Jay's Hawk mods, including plug and play exhaust!

[duck9191]

My storms chain is surprisingly well lubricated. When i cut it for the new back sprocket there was a good amount of lube in the rollers. Time will tell how effective that lube is and what quality the chain is. It needed to be adjusted after 500 miles anyways but that's to be expected until it breaks in.

Wonder if the dxl chain is of any better quality, seems to be a pain point for the hawk.

[OneLeggedRider]

Originally Posted by duck9191

My storms chain is surprisingly well lubricated. When i cut it for the new back sprocket there was a good amount of lube in the rollers. Time will tell how effective that lube is and what quality the chain is. It needed to be adjusted after 500 miles anyways but that's to be expected until it breaks in.

Wonder if the dxl chain is of any better quality, seems to be a pain point for the hawk.

520 O or Xring chain is the way to go, especially since these little bikes are so under powered. My Scrambler goes through one every season, but I'm putting so much power to the ground I regularly strip out hubs, about one every season.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by OneLeggedRider

On that point Jerry we'll have to agree to disagree. I believe ya get what ya pay for when it comes to chains. And yes, in my early years I've made cheap chains last quite a while with constant maintenance and proper adjustment. But I'd rather not have to think about the chain and maintenance.

And Jay and I were discussing this while working on his. My Hawk has over 2000 on it now and you can walk out there today and it still has the proper slack we set it to after the initial break in adjustment. And when it does look like it needs some adjustment I'll just replace it, a good chain should never need more than 2 adjustments, initial and break in. I do that with all of my bikes and never have trouble with throwing a chain or wearing the sprockets.

Oh believe me I know it's not the best chain out there. lol But you can get a little life out of them if you lubricated from start. The o-ring chain I have now is so much better than stock.

[duck9191]

Originally Posted by OneLeggedRider

520 O or Xring chain is the way to go, especially since these little bikes are so under powered. My Scrambler goes through one every season, but I'm putting so much power to the ground I regularly strip out hubs, about one every season.

I wonder if the quality is any better though, same crap quality will still stretch on a 500 series chain just slower.

[OneLeggedRider]

Originally Posted by duck9191

I wonder if the quality is any better though, same crap quality will still stretch on a 500 series chain just slower.

Exactly, I put a cheap Golden Bear 520 O-ring on mine, I think it was only $38. But the slower stretching is what we're after. My Scrambler chains run about $115, but the Hawk doesn't require that kind of quality.

[Megadan]

DID VX2 520 chain can be had in 120 links for around 60-70 bucks without looking very hard. Damn good quality chain for a decent price. I love mine.

[NzBrakelathes]

The unibear chains on eBay from China are fine for the Hawks cg250 cb250 etc
Doesn’t need to be a big brand

[Tashka]

I've ran my current chain about 3500 miles now with the last 1k being pretty much only offroad. 428, not 520 because I want that miniscule weight savings.

chain is still in good shape and hasnt needed an adjustment since I took it off the wrecked bike and put it on my rebuilt one.

[OneLeggedRider]

Well it got up to 52° and was bright and sunny out so rather than cleaning his house or going grocery shopping Jay decided to take his Kawahawki out. He spent about 3 hours on it and stuck to back roads so he could travel at a slower pace in the chilly weather, said the only thing that got cold was his hands, apparently the armored gloves aren't insulated well.

And he's still loving the snappy new exhaust. We did a side by side comparison and my Hawk is still the decibel champ, but I gotta admit I like the snappy sound too. His bike seemed to be running a little lean in the cold weather with a little bit of popping on deceleration. Might need to take the the screw out to 1.75 and pop a 112 main in it.

We still haven't fixed the rear brake yet, feels like it's got air in the line and provides minimal stopping power. We also haven't got around to installing the alarm system yet, but it appears the bike is going to be spending the winter at my place where it will be safe. And I got another rip your face off guard dog out there to assist Dottie Girl in her protective duties. They won't let anyone up the driveway without alerting me, and the new dog is making my UPS driver a bit nervous lol.

We did notice Jay's taillight turns on with the ignition switch, and mine doesn't until you turn the headlight on. I don't know if it's a glitch or if the new Hawk's are supposed to do that. I told him to see if the little daytime bulb in the headlight housing is lighting up with the key, but I think he forgot to check.

We put Stabilizer in both tanks and I got a nice bike cover for mine. Realistically mine will probably only see one more ride this season unless we get a warm snap. It will be coming inside for the head work but I'd say that's a February project.

[JerryHawk250]

Yeah, that cooler weather make my Hawk sound like one of the Stir Crazy Popcorn Poppers. lol My Pwk30 is more sensitive to the temperature change than the PZ30 was. I'll be tuning it over the weekend. Suppose to be in the mid 50's but nice and sunny.

I used a HF vacuum brake bleeder. I replace the brake fluid once a year. I'll vacuum it down until te revivor is almost empty then add fresh fluid and vacuum down to about half way the top it off.

[duck9191]

We haven't been making it out of the 30's the last week or so, my riding season might be over. Doused them both marine storage treatment before my last fill up, plus they both have non-ethanol recreational fuel so im hoping they are good for the winter.

[Megadan]

Yep, it was an early end to the riding season for many this year. I remember riding all the way through mid December last year before the temps turned into the "too cold" territory for me. I parked my bike last weekend with a tank full of stabil mixed gas. I might get a couple more day rides in this weekend with the temps hitting the low 60's, but then back to 40 and colder for the highs in the forseeable future. At least I have some tinker projects for the winter to keep me busy.

[duck9191]

Once the ice hits the roads im done. Don't mind the cold, but unless i have studs in the tires i want nothing to do with ice lol. Found an icy overpass this morning on my way to work in the truck, nice wake up call.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by duck9191

Once the ice hits the roads im done. Don't mind the cold, but unless i have studs in the tires i want nothing to do with ice lol. Found an icy overpass this morning on my way to work in the truck, nice wake up call.

We already had a couple nights with ice on the bridges and a couple spots on the pavement. Not too unusual for this time of year, but we have been spoiled with warm Fall weather the last couple of years. While I am just as crazy as the next guy when it comes to riding in the cold, I tend to cut my riding when the low temps are in the 20's on a regular basis. I will leave that for the super macho guys that have something to prove.

[culcune]

Eighty freakin' nine in Yuma, and supposed to be 88 tomorrow and 86 on Saturday. I want 50s and 60s!! The problem with it being too cold everywhere and too hot here is snowbirds come too early. And the electric bill stays high since we are still running the air conditioner. Also, burning extra gas in the car because still running its air. I want 'cozy' weather lol