventional source.  The bike turned 10,000 several days ago.

The O-rings are needed everywhere.  Most immediate of my concerns is a possible air leak around the carb-to-spacer and the carb spacer-to-intake manifold O-rings; the old ones are compressed into flattened disks and show heat and fuel damage.  There is some evidence of an air leak past this area, resulting in the abnormally high idle from the overly lean mixture.  We'll see...  The oil filter O-ring was misaligned by PO and had ripped then the oil filter was taken apart for soaking and cleaning.

Since the engine case and cover are both aluminum, extreme care is needed in cleaning the old, baked-on gasket.  Plenty of soaking with Magical Mystery Oil and careful slicing away with a razor blade.  A fine-grit emery cloth, liberally lubricated, finishes the gasket surfaces to a pristine condition.  If you like digging ditches, don't do it!  An oil leak due to old gasket material left over is better than an oil leak due to uneven mating surfaces.

Anyway, when cleaned off, the case cover reveals some nicks on the gasket surface - a result of PO prying the case off with a screwdriver.  Nothing major, but needs to be fixed.  A very fine flat file, amply lubricated, and careful operation leaves the case surface pristine.  For the purist - the engine side of the gasket passes the seam of the top and bottom engine cover meeting point.  On my bike, the top case overlapped the bottom by a few thousands of an inch - the same file removed this imperfection as well.

The rest is easy: cleaned everything off, removed the old shift pedal shaft seal, lubricated new seal (and the shaft) with high temp grease, installed the new seal into the case.  Next, applied a thin coat of the high temperature grease to both gasket surfaces, get all the fasteners lubricated with anti-cease and ready to be installed and proceeded to place the gasket onto the case.  Reassembled everything; left side engine case cover and the oil filter cover.

Refilled motor with oil, went for a ride - no leaks!