Newly purchased Xpro Hawk 250 DLX EFI

[MrBigWrench24]

Hey y'all! With the ever rising fuel prices of today, I feel like there are going to be many noobies like myself joining these forums and groups. I'm definitely not new to riding, but I am definitely new to the Chinese bike scene. The fact that I couldn't find anything for under $4,000 in my area, plus the insane amount of following for these bikes led me to buying the Xpro Hawk 250 DLX EFI. This bike is mainly going to be used for commuting to work since I have a 55 mile round trip commute daily and normally drive a lifted truck that gets 12 MPG. I'm a diesel mechanic by trade, so tinkering, fabricating and tuning will not scare me off.

Through research of many of the common problems, after assembling, before starting, I upgraded to an NGK spark plug, got a new 45* cone air filter, changed the oil, checked the spokes for tightness, aired up the tires to proper inflation, lubed everything possible, and filled it up with premium fuel. Fired it up and runs like a dream. Took it for a test drive after letting it warm up a little and she rides like a dream, well the dream you can expect for $2,000 lol. I noticed that the bike is definitely geared more like a dirt bike or for off road use, and as I said previously, it is mostly going to be a commuter bike and to play with on the weekends. While riding it home, the bike will do 60 mph, but that is screaming at near redline which I definitely don't like. I ordered up some new sprockets at 17 front and 42 rear tooth. From what I've researched, this should give me more what I am looking for.

Now for a couple of questions. I am considering getting a new rear tire that is more suited for on road use but still a dual sport tire. Stock size rear tire is 110/90-18. Does anyone know if a 130/80-18 will fit the factory wheel for one, and if it does, if it will fit on the bike without any issues. The 130/80-18 is just under 1/2" taller and just under 3/4" wider.

Secondly, if anyone has any cheap or simple upgrades to make this bike more reliable, more fun, or improve the power or fuel economy, I'm open to just about anything. Like I said before, tinkering, tuning, and fabricating does not scare me off.

[buzz]

Buy a Honda !

[XLsior]

https://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20331

[Megadan]

You will fit in nicely here. It's so refreshing seeing a post form a person who knows what the heck they are doing.

Originally Posted by MrBigWrench24

Now for a couple of questions. I am considering getting a new rear tire that is more suited for on road use but still a dual sport tire. Stock size rear tire is 110/90-18. Does anyone know if a 130/80-18 will fit the factory wheel for one, and if it does, if it will fit on the bike without any issues. The 130/80-18 is just under 1/2" taller and just under 3/4" wider.

For the tires. This is a tough one to really answer because there are so many variables. The second you get into more road friendly dual sport tires, the more annoying making that choice becomes.
Shinko 705's are probably the most street friendly of the budget tires. I ran them on my first Hawk and they are amazing on road, but if you plan on anything more than gravel roads and light dual track backroad kind of adventures you will be found wanting quickly. One thing I did love about them is that they are very long wearing. I put over 3000 miles on them before that bike was stolen and they barely showed any wear.
Shinko 244's are actually a fairly decent dual sport off and on road tire. They will still suffer a bit if you are trying to go sling thick mud, but they can handle most off road situations decently. They do tend to live shorter lives when used on road though.
I am currently running Shinko 700's, which are kind of an inbetween of the previous two tires. The carcass and rubber compound are similar to that of the 705, and as far as I can tell, will be long lived as well, but they have a more aggressive knob like tread pattern, so they do a little better off road than the 705's, but probably not quite as good as the 244's.

Obviously there are other tires out there, but those are three I am very familiar with on these bikes.

As for sizes. 80/100-21, 90/90-21, or 3.0x21 for the front tires will work on the rim it has. On the rear your stock size, 110/100-18 (stock carbed hawk tire size), 120/90-18, 120/80-18, and 4.6x18 (and 4.10x18 as well) will all work just fine. A 130 width tire is just a bit too wide for the 2.15" rear rim width to be safe.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by MrBigWrench24

Secondly, if anyone has any cheap or simple upgrades to make this bike more reliable, more fun, or improve the power or fuel economy, I'm open to just about anything. Like I said before, tinkering, tuning, and fabricating does not scare me off.

Honestly, there aren't that many upgrades needed to really make them any more reliable. Proper assembly and maintenance does the majority of that. A bottle of loctite being one of them lol.

