New Upstate NY member
 

Hello everyone....A quick into. I've been lurking around for a week or so now and have gained tons of very helpful info.

I'm in my mid 50's and looking for a dual sport "toy". I've pretty much narrowed it down to a Hawk 250 or the new Bashan Enforcer, but like all of you, I have been waiting for some reviews on the new Bashan. I'm in New York and I understand registering the Hawk here IS a problem.

I really don't want to do much road riding, but it would be nice to be able to legally travel down a road to get to trails, or even run a quick errand, etc., otherwise I'd just buy a Hawk.

I've owned bikes my whole life...Jap bikes. Currently i own a 10 year old Kawasaki 650 Brute Force 4x4, which I mainly use to plow snow. It's like a tank and I don't really enjoy trail riding with it, as I prefer something more nimble.

Honestly I think most of the parts for the Hawk will fit the Bashan, and this week they have the Bashan Enforcers on sale for $1049 plus approx $150 shipping, so for $1200 I could be a guinea pig, but I'd prefer to let someone else do that ugly job!! I think the Bashan has a few negatives to the Hawk, but it is also a little cheaper, and most important, can be licensed.

Another thing that adds to the confusion is there are several different models of the Hawk 250 :wtf:....and no doubt different models of the Bashan Enforcer!

Well, that's all for now. Thanks to all who have made this site great!! :thanks:

Manny

Welcome to the forum. There are a few members here that had no issues registering there Hawk. Maybe some of them will chime in. I don't know about different models of hawks except for the year model. Most of them out there are 2016 models and may have a few 2015 models left in some ones old stock but most of the online dealers Hawks are shipped out of Texas through RPS and will be 2016's. The Bashan Enforcer looks very similar to the Hawk and makes me wonder if it's not the same bike. I'm very impressed with my Hawk and would buy another if I had to.

welcome from up north, north end of the fingerlakes... palmyra to be exact...

Welcome to here. Actually, there is only one Hawk. Sometimes, mail-order retailers will slap their own made-up name to it, but it is a Hawk. Motobuys, for instance, has two ads for the Hawk with two different names, and even a price difference?! But these are the same Hawk as sold by RPS...

http://www.motobuys.com/vento-hen-enduro-250cc.html
http://www.motobuys.com/lancer-enduro-250.html

Bashan as a brand sells a few different models. They have the Storm, the Brozz, the Shark, and a model with less features than these three (sells for a few hundred dollars less). The Enforcer seemingly came out of nowhere a few weeks back, and is designed to look exactly like the Hawk (it is Bashan's 5th model in their recent lineup). You would probably do fine ordering it, and like you mentioned, you would have a far easier time registering it in NY. However, I do recall someone just recently posting they had success in NY registering a Hawk, or maybe I am getting older and confusing it with another state?! A couple newer members from NY bought the Brozz and liked it, so don't disregard other Bashan models unless you really have your heart set on the Hawk or the near identical-looking Enforcer.

Thanks for explaining that culcune. Yes I see different prices from the same dealer often, just like the examples you posted....Feakin' crazy! I hate when they play games like that...It ruins there credibility IMO when they are trying to trick you right off the bat. Or maybe in some cases there are slight variations, who knows.

It was also great to hear the Hawk can be licensed in NY. I really don't know how important that is to me b/c I'm really going to mainly trail ride it, but it would be nice to be able to cruise legally to other trails, etc.

Well, this old man needs to go to physical therapy for another spin in the DR9000 decompression machine. So far I think it's hurting my back more than helping :shrug: I won't be doing any moto x, that's for sure!!

not really any different than Harbor freight.. look in thier mailers, and in the same mailer, 2-3 different prices for the same item in different spots.:shrug:

Good point. And I've had pretty good luck with most Harbor Freight Stuff. Like I bought one of their large cement mixers for a 30 bag job...80 pound bags, ugh! . The thing paid for itself on that one job and saved my back bigtime., and it still works like new. Assembly was fun though, probably worse than a Hawk I'll bet, lol. And they're Honda engine clones are awesome too.

