03-21-2017, 12:52 PM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Ohio
Posts: 154
|
Lowering the HAWK?
I'm sure everyone can agree that the HAWK sits a bit high, being a dirt bike and all. And at the average height of 5'9, I have no problems when on the smooth, even pavement of the city roads.
BUT when off road and on hilly, uneven, sinking mud, dirt roads I feel like I am sitting up too high and cant achieve a "Perfect balance" when the need to put a foot down comes about, and I would feel more comfortable being a bit lower and being able to easily get my feet and legs more stable. SO I was looking into lowering kits or lowering links for the back suspension and was wondering if anyone had ANY advice or recommendations on if I should even do this, what the best brand would be, if It's even worth it, or if anybody has done it to their HAWK. |
|
03-21-2017, 12:58 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 436
|
Quote:
|
|
|
03-21-2017, 02:07 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 237
|
Quote:
|
|
|
03-21-2017, 07:17 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Marshfield , Wi
Posts: 129
|
Lowering links are not an option for the hawk as the shock is mouted on frame and swing arm . No linkage . But Like stated a shorter shock will work . Also taking seat apart and shaving a couple of inches of foam off and restapling cover will lower seat height .
__________________
Living life to the fullest to avoid regrets later ,,,,or I am a complete loon ! Either way I am good |
|
03-21-2017, 07:55 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 162
|
I lowered my Storm. Just got a shorter shock and hacked it to fit
Not sure if I did a thread on it? Oh... I did... Here it is
__________________
2014 Bashan Storm 250 Enduro 1998 Harley Davidson Fat Boy 1993 Suzuki GSX600F - Rebuilt 1995 Harley Davidson Chopper build from ground up. 1983 Yamaha XJ900 REBUILT! 1971 Triumph Daytona 500 - Restored 1987 Yamaha FJ1200 |
|
03-22-2017, 02:13 AM | #6 |
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Ohio
Posts: 154
|
What Shock did you use?
|
|
03-22-2017, 08:41 AM | #7 |
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 237
|
there is a post here with pics and details. I tried a few options like moving the mount point placing more leverage on the original shock, results were great until the shock seal blew from the increased stress.
I rode close to 60 miles on a blown shock that day, tire wore a hole in the air box, and the hawk paddled my ass the whole way. had to lean forward the whole way to lessen the abuse. the shock i have on there is common on ebay and amazon, and was meant for a klx110 i belive, its a bit soft until you adjust the preload a bit, the hawk shich i belive is 320mm from hole to hole, this was 280mm, a 300mm would make half the change in height. e.t.c. i believe we covered the spring load and all in that post. so 280-320mm in length. with 12mm bolts. spacers may be required. there are alot of options. |
|
04-10-2020, 03:08 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 1
|
Chuck, very interested in this solution. I'm looking into replacing the stock seat with the csc seat for the tt250. Did you have to modify the seat to fit it to the hawk?
|
|
04-10-2020, 03:21 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 8,100
|
For every 5mm change in shock length you will see a rough ride height change of half an inch.
If you wanted to lower the rear of the bike about 2 inches you would want a 300mm shock length. I installed a 325mm length shock and saw a measured increase of 12mm. OneLeggedRider installed a 290mm shock on his Hawk and saw a decrease in height of 3 inches. AFAIK he never had an issue with bottoming out the bike even with that much of a drop. A big part of that is due to the fairly limited suspension travel these bikes have compared to a proper dirt bike. The rear wheel only has a little over 6 inches of total travel at most. Just two examples to show the numbers in practice.
__________________
Hawk Information and Resource guide: http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20331 2018 Hawk 250 - Full Mod list here. http://www.chinariders.net/showpost....62&postcount=1 2024 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 https://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=34124 |
|
|
|
|
|