Looking for a new bike

Bigz_1004 · 05-02-2017, 03:59 PM

I was looking to get some good suggestions on buying a new enduro style bike. My budget is around $2000. I have heard great things about the hawk but I want something a little more geared toward the streets probably about 65% road 35% dirt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

pete · 05-02-2017, 06:24 PM

The hawk would be ok as with most duel sports..
Hawk is not realy an enduro even thow it's called one..
being a duel sport it is already half way there..

a set of 80/20 tyres .. Shinko705 or kenda 761 style
drop the forks though the clamps a bit to reduce
the trail to sharpen the road handling a bit...
It would still be ok offroad on easyer dirt/gravel roads
& tracks/trails...

chuck · 05-02-2017, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigz_1004

I was looking to get some good suggestions on buying a new enduro style bike. My budget is around $2000. I have heard great things about the hawk but I want something a little more geared toward the streets probably about 65% road 35% dirt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It can be done with the Hawk for less than $200 invested in tires,carb and sprockets.

Megadan · 05-02-2017, 07:41 PM

I bought my hawk for the intent of mostly road duty as a second bike to my goldwing. The suggestions above are more or less what I am doing with mine, minus lowering it at least, but I am a big sasquatch sized guy. I am going to wear down the stock tires and get shinko 705s. Also doing an exhaust and intake mod for a bit more pep.

Mudflap · 05-02-2017, 08:04 PM

An enduro style bike makes a great everyday workhorse for street and trail. It's all a compromise of course. A bike with a lower center of gravity, sticky street tires on smaller wheels handles paved twisties better but 21/18" wheels with Shinko 705 tires or similar does pretty well on pavement and does a LOT better on trails.

The Beta Alp 200 clone I owned was fantastic on paved twisties. It sat low, was very light and flickable but lacked the long suspension travel and ground clearance that would have made it good on trails.

dpl096 · 05-02-2017, 09:07 PM

With the proper mods the Hawk is a proven reliable scoot around bike for barebones fun...The Brozz is really n the same boat. If you're wanting something more 65/35 in my opinion you might want to consider bumping up to the RX3.....regardless of your selection all 3 bikes are proven and when properly maintained quite reliable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigz_1004

I was looking to get some good suggestions on buying a new enduro style bike. My budget is around $2000. I have heard great things about the hawk but I want something a little more geared toward the streets probably about 65% road 35% dirt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

timcosby · 05-03-2017, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megadan

I bought my hawk for the intent of mostly road duty as a second bike to my goldwing. The suggestions above are more or less what I am doing with mine, minus lowering it at least, but I am a big sasquatch sized guy. I am going to wear down the stock tires and get shinko 705s. Also doing an exhaust and intake mod for a bit more pep.

good luck on trying to wear them down i got about 1000 miles on mine and they dont look worn at all. been 90% road. must be a hard rubber compound.

Megadan · 05-03-2017, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timcosby

good luck on trying to wear them down i got about 1000 miles on mine and they dont look worn at all. been 90% road. must be a hard rubber compound.

I didn't say, intentionally wear them out quickly. Simply, ride on them until they need replacing. My only concern with nobbies is if I get caught in the rain. Not the best combination.

timcosby · 05-03-2017, 03:51 AM

i was just saying it may be 10,000 miles befor you get to change them! ive been caught in the rain twice so far. there not that bad you just have to use common sense and not try to take a turn to fast.

hertz9753 · 05-03-2017, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megadan

I didn't say, intentionally wear them out quickly. Simply, ride on them until they need replacing. My only concern with nobbies is if I get caught in the rain. Not the best combination.

You could go through people's lawns or just slow down. It's funny to me that most road riders can't adapt to off road tires. You let an off road rider ride a street bike and he will come back with a smile on his face because he is used to trying the best way to find traction and not just opening up the throttle.

I didn't mean to quote you and I don't know what I'm talking about but I wanted to post.

pete · 05-03-2017, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hertz9753

I didn't mean to quote you and I don't know what I'm talking about but I wanted to post.

thats it.... found the meaning of the internet...

.

Megadan · 05-03-2017, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hertz9753

You could go through people's lawns or just slow down. It's funny to me that most road riders can't adapt to off road tires. You let an off road rider ride a street bike and he will come back with a smile on his face because he is used to trying the best way to find traction and not just opening up the throttle.

