New Hawk, new adventures.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by wedooit

Thank you master of masters, Dan, for the video. Great to see you back, hear your voice, and that big Dan grin!!!

Thank you. I never really left, just had a hard time being involved very much.

[Megadan]

So, it's been a solid week and change since I did the Brozz swing arm + 280mm fast ace shock combination. I have been riding to work as much as I can, even though the low temps have decided to try and make it winter again (36 degrees on Sunday night)

In that 10 days I have put about 200 miles on the bike, and I have come to the conclusion that, for comfort a 1000lb/in spring is hard to beat even for a heavier guy like me. The caveat to that is that it likely needs to be paired with a good damper. The compression damping valving of the Fast Ace shock is far superior to that of the Keogh's shock. It responds much in the same way my fork valves do, allowing for more travel under low speed compression, such as squatting a little during acceleration, but becoming more controlled and a bit firmer on higher speed hits.

As a testament to how well said shock and spring rate are performing, I managed to catch the slightest of air on a "little" bump on a dual track I sometimes frequent, probably only a couple off inches of the ground with both wheels, and it landed and didn't bottom out. Color me impressed. I did that same jump for the first time with my original Hawk before I did any sort of modifications or upgrades of any kind and basically bottomed out both the forks and the rear shock. That exact bump started me on my quest for better suspension.

One thing I have noticed that now needs attention is my fork valving is now too firm with the center of gravity and rake angle changing as much as they did. Low speed is still ok, but the high speed damping needs to be softened up a hair. some bumps are a bit more jarring than they used to be. I might take a turn out of the fork valves here this weekend as I plan to do a fork oil change (it's looking like swamp water).

Engine performance is as good as ever, still makes all the right growls, snarls, and pops. I definitely think I will need to re-pack the muffler at some point, although I am still debating changing to a different, longer, muffler to try and tone the bike down some without putting a big restriction in the system.

Otherwise, gratuitous Hawk photo!

[CaptainKP]

Nice helmet! I had the C3 Pro in an accident a few years back and I dont think I'm any dumber. They even replaced it at cost if I sent it back to them for research. Now I'm using the E1.

Are you still using the fork support bracket? I can't see it in this photo.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by CaptainKP

Nice helmet! I had the C3 Pro in an accident a few years back and I dont think I'm any dumber. They even replaced it at cost if I sent it back to them for research. Now I'm using the E1.

Are you still using the fork support bracket? I can't see it in this photo.

I am actually waiting for my new helmet to replace the C3. It's had a hard 4 years and is just worn out. Going with a SNELL rated full face with a transitions face shield for my next one. If it would ever ship...


The fork brace has been removed for a while. I took it off to modify it a little and just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. I was going to drill new mount holes higher up and bring it a little closer to the tire. That's just how I operate sometimes. lol

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Megadan

I am actually waiting for my new helmet to replace the C3. It's had a hard 4 years and is just worn out. Going with a SNELL rated full face with a transitions face shield for my next one. If it would ever ship...


The fork brace has been removed for a while. I took it off to modify it a little and just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. I was going to drill new mount holes higher up and bring it a little closer to the tire. That's just how I operate sometimes. lol

I've been looking at getting a helmet with a transition face shield. That would be a nice feature to have.

That is one snazzy skid plate you have there. lol

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

I've been looking at getting a helmet with a transition face shield. That would be a nice feature to have.

Tat is one snazzy skid plate you have there. lol

I want to try a transition shield at least once. Internal sun visors break eventually, ie my schuberth, I don't want to carry around 2 sets of glasses, and I hate swapping face shields. The shields themselves aren't cheap, but compared to buying multiple shields it isn't too bad.

Yeah, that skid plate is nice. Custom made by a guy I know

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Megadan

I want to try a transition shield at least once. Internal sun visors break eventually, ie my schuberth, I don't want to carry around 2 sets of glasses, and I hate swapping face shields. The shields themselves aren't cheap, but compared to buying multiple shields it isn't too bad.

Yeah, that skid plate is nice. Custom made by a guy I know

That's my thought also. The internal shield is better than two shields But in the early morning or right at dusk the internal shield can be too dark and clear can be too bright. The gradual darkening or lightening would be much better.

Yeah i hear those are very rare skid plates. only a few made. There's a very rare aluminum one out there too. one of a kind. lol

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

That's my thought also. The internal shield is better than two shields But in the early morning or right at dusk the internal shield can be too dark and clear can be too bright. The gradual darkening or lightening would be much better.

