Hawk DLX vs Regular Hawk

[Remedylane]

I've watched the motocheez video on both. He says the fuel injected hawk runs about the same as his upgraded carb regular hawk. Also it seems the DLX has better forks, suspension, a 520 chain, digital dash and more of a true 50/50 tire. All of this makes me feel it's worth the extra money. And when compared to the TT250 all that's really missing is the counterbalanced motor. But motocheez also said the DLX had less vibration than the regular hawk.

I know some don't trust the fuel injection, but seems that's not a super expensive fix even if it fails. Seems the DLX comes with a lot of upgrades already done. So what do you guys think? I'm buying one or the other as soon as they are in stock. Trying to turn over every stone and weigh all my options carefully.

[RedCrowRides]

IMO the DLX is considerably better , if you have that kind of cash to spend the only thing that can go against the DLX is the Brozz 250 , it is carbed not EFI but it has better suspension than the standard Hawk and is counter balanced among other things. If you absolutely are choosing between only the two Hawks, and have the money i'd definitely go with the DLX .

But thats just me, someone else may wander by that knows far more than me so i'd get as much feedback from as many sources as i could .

[Remedylane]

Originally Posted by RedCrowRides

IMO the DLX is considerably better , if you have that kind of cash to spend the only thing that can go against the DLX is the Brozz 250 , it is carbed not EFI but it has better suspension than the standard Hawk and is counter balanced among other things. If you absolutely are choosing between only the two Hawks, and have the money i'd definitely go with the DLX .

But thats just me, someone else may wander by that knows far more than me so i'd get as much feedback from as many sources as i could .

Yeah, I mean it's a $400-$500 difference, but seems well worth it. I like the Brozz, but the hawk sits taller. I for sure want all the opinions/advice I can get. I don't think $400 more is that big of a deal at the end of the day.

[Cravin01]

If your not into tinkering or are hesitant the DLX is great, plus if you do tinker a bit you'll spend close to that over time anyway. I like to tinker but now I just like having it around for short outings. You eventually just end up enjoying the ride no matter how you get to that point!

[Remedylane]

Originally Posted by Cravin01

If your not into tinkering or are hesitant the DLX is great, plus if you do tinker a bit you'll spend close to that over time anyway. I like to tinker but now I just like having it around for short outings. You eventually just end up enjoying the ride no matter how you get to that point!

Kinda what I figured. I don't mind some tinkering. But I figure if spend as much doing the mods myself. Plus the DLX, would still have some things I could do.

[Stillman88]

Originally Posted by RedCrowRides

IMO the DLX is considerably better , if you have that kind of cash to spend the only thing that can go against the DLX is the Brozz 250 , it is carbed not EFI but it has better suspension than the standard Hawk and is counter balanced among other things. If you absolutely are choosing between only the two Hawks, and have the money i'd definitely go with the DLX .

But thats just me, someone else may wander by that knows far more than me so i'd get as much feedback from as many sources as i could .

Agreed. I was debating this myself for the longest time and ended up buying the DLX just the other day on the 5th. What it came down to was not wanting to immediately work on the carb before I could run the bike. There will still be plenty of wrenching and upgrades to do over time but I know that I can build it, change the oil, and go instead of having to buy parts right off the bat.

[Megadan]

I think the idea of "Better" suspension really depends on where we are talking exactly.

I can make the standard hawk thin noodle forks out perform the cheap chinese USD forks for about $120ish. Fork valves and a fork brace solve most of the shortcomings and improve their performance beyond the standard cheap USD units the DLX comes with. The only real advantage they then have is rigidity during a crash.

The rear suspension is a wash between them IMHO because they use the same crappy rear swing arm. I would upgrade to the brozz arm on either bike.

520 chain? Non issue. Most standard hawk guys end up replacing the original chain anyway, and at least one or both sprockets to re-gear. Costs about the same to convert to 520 as it does to upgrade the 428 setup.

Beyond the EFI and those front forks, they share most of the rest of the same parts. The DLX does come with a better stock exhaust system, I will give it points there. Gauge cluster too.


