Honda Hawks are way cool. They are so cool, all other bikes pale in comparison to to ultimate cool coolativity that is the Honda Hawk. It is the perfect bike. It is nearly godlike. In fact, if Jesus were alive today, he'd be riding a Hawk. Because Jesus was way cool. And so are Hawks. You can adapt a Hawk for just about anything you want it to do. Racing? Sure. Commuting? Well, duh. Around town? Supa-mastah! Long-distance endurance riding? ...OK, not the best choice, but you could still do it. And that is so cool. A bike for all seasons. The ultimate bike. Perfect for beginners. Respected by those in the know. To ride one is to make grown men weep as they look wistfully at your ride and say, "I remember when I had one of those *sob*" People will come up to you and say, "Wow, man, is that a new Ducati or something?" And you can in all honesty reply, "Naw, man, this is a Honda Hawk--it is way rarer, much better, and infinitely cooler than that Italian trash." Check it--Honda Hawk: water-cooled three valve head, v-twin, 1988; Ducati ST3: water-cooled three valve head, 2005.Hawk: nekkid standard, 1988; Ducati Monster: nekkid standard, 1994. Yeah, Hawk, way ahead of its time. And way, way cool. And chick magnet? Hell, yeah! (Unless your name is JoEl.) There's even this quirky moto list filled with Hawk cult followers. Bunch of freaks if you ask me. Check out
www.hawkgt.com. If you ping the list, you will get all the advice you'll ever need and a lot you'll never need. Cool people ride cool bikes and the coolest list is the HawkList. Plus, they're a helpful bunch who might be able to point you to a decent bike in your area at a good price. Figure on paying up to $2.5k for a nice, unmolested, reasonable milage bike. $1.5k or less for a beater. $3.5k for a nicely modded Hawk. Sensible mods include suspension upgrades (racetech fork internals, fox rear shock), uncorking the engine (pod filters, jet kit, and pipe/can), and stainless brake lines. Next stage is alternate front ends, upgraded brakes, VFR rear wheels, 700cc engine by Hord (tm)... People do all kinds of mods to these bikes, so finding one absolutely stock might be difficult. 20k on a Hawk is nothing, NOTHING!!! Seen many strong (and way cool) Hawks with 50k running well, some examples with as much as 100k+. You will not go wrong with a Hawk because they have a classic style that is design icon worthy. Warning: if you get one, you may not ever part with it. Prices are dear because people love them and hate to give them up. If you get one you might have to remove the "They can have my Hawk when they pry my cold, dead hand off the throttle" sticker off it. Because Hawks are that cool. Get a Hawk, join the Hawk side, be cool.