Come to the Hawk meeting in Essen, 10-12 september 2004!!
@ all the Hawk GT650 fans: September 10-12 there will be a Hawk-meeting in Essen (Germany) that I intend to attend. Details about the event on www.hawkster.de. If the german language is a problem just mail me for information.
Some more information on my own Hawk is on Hawk-page.
The HAWK-meet at the Luchtvaartmuseum Soesterberg on September 28th was spoilt by bad weather. Causing all but the hardiest (or those that lived nearby) to cancel. We'll try again next spring when the Hawks have crawled from their winterlair and are ready to spread the wings again.
Hawk-Treffen in Pegestorf, 5-7 september 2003
I visited the Hawk Meeting in Pegestorf that was organised September 5-7. Pegestorf is a tiny village on the Weser river, halfway between Paderborn and Hannover. About 260 miles from The Hague where I live. It is funny how things happen, at the TRX-Treffen in Stiege I met Tanja and Mike. Mike was there on his Hawk so we got talking and he told me that this would be a meeting that I shouldn't miss. And right he was.
The meeting is a biannual affair, organised by Andreas Thiele with help of his family and other Hawkers. So 2005 will be the next event unless someone else gets busy next year.
There are 2 Hawk-sites (german spoken) that promoted the meeting and contain some information on it, the new Hawk-forum and www.gt647.de by Dirk Loll. www.gt647.de contains some 30 high quality photos (no text) on this years event. Check it out!
The meeting started on Friday, as work stopped me from leaving early on the Friday I couldn't make it earlier than Suturday afternoon. So I decided to make a stop on Fridaynight in Duisburg, which is almost exactly halfway between Den Haag en Pegestorf. I visited the TRX Stammtisch (food and drink in the Lindenwirtin) and met som 15-20 TRX-riders that meet there every month.
I arrived after dark and haven't taken any pictures, so I've taken the liberty to use the ones that Thomschek made. They show a sample of the bikes in Duisburg and the happy riders in the 'Biergarten'.
The pic on the left is on arrival in Pegestorf, my bike with luggage still mounted next to a danish Hawk. Also this was my first night camping in about 20 years. A mixed pleasure.
Facilities were plain but very adequate. Toilets and showers nearby, a sort of log cabin with grill and dining tables, campfire facilities and stuff to entertain the kids.
Just a few of the bikes. The Hawk was never produced in yellow, but it should have been!! Fairings can't get much smaller than the ones you see here.
When the rideout was finished the place was crawling with Hawks. I don't know the official count but I would estimate that between 50 and 60 Hawks have attended. A good score considering that Hawks in Germany were never in Honda's program. All grey imports and therefore many devoted owners.
This is one of the Hawks that is actually used on the track, for racing. I won't tell what has been altered on the bike in case the TÜV is checking my site;-)) The friendly owner of this particular bike showing his natural charm.
When everyone was well oiled by the local brews the clever idea popped up to take pictures of the individuel bikes + owner. Miraculously no accidents occurred.
Hawk, inspired by Aprilia, you would think. Truthfully I don't believe there was one stock Hawk at the meeting.This one was possibly the farthest from the original. Here's the grill in the logcabin. With very capable hands, the food and booze was excellent and cheap. Strange that I was the only dutchman at the meeting, usually deals like this would draw us from great distances.
In September it does get a little chilly at night and as the temperature dropped the campfire got more and more popular. On the right, is it a catterpillar, a body bag? No it must be the hardiest of Hawkers. Bikeboots off and still in the leathers straight into a sleeping bag. No tent, nothing.
Alas, it's all over allready. Breakfast, breaking up the tents and off we went. Hopefully Andreas will make the effort again in 2005 and if I still have the Hawk then (and I intend to keep it) I'll be back.