Then there is the issue of mod tuning. Carb bike can be easily setup for any number of mods without running into the limitations of the ECU, which as far as I know, runs a open loop fueling at higher RPM and throttle positions, meaning it cannot adjust the AFR like it can when in closed loop during lower revs and throttle positions. In essence, it can go lean, and can't correct itself. So now you have to figure out some form of fuel control, and that can get expensive.

Meanwhile, I can be there with my $10-20 in jets and be done with it.

Plus I will never have to deal with trouble shooting the electrical in general, or deal with potentially disasterous issues with the electronics if I give my bike an accidental swim.

Tinkering with one of these carbs is about as easy as blowing your nose. Plus, tinkering is necessary, even on the "good" ones, at some point.

The DLX is great for somebody that just wants a bike they can ride that performs decently.
The Regular Hawk is more like a kit bike to build into whatever you fancy. Leave it stock, to crazy like me and mod every part of it until it is the bike you always envisioned.

Neither is really "better" from where I sit, just different.

Just my 2 cents.

[Remedylane]

Thanks Dan! Some great points and information as always .

[Deckard_Cain]

Originally Posted by Remedylane

Thanks Dan! Some great points and information as always .

At first, I was like, heck yeah the DLX is way better... but then I thought on it some, and Dan had mentioned some of the things that I came up with too.

Ya know, for me, it is a better version of the Hawk 250... just not by enough. I live at 600ft elev. and am likely to never ride anywhere that my carb jetting will be off.

I can upgrade the front forks (and rear shock) myself for very little cost in new parts.

I got a better digital dash for my carb'd Hawk than the DLX comes with (my opinion) too.

Once carb's are dialed in, like my gy6 atv is, it starts as if it were EFI without all the hassle of an ECM tuner or the chance of cheap Chinese electronics going bad.

Best part for me that said get the carb'd Hawk over the DLX, I took that $500 cost difference ($1400 vs $1945 at the time) and I put that in my other hand that was holding $600 I allocated and I bought a Hellcat 125 too!

Others may choose to do differently with that money saved, like do their own upgrades using better parts, or different ones, than the DLX "upgraded" with. Or they may choose to feed their kids or pay the mortgage, I don't know. Your money your choice. lol.

But now I've got my 80 Yammie XS850, pregen Ninja 250, a decent dual sport for road and dirt exploring, and soon will have my around town screwin' off (safely) and just having stoopid fun bike that is easy enough to ride to teach others as well.

But that's just me and my train of thought on it. For lots of other people, the DLX makes sense.

[Remedylane]

Originally Posted by Deckard_Cain

At first, I was like, heck yeah the DLX is way better... but then I thought on it some, and Dan had mentioned some of the things that I came up with too.

Ya know, for me, it is a better version of the Hawk 250... just not by enough. I live at 600ft elev. and am likely to never ride anywhere that my carb jetting will be off.

I can upgrade the front forks (and rear shock) myself for very little cost in new parts.

I got a better digital dash for my carb'd Hawk than the DLX comes with (my opinion) too.

Once carb's are dialed in, like my gy6 atv is, it starts as if it were EFI without all the hassle of an ECM tuner or the chance of cheap Chinese electronics going bad.

Best part for me that said get the carb'd Hawk over the DLX, I took that $500 cost difference ($1400 vs $1945 at the time) and I put that in my other hand that was holding $600 I allocated and I bought a Hellcat 125 too!

Others may choose to do differently with that money saved, like do their own upgrades using better parts, or different ones, than the DLX "upgraded" with. Or they may choose to feed their kids or pay the mortgage, I don't know. Your money your choice. lol.

But now I've got my 80 Yammie XS850, pregen Ninja 250, a decent dual sport for road and dirt exploring, and soon will have my around town screwin' off (safely) and just having stoopid fun bike that is easy enough to ride to teach others as well.

But that's just me and my train of thought on it. For lots of other people, the DLX makes sense.

Exactly. That's why I came here. I keep going back and forth between the two hawks, then I say put $1,000 with it and get a Japanese bike. But $1000 is a lot of money to me. And all I want to do in this moment is very basic trail riding and some 45-55mph back road riding. I just want to make sure I make a proper decision. If a basic hawk can haul my 6'4 275lb butt around to do those things then I'm all in. If I can mod it down the road and get it to 65mph, even better. Those are my biggest concerns.

