Hawk Talk

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by Fodarr

What size copper gasket is needed for the aftermarket exhaust?

The same one that fits Honda 230 singles. ARH

[hertz9753]

Originally Posted by Fodarr

What size copper gasket is needed for the aftermarket exhaust?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-EXHAUS...53.m1438.l2649

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by hertz9753

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-EXHAUS...53.m1438.l2649

Thanks for coming up with the link. If I was computer literate, I'd know how to do it....ARH

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Back down on this page I described how I would set up a Hawk for my uses. I don't want to have to trailer a bike to where the trail starts. I'll ride it there, thank you very much. I live in rural northern NY State, within a half mile of the Ste. Lawrence River. It is about 20-30 miles to the real Adirondak Mountains. That is where the gnarly stuff begins. There is no freeway or turnpike within 75 miles of here, so the highest speed limit is 55 mph. 60 or more will get you a ticket, expensive here. Luckily, I like wrenching on bikes, so the Hawk would be perfect for me. Because the Hawk, as delivered and assembled is not really up to the job. Carb issues, (the Shin wei carb is virtually untunable without spending as much to fix its problems as another, decent, carb costs), and a carb that won't pull right from idle to 7500 rpm is not going to make you happy out on the deer and cow paths. There are some good exhaust systems available as well. You must have a spark arrester off road in the Adirondak State Preserve. One of the problems with the Hawk, as delivered, is the location of the rear brake master cylinder, and the foot pegs. Now, if you guys will go to ChondaChondaChonda's post "took a plunge, trying a Pitster Pro LXR 250 EFI" and scroll down to post 177, note the location of the footpegs. And the rear tire, which is a Pirelli MT 43. Then go up or down a couple of pics to see the other side of the bike and check out the location of the rear master cylinder. That gives you a visual on how to fix these problems...ARH

[pete]

whats wrong with the foot peg placement ?
they look about in the right place from the
pics of the bike posted on here...

But I do agree the rear brake set up is far from ideal
for anything off road... just asking to take a knock...


..

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by pete

whats wrong with the foot peg placement ?
they look about in the right place from the
pics of the bike posted on here...

But I do agree the rear brake set up is far from ideal
for anything off road... just asking to take a knock...


..

Foot peg is too far forward for the bike weight up front and the power of the bike. That is why one guy on here dislikes the clutch, he revs it sky high and dumps the clutch to get it to come up. But you may be right, and I might be wrong, as the hump in the seat prevents you from putting your weight in the right place. A little surgery is indicated...ARH

[Megadan]

The foot peg placement, rear brake master cylinder location, and seat are all good indications of a bike that is meant to see road use - including dirt roads/fire roads and not more hardcore trails/technical stuff. Not saying it isn't capable, but you can tell it was never really in their thought process.

[pistolclass]

ARH, I took my Hawk for a ride today just to evaluate the footpeg location. I think it is in the correct spot. Any further back it would be like riding a sport bike.

Now the seat, I agree, stinks. They need to ditch the hump and ride it up the tank a little more.

[pete]

if you were to move the pegs rearwards...
when standing you are now leaning foward
carrying a lot of your body weight on your arms
and a very heavy front end.... so you put higher handle
bars on to stop this... then your weight is rearwards
giving a light front end..that will want to slide around..
And while seated your feet/legs are under you more like a
sports road bike making it harder to keep your weight above
the bikes centre line while cornering seated on lose ground.
and moving quickly from a seated to standing position becomes harder.

you have to remember a lot of things on a bike are a compimise..
as any bike is bought by riders of diffrent hights , arm & leg lengths

..

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by pistolclass

ARH, I took my Hawk for a ride today just to evaluate the footpeg location. I think it is in the correct spot. Any further back it would be like riding a sport bike.

Now the seat, I agree, stinks. They need to ditch the hump and ride it up the tank a little more.

Well, it is a sport bike - a dual sport. LOL. I'm happy for you that the footpeg location is in the right location. If you can't get the front wheel up on less than half throttle, standing on the pegs with your arms pretty well stretched out, then moving the pegs back a couple of inches will make a difference. Like when going over a 10 inch log. You want to get the front wheel up with your weight to the rear, then roll off the throttle, and put more weight over the handle bars and let the rear wheel climb the log. When the rear tire is on top of the log, feed enough throttle to maintain equilibrium, and ride on to the next problem...ARH

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by pete

if you were to move the pegs rearwards...
when standing you are now leaning foward
carrying a lot of your body weight on your arms
and a very heavy front end.... so you put higher handle
bars on to stop this... then your weight is rearwards
giving a light front end..that will want to slide around..
And while seated your feet/legs are under you more like a
sports road bike making it harder to keep your weight above
the bikes centre line while cornering seated on lose ground.
and moving quickly from a seated to standing position becomes harder.

you have to remember a lot of things on a bike are a compimise..
as any bike is bought by riders of diffrent hights , arm & leg lengths

..

While I'm not all that tall (6' 1") I do have long arms. And weigh 275. I was originally talking about how I would fit out a Hawk for me, and the kind of riding I like to do....ARH

[Ariel Red Hunter]

I was reviewing Megadan's photos of the ports on the Hawk, and he is right - the ports aren't all that great. Especially on the exhaust side. I think, if you are considering doing port work, that you should buy another cylinder head to experiment with, but there are definite horsepower advantages lurking in those passages. Just don't get carried away. Smooth them up and open up a little in the neighborhood of the valve guides. Don't get too carried away on hogging out metal on the intake side - we want to maintain velocity in the intake stream. It is always easier to grind a little more than it is to replace metal from over-zealous application of the grinder!...ARH

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Yes, electricity. For your bikes electrical system to work satisfactorley, the electrons have to flow from the positive pole of the battery, through all of the wires to the various lights, solenoids, starter motor to the FRAME and thence to the negative post. Or. guess what? Trouble. So each item has to have a good ground to the frame, and the frame connection to the negative post. Electricity goes in a circle on any battery powered circuit. Have a break, or weak ground, anwhere it that circuit, and you have a problem. Sand a penny sized patch through the paint where the ground strap (wire) attaches to the frame, re-bolt the ground to the frame and coat the surgery with Vaseline. Vaseline protects the frame and wire end from corrosion. Once the engine is running, now you need good grounds for the rectifier and the CDI unit. And the zenor diode, or whater they are using to get rid of the over-generated electricity coming from the alternator. None of it will work without good grounds. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! LOL....ARH

[Ariel Red Hunter]

While I was leafing through the pages of "The Book of the Rudge" this morning, I came across this little tid bit of carburetor info. "To improve snap throttle response, raise the float level a little bit by - - - " The dashes replace the words on how to do that on a TT 9 carb. On China bike carbs, you do that by bending the float lever a little bit. A very little bit....ARH

[Mudflap]

Just to nit pick a small point, electrons flow from the negative post of the battery to the positive. But you knew that I'm sure.

Originally Posted by Ariel Red Hunter

Yes, electricity. For your bikes electrical system to work satisfactorley, the electrons have to flow from the positive pole of the battery, through all of the wires to the various lights, solenoids, starter motor to the FRAME and thence to the negative post.