Yeah i hear those are very rare skid plates. only a few made. There's a very rare aluminum one out there too. one of a kind. lol

As a long time member of the four eyes brigade, I have had transitions glasses before and I love them. The only downside was that they need direct light exposure to work, so in a car they were worthless. On a helmet visor though? match made in heaven. Especially for my normal riding hours, noon to midnight, I don't have to carry two shields for each direction to and from work.

Speaking of Jerry-plates, I can actually use my stand again! One bonus of the lower back end.

[Megadan]

Speaking of upgrades, I decided to go ahead and order a new style PWK 32mm carburetor with the twist on cap instead of the bolt on style. I managed to find a non power jet model with the idle speed adjustment on the right side and fuel inlet on the left (when installed on the bike). It uses the long hexagonal main jets like a proper PWK, so I had to order a few of those as well.

The idle mixture screw will still be in the same annoying spot, but with a CRF230 intake boot it should be far enough back and angled further away from the center of the bike to be easier to access, and I found a thumb screw for it so I may even be able to still adjust it from the right side of the bike. If not, a long screw driver will do the trick.

The only catch to the CRF230 intake is that it will require porting and port matching to the head as the flange side only has a 26mm diameter at the port. Not a bit deal, but just something extra to do.

My plan is to get the bike up and running with the PE30 first, so no, I don't plan on going crazy just yet. Then I want to swap over to the 32mm PWK to compare the difference with the cam installed. If I decide the 32mm is the way forward, then I will probably sell the whole PE30 setup on here to someone for a decent discount. If not, I will put the PE30 back on and call it a day. I think the 32mm carb will work well with the cam, but only time will tell. Hopefully I have a little better luck with this one than the last PWK I tried. Considering this one is actually 35% more expensive, maybe it will translate to a little better quality lol.

I also have a Motion Pro "turbo" throttle on order along with their matched throttle cable. My cheaper quick turn throttle is starting to show it's cheapness in long term quality with the cable roller no longer really staying level as the throttle is twisted. Amazingly it was only a few bucks more expensive than some of the Aliexpress options I looked at.

Carb in question: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...49994c4dkKRDDu

Throttle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cable: https://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-01...Z8NPYBKJMZ5C98

[JerryHawk250]

I like that carb. Idle speed screw located on the right side.

[China Rider 27]

Looks good and hopefully looks translate to performance. And that is cheap but shipping will bring it up some. A good performing cheaper PKW alternative would be appreciated. I think your bike is going to pull that 32 mm just fine. Will be interesting to see where the power shows up or goes away.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by China Rider 27

Looks good and hopefully looks translate to performance. And that is cheap but shipping will bring it up some. A good performing cheaper PKW alternative would be appreciated. I think your bike is going to pull that 32 mm just fine. Will be interesting to see where the power shows up or goes away.

Yeah, it will hopefully perform decently and not have the issues that the cheaper PWK had with fueling.

For me it's the lack of power jet and idle adjustment on the correct side that also make the carb a potential winner if it works out.

As far as where the power shifts, that is part of the reason I want to stick with the PE30 at first. Well, that and I already have the bike running right on that carb, so adjustments will be easy to make. Once I know how it behaves with just the cam being the only changed variable I can then swap around the carb. Plus, at the rate things are shipping, I wont see this carb until July.

[China Rider 27]

Yaa I talked to a guy about the PWK 30 I bought and he said they had not seen good performance from the power jet. If you think about it, seems kinda like a gimmick, looks good but can it really add anything? Like you said before you can adjust the main to get all you can out of the air flow so just something else to leak or have a problem.

[JerryHawk250]

I just received two orders from China and took right at two weeks. So not too bad. Whatever you do don't order anything from Italy. That took right at a month.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by China Rider 27

Yaa I talked to a guy about the PWK 30 I bought and he said they had not seen good performance from the power jet. If you think about it, seems kinda like a gimmick, looks good but can it really add anything? Like you said before you can adjust the main to get all you can out of the air flow so just something else to leak or have a problem.

Power jets are a legit thing, but they don't really help 4 stroke engines much. They were developed for 2 stroke race bikes. Since 2 strokes are ultra sensitive to fueling, it gives the ability to run a leaner main jet for better throttle response in the mid to 3/4 throttle ranges, but then provides extra fuel at near wide open throttle or more to allow better top end power without causing a catastrophic lean engine meltdown.

On a 4 stroke, it's not really needed since they are far more forgiving to fueling variations.

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

I just received two orders from China and took right at two weeks. So not to bad. Whatever you do don't order anything from Italy. That took right at a month.

you got lucky then. The U.S. Mail is suffering from serious delays and slow downs as well as shipping out of China being very delayed. I haven't seen an update on my flywheel puller in 10 days. It took 8 days to priority mail a package from Omaha to Texas, a trip that would normally take 3.