Nearly everyone I talk to says save up and get a bigger bike. But then folks on here say I'll be ok on a hawk. Just trying to count all my chickens so to speak..

[callahan]

I went with the DLX thinking about elevation changes, I live in Denver and plan on taking it up and down and to different states. I didn't know which would be better and the price difference wasn't that much. I will say I did go back and forth on the decision until on day I just said F it and order one. With that being said I am still waiting for it to arrive. I hope summer is still here when it comes!

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Remedylane

Exactly. That's why I came here. I keep going back and forth between the two hawks, then I say put $1,000 with it and get a Japanese bike. But $1000 is a lot of money to me. And all I want to do in this moment is very basic trail riding and some 45-55mph back road riding. I just want to make sure I make a proper decision. If a basic hawk can haul my 6'4 275lb butt around to do those things then I'm all in. If I can mod it down the road and get it to 65mph, even better. Those are my biggest concerns.

Nearly everyone I talk to says save up and get a bigger bike. But then folks on here say I'll be ok on a hawk. Just trying to count all my chickens so to speak..

As a fellow 6'4 270ish lb guy. You can get a standard hawk to run 65mph with a couple of upgrades.

Don't discount the bigger bike thing entirely though. As much as I love these cheap little bikes, there is something to be said for just being able to hop on and ride something that can do all of that and more with no effort on your part.

[Deckard_Cain]

Originally Posted by Megadan

As a fellow 6'4 270ish lb guy. You can get a standard hawk to run 65mph with a couple of upgrades.

Don't discount the bigger bike thing entirely though. As much as I love these cheap little bikes, there is something to be said for just being able to hop on and ride something that can do all of that and more with no effort on your part.

Agreed. I jump on my parallel twin 250 ninja with 34-37hp and 14k rpm redline and it's a completely different Animal. So it's not just bigger bikes, it's more powerful ones period.

Although big riders like we're talking about here would make a ninja 250 suspension weep with pain. Jump up to something in the 400-650 range and that's a solid midsize bike for near any rider in my opinion.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Deckard_Cain

Agreed. I jump on my parallel twin 250 ninja with 34-37hp and 14k rpm redline and it's a completely different Animal. So it's not just bigger bikes, it's more powerful ones period.

Although big riders like we're talking about here would make a ninja 250 suspension weep with pain. Jump up to something in the 400-650 range and that's a solid midsize bike for near any rider in my opinion.

There are very few motorcycles in this world that don't weep with pain for any rider over 200lbs. Bikes don't really come from the factory to handle big guys unless they have a HD or Indian logo on them lol. Every motorcycle I have ever owned I have had to upgrade the springs at a minimum.

Most solid midsize bike in my opinion is still the SV650. Although the MT07 is right there along side it these days. I have been eyeballing the CB650R to replace my much larger VFR the last few months, but that bike is also a slight step above the typical 650 class bike.

[Remedylane]

Originally Posted by Megadan

As a fellow 6'4 270ish lb guy. You can get a standard hawk to run 65mph with a couple of upgrades.

Don't discount the bigger bike thing entirely though. As much as I love these cheap little bikes, there is something to be said for just being able to hop on and ride something that can do all of that and more with no effort on your part.

I for sure haven't discounted a bigger bike. Hawks aren't even in stock right now, so I constantly check my local market places. Funny i've found TBRs and hawks on there but for way more than new ones. It's crazy.

As I said in another thread, I haven't ridden since I was 14. I'm 43 now. Back then all I did was trail ride. I've never ridden on the road. My neighbor right across the street has 40 acres of trails I can ride. Nothing crazy, just basic trails. I figure I can work my way up to road riding. But all I want to do at this point is ride my basic 45mph back roads.

It has also taken some convincing and a chihuahua to get my wife on board with me getting a bike lol. I've used the "hawks aren't even fast" argument. And truth be told, at this point, I don't want fast. It seems a hawk, from a money standpoint is a good gateway for me. If I end up not enjoying riding like I used too, the so be it. It's not that much money and I can sell it and recoup some.

Tinkering would.be fun. A couple of mods and I'm at 65mph is appealing. I figure I should get 55-60mph stock? My weight does fluctuate between 275-290. The hawk is supposedly good to 330. I don't plan on jumping it or being rough at all. So I think I'd be fine.