To touch on the brand new Hawks and replacing the fork oils, do so. My oil came out clean (picture found here
http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19247 ) but it was also filled with a bunch of contaminants/particulates and had the consistency of vegetable oil - and even smelled like it lol.
ATF is not an uncommon thing for use in forks. I personally prefer to use fork oils, and the price difference isn't enough for me to run straight out and buy ATF. I bought 0.5L of PJ1 synthetic 15wt (here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) which is enough to do both forks and have a little left over. For measuring it out, I simply use one of these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
When draining the "factory" fork oils, I would recommend not just simply turning them upside down, but also cycling the fork in and out. This will help pump out some of the trapped oils. You can take it a step further like I do, and use some ATF to help flush the system out completely. Then leave the forks standing inverted for a few minutes to help let as much of the old stuff drain as possible.
When filling the forks, put in about half and cycle the tube a little to help clear out any trapped air. One thing I noticed right away after flushing the forks and adding the new oil was the much smoother action of the forks. This is a good indicator of proper lubrication on the internal fork bushings and seals, which should make for much longer service life.
Then, I highly recommend making a fork oil change an annual service. This is probably the most neglected fluid on motorcycles. No matter how good the fork seals are, dirt, grime, and moisture easily find their way into the system, and much like brake fluid it should be serviced and changed out regularly.