New members/new bikes

[laser3957]

Hey folks,

I just signed up and thought i would give a shout out to everyone here. I'm giving some thought to purchasing a Hawk. I'm almost 61 years old now and want a dual sport to tinker around with and hit some light trails and maybe even get a little exercise out of it too because I can still remember "back in the day" when i road trails at even a moderate pace, after awhile it started to take some spunk out of you. But anyway, I have no visions of having my butt too far off the ground, like flying over doubles or triples any more. Just a nice casual pace while exploring here or there.

I do have one question if someone would be kind enough to answer. I fully understand the gearing change most everyone suggests. Changing from the stock 15/50 to a recommended 17/45. I get it. To help keep the little single from blowing its brains out at higher speeds. But my question is, how much does that affect first gear crawling? Now I don't do trials type stuff but every now and then you get in some technical stuff where you have to plug along in first gear to navigate. I was just wondering if the gearing change took much of that tractor effect away from the bike's first gear? Thanks all.

[Weldangrind]

Welcome, Laser! Rather than posting here, I encourage you to copy and paste your post in the New Member Introductions thread.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by laser3957

Hey folks,

I just signed up and thought i would give a shout out to everyone here. I'm giving some thought to purchasing a Hawk. I'm almost 61 years old now and want a dual sport to tinker around with and hit some light trails and maybe even get a little exercise out of it too because I can still remember "back in the day" when i road trails at even a moderate pace, after awhile it started to take some spunk out of you. But anyway, I have no visions of having my butt too far off the ground, like flying over doubles or triples any more. Just a nice casual pace while exploring here or there.

I do have one question if someone would be kind enough to answer. I fully understand the gearing change most everyone suggests. Changing from the stock 15/50 to a recommended 17/45. I get it. To help keep the little single from blowing its brains out at higher speeds. But my question is, how much does that affect first gear crawling? Now I don't do trials type stuff but every now and then you get in some technical stuff where you have to plug along in first gear to navigate. I was just wondering if the gearing change took much of that tractor effect away from the bike's first gear? Thanks all.

Welcome aboard! I just hit the 60 mark myself. I do a good bit of off road with my Hawk. With the 17/45 gear ratio you will be able to crawl along In 1st gear. I personally run 15/40 when off road which is very close to the 17/45. I'll switch out to either the 16 or 17 tooth sprocket for the highway. Quick and easy swap. These bikes are fun to tinker around with. With a few inexpensive mods these bike will run great.

[laser3957]

JerryHawk250,

Thanks for the reply. And yes I have been reading and watching vids for awhile now on all the mods possible for one of these bikes. That's sort of what got me thinking about one of these Hawks. Lower initial investment leaving more capital in the pocket to play around with. Definitely going to throw a pipe on it, followed by an air box mod and carb rejetting at least if not replacement as well. And some tinkering here and there. Maybe some LED lighting and who knows what else. But again, thanks for the reply.

[china007]

I just wanted to give an update as I received my order of a Storm 250cc, Enforcer 250cc and Coolster 125cc as opposed to the DBx4 Apollo 110. I emailed Don and Greg and I promptly received answers and responses to over a dozen emails. I was not sure how the process worked and was initially going to cancel my order thinking it was fraudulent business. I was wrong and they were actually shipped when they indicated the shipping company just did not update the system. I received responses back sometime within an hour but within 24hrs with updates. I ordered items on 2-08-18. My card was process around 02-12-18. Order was shipped 02-16-18 and 02-19-18. Order was received on 02-23-18. Besides some hiccups I think it was pretty great service and my character bashing of the company was not called for. The shipping company is a national company and they even answered over a dozen emails. I changed some things and Greg even tried to have it left for will call for me but I was delayed in requesting it. The shipper Central Transport arrived and he was ok. He did not want to help. the pallets were the only ones on the semi and all the way in the front. we got them off without issues. I noticed minor damage around the metal encased frame and cardboard rips. All in all I would order from these folks again and recommend them. Just don't place the shipping company issues or the distributor because they are different even though business can always choose who they use its not always their fault. Now I can't wait to assemble and I will be requesting the MCO to register the two.

Thanks for the info forum members and if a moderator can move or keep this here I think its fair for the review of the current state of APSCUSA as of 02-23-18.

