Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Hilly
I much favor my Hawk on gravel, and rougher roads over my KPX, but I think a lot of it is because of my weight, and the fact that I have not attempted to add any extra preload to my front forks. I know that the Hawk has weaker suspension, and rims, but aside from the abuse of my weight, I don't really abuse either bike. My Hawk runs just about as good on open roads now, with the motor warmed up some, and the 17/46 sprockets. I catch myself feeling guilty for wearing it out on the faster, longer runs nowadays, , but I think I must be a creature of habit, and for some illogical reason like the Hawk more, I also liked it more than my TBR7, and it looked better, and was newer.. I will say that the KPX uses noticably less gas than the Hawk, and I need to start using it like I did before warming , and gearing the Hawk up, which was basically using the Hawk for more, but shorter, local, and back road rides, and using the KPX for longer, faster rides, like to other towns.
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Weaker in what sense? My spaghetti forks hold me up just fine, run down the road just fine, and have handled some decent off road without issue. The standard thin forks are a pair of YSS valves away from being better than any inverted china fork on the market short of the fully adjustable units on the more expensive bikes. I've also run with and without a fork brace, and I prefer without when off road, and with when on the street.
The KPX is better on gas because of that fuel injection. If I were to replace my Hawk I would have a KPX tomorrow for that very reason, and the better OHC engine... and the 6th gear.