I think at this point your best friend would be simply sprockets and a good chain. A large majority of us that use our bikes for road/commuter duty really love the 17 front and 45 rear sprocket combination. It rides the middle ground of being low enough to not entirely neuter it off road so it can hang on lighter trails and adventures, but tall enough that it can get the bike into the 70mph top speed territory, but more importantly, happy to cruise along at 55-60mph without having the throttle pegged the whole time. if you find it too tall for your liking, you can drop down the front sprocket to a 16 or even a 15, which is both cheap and easy to do.

Optional upgrades that aren't really needed, but definitely help...

Hard to beat an oil cooler. It's not necessary, but I definitely don't regret installing mine one bit.

My new favorite upgrade that I just recent performed was upgrading the clutch springs. Thread with info https://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=31067

Something maybe worth doing in your spare time, or if you are bored is to upgrade the connectors on the wiring to weatherpack style for connections on the charging system, ignition, etc. The unprotected, unsealed, cheap crappy connectors used there aren't the best at preventing corrosion and water intrusion. This might seem a bit silly for most, but if you are going to use it as a true commuter, riding in the rain will expose those weaknesses fairly quickly. I never had a full on short, but the corrosion was real.

[MrBigWrench24]

I was looking at the Shinko 705 before you mentioned this. I love the look of this tire and it seems like it would do very well on road and pretty decent off road. My overall plan is to have one wheel with the 42 tooth sprocket and a street tire and if I plan on going off road, I'll just switch over to the 50 tooth sprocket wheel and off road tire. I figure it's easy enough to swap out rear wheels and I don't plan on taking it super off road very often. Most I would do on a whim would be taking a service road or a power line road for funsies. I am very glad that you mentioned the Shinko 705 specifically, and that you had good luck with it. I figured for the price it wouldn't hurt to try it but definitely feel more confident in pulling the trigger on this tire now. Thanks for the good info!

[zero_dgz]

Originally Posted by Megadan

Y
I am currently running Shinko 705's, which are kind of an inbetween of the previous two tires.

I think you meant the 805/804's? If so, these are what I currently run on my KLR and they seem to be pretty decent at everything except deep mud and deep sand. Which is to be expected.


I think I have over 4000 miles on the rear on mine and it still has about half tread. That's not too shabby especially considering the KLR is a much heavier bike than a Hawk and I usually also have it loaded down with all my camping junk, plus I run it on pavement a lot.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by zero_dgz

I think you meant the 805/804's? If so, these are what I currently run on my KLR and they seem to be pretty decent at everything except deep mud and deep sand. Which is to be expected.


I think I have over 4000 miles on the rear on mine and it still has about half tread. That's not too shabby especially considering the KLR is a much heavier bike than a Hawk and I usually also have it loaded down with all my camping junk, plus I run it on pavement a lot.

No, meant 700's, but I was tired when I typed that out and just put a 5 again lol.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by MrBigWrench24

I was looking at the Shinko 705 before you mentioned this. I love the look of this tire and it seems like it would do very well on road and pretty decent off road. My overall plan is to have one wheel with the 42 tooth sprocket and a street tire and if I plan on going off road, I'll just switch over to the 50 tooth sprocket wheel and off road tire. I figure it's easy enough to swap out rear wheels and I don't plan on taking it super off road very often. Most I would do on a whim would be taking a service road or a power line road for funsies. I am very glad that you mentioned the Shinko 705 specifically, and that you had good luck with it. I figured for the price it wouldn't hurt to try it but definitely feel more confident in pulling the trigger on this tire now. Thanks for the good info!

I typoed on my current tires, which are the 700's not the 705's. Not sure if that will matter much. The 705 is still a decent tire though and it may suit your needs perfectly. Thankfully the Shinko tires are affordable enough that it doesn't break the bank to buy a different set if you decide they aren't working the way you would like.

[MrBigWrench24]

Thanks for the recommendations from everyone. Just a quick update for yall, I ordered up a new Shinko 705 and tube for the rear and got that installed along with putting on a 42 tooth rear sprocket. Super happy with the tire and RPM gain from the sprocket. 2 days later the front tube blew out on me halfway home from work and had no choice but to limp it back to the house and by that time the front tire was smoked. So I ordered up a new matching Shinko 705 for the front and wow. What a difference those tires have made. The vibration has gone down significantly and the bike handles corners on the road sooo much better. Highly recommend the Shinko 705 if you're running these bikes on the street but still want to do a little trail riding.

[Matt DeGroat]

I run Shinko 705s on my commuter (crf250L)
They are a great tire. Great in gravel and safe on the highway.

[Meadowman2023]

Can anyone help with resetting the ck engine light. The plug came off so the problem is fixed. The light remains on. 2023 Xpro Hawk 250