Thoughts on Hawk as a trail/woods bike?

[kirkallen143]

If we have any experienced riders out there, I would like your honest opinion on how you think the Hawk would do as a woods/trail bike. We've heard it has a very stout frame, very dependable engine, and suspension that can be made better. Now I'm not talking flat out racing, just some good times in the trails/woods for more experienced riders. (I could not race anymore anyways, my 50 years old body has taken a toll from years of racing and riding motorcycles since I was 5)


I would also like to hear, what would you do to the Hawk to make it perform better for this type of riding? OK fellers, let's hear what you have to say...specifics, specifics, specifics...

Appreciate it.

Kirk

[JerryHawk250]

I've done a good bit of trail riding. In its stock form it's almost set up perfect for trail riding. I found the 15/50 sprockets were a tad low geared for my liking. Swap the front out to a 17 tooth may be a little better setup. Besides that a good tuned carb that's not running so lean. The lean tuned stock carb will run a little hotter.

[JerryHawk250]

Now if you plan on street riding too you may want to swap the rear sprocket to a 45 and get a 17 for the front. You could run the 15/45 for the trails and swap the front to the 17 for street.
Something else , either put some bark busters or get a good pair of gloves with knuckle protection. Trees and briar bushes play hell on the knuckles. Lol
I understand the aged, broken up body. I'm 60 but I still ride like a kid.

[Red Hawk]

1 + on the bark busters, here's my to do list for trail riding.

Chikuni carb toss the PZ30
Port the head! You'll thank me later.
Open the air box
NGK plug.
Decat the pipe.
Recore the existing muffler, or get a crf clone.
Good Oring chain
16/45 trails
17/45 roads
4mm tubes front and rear.
Safety wire wheel spokes where they cross.
Aircraft cable lanyards for the coward pedal and shifter.
TT250 skip plate
15w fork oil, added schrader valves to the fork caps.
Really NEED a better rear shock.
Safety wire grips after shoo goo sets.
LED all lights.
Full tool kit, tube, levers and extra chain master links.
Zip tie all louse wires. Go nuts here.

Fresh Synthetic engine oil
Set valves properly
Dielectric grease every connection
Grease / oil all mechanical things, cables lubed.
Adjust clutch properly.
Pre ride inspection fix all the bugs from the last ride.

Now Go get lost, I've had a many 150 mile days with no worrys about getting home. All woods trails all by my self. Never had trouble other than popped tubes and busted levers.
I'll ride in weather 35* to over 100*. Really gotta keep an eye on engine temp above 80/90* on slow trail. Stay out of the water / Puddles under 40* keep your distance from weirdos in the woods( seen it all ) been riding like this for 20 years.

[Digger]

I have rode my Hawk all over Northern Michigan. Back roads,two trackers and asphalt. I tuned the stock carb, changed the front sprocket to a 16 tooth and changed the tires to a semi knobby. I'm 63 and have had lot of fun with my Hawk. I don't go very fast anymore so the Hawk has served me well.

[Sochin]

It is the SOLE purpose why I bought this Hawk, of its 2300 miles in the last 14 months since I got it, majority has been on trails and forest service roads. Mods in signature.........I'm soon 47.....but I have an ZRX1100 and Concourse 14 for go fast needs.

[kirkallen143]

Everybody, great responses!

Red Hawk, with your included list, my Hawk is about 80% there already.

Yeah Digger, I'm not here to win any races anymore, just some good ole trail/woods riding. Got a little over an acre behind the house here with a few technical spots to practice on (creek crossings, woods, etc...), yet can't wait for some of those long trail rides. Speaking of, the first tank that I went through on the Hawk, got 153 miles of mixed riding until I hit reserve. That's good to know. We got the Sam Houston National Forest @ 35-40 miles away from me with some good riding areas/trails over there. It will be nice not having to load up the bike to get there, just ride on over. Best part, I can take mostly back roads to get there.

Keep'um coming fellers...

Kirk

[JerryHawk250]

As Red Hawk mentioned. Load up the tool tube. Between the tool tube and under seat storage I have a patch kit, small bicycle air pump, 3 tire spoons, assorted wrenches, multi tip screw driver, spare link, zip ties, electrical tape, spare nuts, You get the picture. So far I only threw a chain once and was a quick fix. Without tools I would of been stuck on the side of the road.


One mod I would do for trail riding would be to add the oil cooler since you will be doing mostly low speed riding.

Now if you want to go crazy just start reading about all the mods in my signature. These bikes are additive to mods.

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by kirkallen143

If we have any experienced riders out there, I would like your honest opinion on how you think the Hawk would do as a woods/trail bike. We've heard it has a very stout frame, very dependable engine, and suspension that can be made better. Now I'm not talking flat out racing, just some good times in the trails/woods for more experienced riders. (I could not race anymore anyways, my 50 years old body has taken a toll from years of racing and riding motorcycles since I was 5)


I would also like to hear, what would you do to the Hawk to make it perform better for this type of riding? OK fellers, let's hear what you have to say...specifics, specifics, specifics...

Appreciate it.

Kirk

Yes, the frames and engines have held up very well, in fact it is a very good trail bike. However it can be improved for not a lot of money. These bikes come from the factory with a rust preventative oil in the engine and forks. That needs changing right away. I would do the forks with either ATF or boutique fork oil right away. I would clean and re-grease the stem head bearings, both axles, and the swing arm shaft right away with high quality marine grease, and I would double nut the the end of the swing arm shaft. Quite often the valve clearances are too tight from the factory. I would set them at .003 inch intake, and .004 exhaust. Check them again at 500 miles. Or 850 kilometers. Keep your spokes at around middle "C". You'll have to do this often in the beginning because the spokes have to "bed in" into the rims, and this takes a while. The tubes that come with the bike are not real good. I would break in the engine/transmission on 15-40 or 20w50 dino oil, depending on how hot it is, then change to Shell Rotella T 6 synthetic to run on. Carby is hard to get good results with. I would buy a Mikuni VM 26 carburetor, and a set of genuine Mikuni main and pilot jets to tune it with. I don't like knobby tires, so I'd change to Pirelli MT 43 Trials tires...ARH

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Digger

I have rode my Hawk all over Northern Michigan. Back roads,two trackers and asphalt. I tuned the stock carb, changed the front sprocket to a 16 tooth and changed the tires to a semi knobby. I'm 63 and have had lot of fun with my Hawk. I don't go very fast anymore so the Hawk has served me well.

Digger, The Hawk is looking Sharp.

[pete]

if you intend to ride your bike there and back...
fit some tubliss's.... nothing worse than a puncher
that can't be fixed if you have to ride home..
and beleave me not all flats are repairable with out
carrying tubes and all the other crap needed to put them in..

tubliss... ride home slower with it flat or use a tubliss repair kit..
I have riden my bike with Tubliss's with the valves removed at
100kph just to see if they lived up to the hype .... they did...
I wouldn't realy want to ride much over 50kph with them flat..
But they would get you home...



.

[Emerikol]

I find the Hawk to be perfectly capable no matter what I've thrown at it so far, as long as it doesn't involve anything over 60-65mph. I've got 17/39 sprockets on mine, and it just doesn't have the legs to get any faster than that. On top of that, I have the stock knobbies, and the bike is light it gets really sketchy at those speeds. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the back tire, and when I replace it with something a little more street friendly I'm just going to replace the front, as well. Stock gearing won't go any faster than about 40mph, but it will do it straight up! I've had really good luck retuning the carb, and went with an o-ring chain when I did the sprockets. The only thing I would suggest is looking into a fuel bladder to carry an extra gallon or two. Finally, make sure you have enough water, snacks, and that someone knows where you're going. The last thing you want is to have a bad off and either hurt yourself too badly to ride, or something goes bang on the bike that you can't fix on the side of the trail. I was out with a friend a few years back and he managed to punch out the oil sight glass window. Not a huge problem in and of itself, but there was no fixing that in the middle of the woods. I gave him a ride back to camp, we got two quarts of fresh oil, some brake and parts cleaner and a roll of heavy duty foil tape. We cleaned the oil off the side of the engine, taped it up as best we could and rode out really slow. Enough about that story, back to making the Hawk decent trails bike. I would say the info that has been shared so far is great. I'm not sure about the rear shock options out there, but I would certainly like to upgrade mine for all the street riding I do, and on trails it's about as effective as a length of 2x4. Keep us posted on your adventures!

[pete]

Originally Posted by Digger

I have rode my Hawk all over Northern Michigan. Back roads,two trackers and asphalt. I tuned the stock carb, changed the front sprocket to a 16 tooth and changed the tires to a semi knobby. I'm 63 and have had lot of fun with my Hawk. I don't go very fast anymore so the Hawk has served me well.

63... yer going well...




.

[BlueSteel]

Originally Posted by Digger

I have rode my Hawk all over Northern Michigan. Back roads,two trackers and asphalt. I tuned the stock carb, changed the front sprocket to a 16 tooth and changed the tires to a semi knobby. I'm 63 and have had lot of fun with my Hawk. I don't go very fast anymore so the Hawk has served me well.

That’s awesome.

What kind of tires did you go with? I’m looking at changing mine to something more streetable but didn’t want to lose too much in off road traction.

[wheel spinner]

I use my Roketa mainly for trails and woods... I have 50/50 tires on it and I have had a lot of fun with it.. mile is a dual sport,, I would ride any bike on trails and etc .. long as it's easy paths... the hawk should be fine.. Always do a precheck before taking her out in the woods...