[JerryHawk250]

Can't wait to see the pictures. Glad all went well.

[letsride]

WHEW!! Glad all went well. I was kinda sad that APSC has been catching a lot of FLAK nowdays. I've talked to Don on the phone a few times in the past in my quest to buy the Brozz. He was very helpful and never seemed in a rush in getting off the phone. Even though I didn't buy anything from him that still left an impression on me. Glad you got your bikes, and look forward to the pics! Take your time assembling, a few extra minutes initially will save you time later.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by laser3957

I do have one question if someone would be kind enough to answer. I fully understand the gearing change most everyone suggests. Changing from the stock 15/50 to a recommended 17/45. I get it. To help keep the little single from blowing its brains out at higher speeds. But my question is, how much does that affect first gear crawling? Now I don't do trials type stuff but every now and then you get in some technical stuff where you have to plug along in first gear to navigate. I was just wondering if the gearing change took much of that tractor effect away from the bike's first gear? Thanks all.

Gearing advice coming from a large fellow, as I definitely notice a change in "tractor factor" with taller gearing on such a small engine.

With a 2.7:1 ratio as achived by a 17/45, 16/43, 15/40 combination, the bike will happily idle my butt around at about 4-5mph in first gear without having to touch the clutch. It doesn't do it super smoothly, but that's because I weigh north of 250lbs. Rider weight will play a factor in gearing.

Me, personally, view the best road gearing at a 2.50 ratio, or a 17/43 sprocket combination. Others have gone taller, but also weigh less than me, or live in a place with far fewer steep hills. It is still capable of light trail use, but will require more finesse with the clutch at low speeds. Since my bike is used 90% on road, I favor this gearing.

For equal on and off road use, a 2.90-2.80 ratio seems to be a good compromise. Many TT250 owners run a 49 tooth rear sprocket with their stock 17 tooth front and are quite happy with it.

As Jerry mentioned, you can easily swap front sprockets if you need some flexibility in your bike. Example. Take my 17/43 sprockets combination and change the front to a 15 tooth, and you end up with a 2.86 ratio similar to a 17/49.

The reason the 17/45 is so popular is because it falls right inbetween those two combinations.

[china007]

Here is some pics of the enforcer and storm.

[Arcstriker29]

New member here,

I ordered a TaoTao Hellcat 125, hopefully will arrive monday / tuesday, but found this to be one of the most useful forums for info on these chinese bikes... So far it seems like if you do all the upfront precautions, and keep it well maintained then it should last, and when the day comes that things do wear, sounds like parts are very easy and cheap to swap out. Looking forward to riding this thing... Hoping for spring to come soon!

[china007]

Congrats on the hellcat. Post some pics when you get it.

[Arcstriker29]

Well, got the bike. There was some shipping damage, but the delivery guy called it in on his end and a quick call to familygokarts.com and the process has begun to get it fixed, it was just a crack in the left side plastics, I found I could just order 1 from Taotao for $18. There wasn't any instruction on how to assemble but I know my way around things with motors so it wasn't bad. If anyone gets a Chinese bike just keep in mind before you put gas in it, check the fuel lines to make sure their all connected, mine wasn't, nor was the choke cable mounted to the carb. That aside I got it running, ran it for about 5 minutes then drained the oil and put in high quality MobileOne Oil. There is a loose connection for my horn, it work once in a blue moon, but I'm tracking that problem down. The speedo "may" be off, I rode up and down my 800' paved driveway a few times and says I've gone 4 miles already, will check with GPS later. All in all seems like a good little bike. I like it, can't wait for the paper work to come in so I can register it, and the weather to change over. This weekend I plan on putting lock tight on all the major bolts and punching the threads on the exhaust bolts (I hear they can back off). I ordered a few small mods for now, new mirrors, new turn indicator lights, and rear fender eliminator bracket. Plan on getting a 17 tooth front sprocket and new chain but I want to wait until I get it on the road so I can compare the stock with the changes made... If anyone has found a wire diagram for the Hellcat 125 let me know... Below are some pics

[china007]

That looks like a fun bike. If I had it my way I would have a collection. Glad the driver helped with the damages. It looks like it has the Samdo speedometer on it.