Hawk 250 build in Va.

[bloverby]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

I just cut the tab off were it bolts to the swing arm then pop rivet it in place to line up with the chain.

Mine seems like If I moved it over far enough to line up with the chain there wouldn't be any swingarm beneath it to pop rivet to. At the rear anyway. Do you have a photo of what you did?

Do the tt250's have the same issue?

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by bloverby

Mine seems like If I moved it over far enough to line up with the chain there wouldn't be any swingarm beneath it to pop rivet to. At the rear anyway. Do you have a photo of what you did?

Do the tt250's have the same issue?

If it's not pouring down raining when I get home from work I'll take a picture.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

If it's not pouring down raining when I get home from work I'll take a picture.

Sorry, I didn't forget about taking the picture. It was pouring down rain when I got home. Today doesn't look much better. I thought I had a picture posted on here somewhere but I must of deleted it.

[bloverby]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Sorry, I didn't forget about taking the picture. It was pouring down rain when I got home. Today doesn't look much better. I thought I had a picture posted on here somewhere but I must of deleted it.

That's okay. I was just curious. I'm not in a hurry. Thanks.

Got my new rear tube installed last night, also lubed the swingarm and shock bolts. Plan on doing the fork oil and brake fluid today.

[JerryHawk250]

Here you go. Notice I left part of the tab on so I could pop rivet it to the swing arm.

[Megadan]

All of those parts freshly lubed up and with fresh fork oil of the right levels should make that bike feel a lot better. This is a good time to try and dial in your rider sag with new spacers as well if you need to do so.

[Megadan]

Good god Jerry. clean that chain.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Megadan

Good god Jerry. clean that chain.

I know. That's this weekends project along with an oil change. I put over 160 miles on it over the weekend. I took advantage of the nice weather while we had it. The whole bike needs a good cleaning.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

I know. That's this weekends project along with an oil change. I put over 160 miles on it over the weekend. I took advantage of the nice weather while we had it. The whole bike needs a good cleaning.

I can't talk really. Mine looked just as bad until I cleaned it today. Same reasons why too. Every time the weather was nice I wanted to ride rather than work. Today it was 90 degrees and crazy humid out, so it was the perfect time to do maintenance things in my cool garage. I plan on going out for a ride once it cools off a bit more.

[bloverby]

Originally Posted by Megadan

All of those parts freshly lubed up and with fresh fork oil of the right levels should make that bike feel a lot better. This is a good time to try and dial in your rider sag with new spacers as well if you need to do so.

I think so too. The rear swing arm had no grease on it at all. Which really isn't uncommon on a rubber isolated part. But I feel better with a little lube there.

Doubt I add any spacers to the forks. Want to work on making it as reliable as possible for now. Then ride it a bit to see what I like and don't like about it. Want to keep this thing as budget minded as possible. At a certain point if
I tweak too much I'll be thinking I may as well have just sprung for a tt250.

I am tempted to order up a rear wheel for a tt250 and see if it fits though.....

[Megadan]

New spacers wont cost more than a few bucks, assuming you need them to begin with.

[bloverby]

Originally Posted by Megadan

New spacers wont cost more than a few bucks, assuming you need them to begin with.

No doubt. That was more of a statement about mods to the Hawk in general. If I end up wanting larger spacers I'll just whip some up in the machine shop at work.

[Megadan]

Of course. If it makes you feel any better, you would have to spend at least a grand in mods before you even make up the price difference between a Hawk and a TT250. I haven't even spent that much yet, and I probably have one of the most modded Hawks here. Outside of some obviously better quality parts here and there and a couple of upgrades like it's high output stator, I would say my Hawk is generally better performing than a TT.

[bloverby]

Originally Posted by Megadan

Of course. If it makes you feel any better, you would have to spend at least a grand in mods before you even make up the price difference between a Hawk and a TT250. I haven't even spent that much yet, and I probably have one of the most modded Hawks here. Outside of some obviously better quality parts here and there and a couple of upgrades like it's high output stator, I would say my Hawk is generally better performing than a TT.

I had seen the Hawk at a county fair a few years back and had looked it over and was amused at how similar it was to the honda xr's I rode as a kid. They had a price on it around $2K, which I thought was high for a knockoff bike at the time.

I rediscovered these bikes recently while searching for a cheap ATV for my son. At $1374 shipped I figured it would make a fun thing to mess around with so I started researching deeper into them.

The adjustable suspension, digital cluster and better hub/sprocket mount on the rear wheel are the things that I think make the tt250 a better bike. Adding these items to a Hawk would be over $800.

Factor in that the price of a tt250 engine is double the cost of the Hawk engine and the price of the tt250 comes right in line with the "you get what you pay for" kinda thinking to me.

Lack of available funds isn't why I purchased the Hawk though and I don't mind spending money on things that will make it reliable. The novelty of joking around with my hard core motorcycle buddies, "hey look at my cheap ass Chinese motorcycle" is what I like about it. I never leave anything I own stock, but don't want to invest a crazy amount into this project to the point where I end up wishing I had just bought a tt250 or a used Honda even, so I'm going to focus on the reliability and maintenance items for now and see how the turd holds up, lol.

[Megadan]

For about 20 bucks you can get threaded inserts for the hawk hub to make the rear sprocket bolt on. About 100 bucks buys the tt250 rear wheel.

I just use honda sprocket studs, and have yet to have an issue. About 22 bucks.

My Hawk suspension is fully adjustable, cost was about 130.
Rear is now rebound and preload adjustable. $95

Matts digital cluster, $95, and same basic unit as the tt250, just for a Hawk.

In it for less than $400. Toss in the exhaust and pod filter and the carburetor i am currently using plus the ngk plug and I am still in it for less than 600, Even with what I needed to port the head. Now if you add in sprockets and chain, tires/tubes it climbs to 800, but that was more personal preference. Still below the cost of a stock tt by about 400.

I do get where you are coming from though. I cant leave well enough alone, and if I had a tt250 I would be doing a lot of the same tinkering lol.