So does anyone think one Hawk model is better than the other...the 2015 vs. 2016? or are they pretty much identical?

I'm in NY and have a few months til spring anyways so i have time, and maybe by then someone will post some reviews of the new Bashan...although it's February 23rd and it was like 65 degrees today and it's been so freakin; awesome the past few days. I actually saw some dude riding his lawn mower today :hmm::lmao: That shit had a foot of snow on it days ago and surely ain't growing yet! But hey, the sun felt good probably.

Sorry...rambling :D Peaceout!

Man I tell ya... if my bike didnt need inspected and a new starter solenoid I would be riding to work today...LOL

i got my 2016 hawk at the end of 2016 and seems they have addressed the chain issue cause after 700 miles i still havent had to adjust the chain so it looks like they are getting better and better.

Now that you mention that. Since I changed my sprocket I haven't had to adjust my chain. I may of had 200 miles on it when I did that and now I'm over 800 miles.

Good to know regarding the chains....Because lets face it, it's cool to modify these things and make them better, but when you "have to" modify them to be able to even ride them, and spend a bunch of money doing so, kind of defeats the purpose of a cheap bike...and I mean I like tinkering on bikes, but I like riding them more. In 10 years all I've had to do to my Kawasaki was change the fluids and replace a battery. Period.

I don;t plan on putting more than a few hundred miles a year on my dual sport however, so don't want to spend Kawasaki $$$:D

And freakin' prices people are asking for OLD used jap bikes around is is humerus to an old fart like me!

Wishing I had a bike again today though, but mother nauture is about to remind us it's still February :tdown:

Not that spending money on the Hawk is a 'requirement', but if you wanted a bike without needing to modify anything, I would look at the Bashan bikes--more specifically, the Storm 250 (seem to sell out) or the Brozz 250 or the Shark 250 (almost exactly like the Brozz, but has standard front fork vs. inverted ones like the Brozz--generally sells for $100 less than the Brozz). The Hawk is something you will want/need to modify/tinker whereas the Bashan bikes are seemingly more bikes you can leave alone out of the box as they come with a good carb and are set up more for the street sprockets-wise leaving you to tinker with on YOUR terms later on.

I had a long chat with Don tonight and wound up ordering a Bashan. He confirmed the counterbalanced engine, less aggressive tires than the Hawk, and said it was more like a Brozz. He went on to say all the mod parts for the Hawk will interchange with the Enforcer, so lots of parts are available. Oh the Enforcer also has an upgraded carb and gearing Don said.

So, with any luck I'll be building my new toy next week or so. I just remembered the clocks move ahead an hour here in the east this Sunday so our days will be getting a whole lot longer :tup:

I just got mine this past Monday. I can confirm that the tires are pretty much the same as those on the Hawk. They look identical to me and just as aggressive. I actually wanted them to be like that though. And I wouldn't say it's more like the Brozz at all. I would say it's a Hawk with Upgrades to the carb, gearing, battery, spark plug, oh and remote start. :tup:. So basically it's a Hawk that comes to you with all the upgrades that people usually do to a Hawk. I'm hoping my papers come today so I can go register it. Here's the front tire on the Enforcer. The spacer is sitting on the tire because I'm trying to create a build thread so I'm taking lots of photos.

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...pslyecmxta.jpg

Well that's actually awesome because I also prefer the knobby tires....So I wonder what the hell Don is talking about? Has he even seen one of these Enforcers I wonder??? I mean he got half the info right, but apparently he is wrong about the tires & engine being counterbalanced. And I'm not the first one who has reported Dons info regarding the enforcers....weird! He seemed like a really nice honest guy on the phone and I could tell he's been doing this a long time...He knew all the freight carriers and whatnot like the back of his hand it seemed.

I appreciate you making a build thread Ski_rush because i can only imagine there's a lot of trial and error building it! :thanks::thanks::thanks: