Hawk DLX Exhaust Gasket?

[Do©Hawk]

Hey everybody. I took my Hawk DLX out to play in the snow in my yard today. Had a great time, but when I started the bike, I noticed quite a bit of exhaust gasses leaking from flanged joint in the exhaust pipe where the tri-clamp is.

Is there supposed to be a gasket in there? I've had some issues with the clamp since getting the Hawk last August. At one point the clamp fell off entirely while out on a ride. Fortunately it turned up by my kids' bus stop. I bought a lock nut for it to replace the thumb screw. It has stayed pretty secure since, but like I mentioned above, there is quite a bit of exhaust leaking at that junction.

I haven't noticed any performance issues, but I'd still like to stop the leak. Any suggestions?

[Bill Hilly]

If you mean the flange at about the kick start, then, yes, (if like a standard Hawk), they have a fragile graphite gasket I believe is what I have heard it called. It broke on mine after I got rid of the catalytic converter, and I cut 3 out of a pop can, and used them all together, and it worked just fine.
They say that orange Permatex works for exhaust gaskets, but never tried it.

[Do©Hawk]

Originally Posted by Bill Hilly

If you mean the flange at about the kick start, then, yes
They say that orange Permatex works for exhaust gaskets, but never tried it.

Yup, that's the one. The DLX has the flanged pipe also. I guess I may have lost the gasket or it got damaged when the clamp fell off, but it took the cold for me to really notice the leak.

On your pop can hack, did you just cut out rings the same size as the flange?

[jeffrey]

I would use Permatex 81878 Ultra copper high temp exhaust gasket maker.

[Bill Hilly]

Originally Posted by Do©Hawk

Yup, that's the one. The DLX has the flanged pipe also. I guess I may have lost the gasket or it got damaged when the clamp fell off, but it took the cold for me to really notice the leak.

On your pop can hack, did you just cut out rings the same size as the flange?

I cut the about the O.D. of the pipe. If I remember right, there is about 1/4" or so of pipe sticking out past one of the flanges.

[Do©Hawk]

I'll probably go for the permatex solution, but I appreciate having multiple solutions. Thanks guys.

[zero_dgz]

Also: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YYJSR5Y/


This one was the correct size for my Orion. Note that a plethora of sizes are available; they're specified by inner and outer diameter. I don't know off the top of my head which is correct for a Hawk-alike since my Bashan does not have the stock exhaust on it anymore for me to check.

[Do©Hawk]

https://www.powersportsmax.com/produ...ducts_id/25691

I was pointed toward this from Powersportsmax. Seems a little spendy for the components, but free shipping and should fit. I may get this so I can measure the pieces and source them individually in the future. I considered replacing the clamp anyway as it is a little distorted.

[JerryHawk250]

Those clamps are called Sanitary Claps. Fairly inexpensive on Amazon. I cut my gaskets out of exhaust gasket material.
https://amzn.to/48KYcSz
https://amzn.to/3vMzqD5

[J4Fun]

And as a reminder, use tie wire on the sanitary clamp too help it from becoming loose as Jerry suggested a few years back!

[Do©Hawk]

I took the muffler end of the exhaust off today. There is a groove in the flange. It measures 40mm ID x 45mm OD. A quick search didn't yield anything close to those measurements, so I took the Permatex route.

I'm glad I got into it tonight. I noticed some wires that were starting to melt from being too close to the exhaust. And I also noticed the crankcase breather hose seems dry and cracked at both ends where it is clamped on. I adjusted the wire and I'll hit the hardware or parts store tomorrow for some hose.

Here are a couple pictures of the flange for anyone that may be curious.