I didn't mean to quote you and I don't know what I'm talking about but I wanted to post.

Oh, wait. I think this is where I post in an angry way to save my manhood.

My penis is bigger, and all the ladies want me...

Is that right?

I don't care if you quote me. Just for some background though, I rode dirt bikes in the middle of nowhere years before I could legally operate a motor vehicle. There isn't a whole lot to do here in Nebraska when you are young besides play in the dirt in one form or another.

Now that that is out of the way. The "just slow down" method does work rather well on ALL bikes, but nobbies are exceptionally craptastic on wet pavement. They just have too small of a contact patch to grip worth a damn compared to most road tires. Combine that with a really skinny tire, a pretty light bike, AND a torquey 1cyl engine, and you can slide the back end out at pretty low speeds if you aren't on top of your game. So, let's counter your statement with an idea. I'll ride knobbies in the rain, and you can ride your favorite off roading spots with a typical sport bike tire.

My point, in short, is that there are different tires for different reasons, for that reason. I don't want to ride in the rain on hoosiers either...well even less than nobbers actually (done both, hoosier slicks are far more scary). It's always a good idea to match your tires to the bike and it's use, that's why adventure touring tires exist, for us weirdos that want to ride off road bikes on pavement a majority of the time.

Oh, and if you want an adventure in finding traction, take a 600lb 42 year old bike to a track day with a 130 rear and 100 front touring tire and ride it as hard as you can to keep up with those snotty young brats on their R6's and GSXRs. It's really fun. You miserably get left behind, but it's still fun, and mildly scary when you scrape valve cover. :P

05-02-2017, 03:59 PM	#1
Bigz_1004 Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 1	Looking for a new bike I was looking to get some good suggestions on buying a new enduro style bike. My budget is around $2000. I have heard great things about the hawk but I want something a little more geared toward the streets probably about 65% road 35% dirt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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05-02-2017, 06:24 PM	#2
pete Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: ChCh , NZ Posts: 2,262	The hawk would be ok as with most duel sports.. Hawk is not realy an enduro even thow it's called one.. being a duel sport it is already half way there.. a set of 80/20 tyres .. Shinko705 or kenda 761 style drop the forks though the clamps a bit to reduce the trail to sharpen the road handling a bit... It would still be ok offroad on easyer dirt/gravel roads & tracks/trails... __________________ 09 XT660R ... 06 TTR250 ... 80 Montesa H6 125 Enduro... 77 Montesa Cota 348 MRR "Malcom Rathnell Replica"... Current resto projects.. 81 Honda CT110... 80 Kawasaki KL250A1... 11 Husaburg TE125 enduro... "sold" along with another 31... Lifan 125 Pitbike.. "stolen" ... KIWI BIKER FORUM...... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/content.php All the best offroad rides in NZ... http://www.remotemoto.com/ E-mail... xtpete1@gmail.com
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05-02-2017, 07:41 PM	#4
Megadan Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 8,032	I bought my hawk for the intent of mostly road duty as a second bike to my goldwing. The suggestions above are more or less what I am doing with mine, minus lowering it at least, but I am a big sasquatch sized guy. I am going to wear down the stock tires and get shinko 705s. Also doing an exhaust and intake mod for a bit more pep. Last edited by Megadan; 05-02-2017 at 09:46 PM.
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05-03-2017, 03:51 AM	#9
timcosby Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: robertsdale alabama usa Posts: 1,007	i was just saying it may be 10,000 miles befor you get to change them! ive been caught in the rain twice so far. there not that bad you just have to use common sense and not try to take a turn to fast. __________________ 1991 harley heritage softail classic 2016 hawk kaw h1 400 tripple 13' long chopper in progress 2009 johnny pag bar hog 2004 hd electra glide ultra classic shriner edition 1997 harley davidson 1200 sportster 1972 harley davidson amf sx250
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05-02-2017, 08:04 PM	#5
Mudflap Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 1,882	An enduro style bike makes a great everyday workhorse for street and trail. It's all a compromise of course. A bike with a lower center of gravity, sticky street tires on smaller wheels handles paved twisties better but 21/18" wheels with Shinko 705 tires or similar does pretty well on pavement and does a LOT better on trails. The Beta Alp 200 clone I owned was fantastic on paved twisties. It sat low, was very light and flickable but lacked the long suspension travel and ground clearance that would have made it good on trails.
	1