Took the plunge and decided to be a Hawk owner!

[MooseTraks]

Lurked on this forum for a couple months just trying to absorb as much as I could. First saw the magician and thought damn that'd make a sweet starter bike, then read about the hawk and it's general step up from the magician and was stuck like glue. Put my order in with TXpowersport this morning. I've read such mixed reviews on TXpowersport but haven't had any issues thus far. I'll keep y'all posted and provide pics when the little beast shows up! (Also this is my second bike but first time actually riding, first bike was a 98 ninja 600. Didn't want to be pavement smoothie on my first ride lol)

[JerryHawk250]

Welcome aboard and congrats on the Hawk. :tup: Out of all the bikes I've own and road. The Hawk has been my favorite.
I hope your purchase with TXpowersport goes smoothly. They have been hit and miss around here.

[MooseTraks]

Thanks for the hospitality! I've seen you around allot on the forums as well, so ive got a question for you, or really anyone that happens upon the intro. Do you think as a first time ride and learner it would be better to leave the bike bone stock (still doing valve clearance adjustment and new fluids) for the first couple months or jump into the mods right away and just have the proper hawk be the baseline instead of bone stock?

[Cravin01]

I may get torched but I think you can just go through and check your bolts, throw some loctite around, maybe change the oil and get going, the bike was made for third world countries with a clientele known for little to no maintenance.

It should be fine for a while but I wouldn't know for sure, I own a Bashan and it has been bulletproof.

[kirbo7106]

Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your new Hawk! It’s really up to you as far as mods go. Once you start down the “Mod” rabbit hole, it’s hard to stop! :) Keep us posted on your Hawk and what you decide to do.

Enjoy the Ride!

[JerryHawk250]

The main ones valve clearance adjustment and new fluids I see you have covered. The one that most important is tuning the carb from the beginning. They come tune way to lean from the factory and that can cause the most damage if your not careful. No need to go out and buy another carb unless you really feel like you have too. The stock carb can be tuned. There are a couple of videos out there that show how to access the jets and idle mixture screw. Basically use a hack saw or Dremel to cut a slot for a screw driver to remove. A 110 main jet will be about perfect for stock and a 115 if you remove the cat or go with a free flowing exhaust. The Idle mixture screw which is hidden under a little plastic cap (easily removed with a drywall screwed into it) you will want to set it about 1 1/2 turns out from seated and the needle can be shimmed with 2 small thin washers.
I only upgraded my carb due to I needed a freer flowing carb to go along with the ported head. The stock carb performed great with the gutted stock exhaust.
As far as mods go. You can do them all at once or do like I did and just did them one at a time and enjoy the little extra\performance I felt after each one. :D

[MooseTraks]

-UPDATE- Well I'll be surprised the Hawk is already coming in for delivery on the 28th (tomorrow!) I was betting next month delivery but I'm pleasantly surprised! I'll have pics when it gets here.

[JerryHawk250]

:clap: Can't wait to see. Hope it comes in damage free. :tup: Now the fun begins.

[MooseTraks]

Came in during lunch, only had time to go pick it up and drop it off before scooting back to work. Did a cursory glance and it looks to have no damage at all! Super stoked to get home and take stock. It'll be a couple weeks until she gets assembled. Gives me time to get all the fluids.
(Forgive the mess, cleaning out the garage has made everything unorganized lol)

[MooseTraks]

I'll fix the photo orientation when I get home

[JerryHawk250]

Nice, No damage. :tup: I see they come with the rear fender installed now. I had to install the rear fender and light assembly on my 2016.

[MooseTraks]

Been itching to build the bike over the week but I've gotta wait until Saturday! :cry:
I have a few more pics and noticed that this bike came with a small "burrito tube" already attached. Not sure if this is due to newer model or I just never noticed it in pics of the older models.
I've also gone with a 10w40 weight synthetic due to it getting colder in The great corn plains, and a 15w fork oil to help with the...heavier load of the rider :D

Also quick question, is the Mikuni Carb throttle needle supposed to have a little bit of wobble to it? I took the needle out of the housing with the retention washer and when I put it all back together it didn't seem like it was a super snug fit. It went down into the main jet just fine though.

[JerryHawk250]

I don't know if I could of waited that long when I got my Hawk. lol I unloaded mine out the back of my truck and started assembling it right away.

My 2016 didn't come with the tool tube. They started putting them on the 2017 models.
I noticed you put synthetic oil. For break in I would switch back to Dino oil and put about 500 miles before going back to synthetic. You want the rings, bearings and so on to wear and seat in place. Synthetic will take much longer to break in the engine. Be sure to run it through a few heat cycles and try not to do WOT runs for the first 100 mile.

As far as the needle on the carb it will have play in it.

I think putting these things together are as much fun as riding. lol Keep us posted on the progress.