Hawks & Turkeys
12-29-2024, 10:39 PM
Hello all,
Random thoughts from the Gulf Coast as I hit exactly one year of ownership of my 2024 Hawk X (carburetor version)...
- I continue to believe that most of you have had to replace/improve/adjust/modify your newly purchased Hawks, in spite of all the posts and YouTube videos proclaiming that y'all have had "no problems" with your bike.
- An easy example of a mod I had to make on my Hawk: my factory throttle cable was 3/4 of an inch too long, far too long to adjust with the adjusting threads and locking nut, to the point that the bike would not idle without me applying constant pressure on the throttle. When I went to take my license test I had to pretend that the bike was idling itself as I kept a slight tug on the throttle with a "nothing to see here" look on my face.
- How did I fix the throttle cable slack? I found a company called Venhill here in the southern US that makes custom length throttle and clutch cables. The process was a little more detailed than I expected but they made me a custom cable at a perfect length.
- Counter-balanced engines really run smooth. You may have seen Hawk owner videos from say, four or five years ago, pre-counter balanced engine and one of the biggest complaints was vibration rattling nuts and bolts loose on a daily basis. I've had few if any bolts rattle loose on my 2024 Hawk.
- One of the easiest improvements I made came from an obscure video where they installed a charging port from the battery. I can plug my battery tester/charger in without having to remove that annoying side panel with the one screw that is just waiting to be stripped. I have my charging port secured to that locking thing on the back side of my bike.
- And what is the purpose of that locking thing on the back side of the bike? Is it supposed to be a place to lock your helmet to the bike? Like from back in the day when helmets had a D-ring? Cuz I have no way of securing my helmet to the bike.
- Most frustrating repairs/improvements I made in 2024? Adjusting for chain slack while trying to keep the rear wheel aligned; attempting to replace my factory speedo panel with a digital tach & speedo panel which I mis-wired, shutting down my bike for a month. I'm back with the factory speedo and I can't even bring myself to make a second attempt at speedo cable install and digital wiring replacement.
- Least frustrating improvement I made in 2024? Installed a new gas tank float for my gas gauge, after seeing my fuel gauge show a half tank when the tank was actually full of gas. I got the new float from CSC Motorcycles. The arm is longer than the factory arm allowing the float to, well, float.
- Me thinks that riding mistakes come in pairs. Today while stopped at red lights I tried to take off with the bike in neutral (I almost always shift into 1st at a red light at the suggestion of MotoJitsu). At a second red light I tried to take off with the bike in 2nd gear. That didn't go well at all.
Y'all ride safe and have a great New Years. :tup:
Random thoughts from the Gulf Coast as I hit exactly one year of ownership of my 2024 Hawk X (carburetor version)...
- I continue to believe that most of you have had to replace/improve/adjust/modify your newly purchased Hawks, in spite of all the posts and YouTube videos proclaiming that y'all have had "no problems" with your bike.
- An easy example of a mod I had to make on my Hawk: my factory throttle cable was 3/4 of an inch too long, far too long to adjust with the adjusting threads and locking nut, to the point that the bike would not idle without me applying constant pressure on the throttle. When I went to take my license test I had to pretend that the bike was idling itself as I kept a slight tug on the throttle with a "nothing to see here" look on my face.
- How did I fix the throttle cable slack? I found a company called Venhill here in the southern US that makes custom length throttle and clutch cables. The process was a little more detailed than I expected but they made me a custom cable at a perfect length.
- Counter-balanced engines really run smooth. You may have seen Hawk owner videos from say, four or five years ago, pre-counter balanced engine and one of the biggest complaints was vibration rattling nuts and bolts loose on a daily basis. I've had few if any bolts rattle loose on my 2024 Hawk.
- One of the easiest improvements I made came from an obscure video where they installed a charging port from the battery. I can plug my battery tester/charger in without having to remove that annoying side panel with the one screw that is just waiting to be stripped. I have my charging port secured to that locking thing on the back side of my bike.
- And what is the purpose of that locking thing on the back side of the bike? Is it supposed to be a place to lock your helmet to the bike? Like from back in the day when helmets had a D-ring? Cuz I have no way of securing my helmet to the bike.
- Most frustrating repairs/improvements I made in 2024? Adjusting for chain slack while trying to keep the rear wheel aligned; attempting to replace my factory speedo panel with a digital tach & speedo panel which I mis-wired, shutting down my bike for a month. I'm back with the factory speedo and I can't even bring myself to make a second attempt at speedo cable install and digital wiring replacement.
- Least frustrating improvement I made in 2024? Installed a new gas tank float for my gas gauge, after seeing my fuel gauge show a half tank when the tank was actually full of gas. I got the new float from CSC Motorcycles. The arm is longer than the factory arm allowing the float to, well, float.
- Me thinks that riding mistakes come in pairs. Today while stopped at red lights I tried to take off with the bike in neutral (I almost always shift into 1st at a red light at the suggestion of MotoJitsu). At a second red light I tried to take off with the bike in 2nd gear. That didn't go well at all.
Y'all ride safe and have a great New Years. :tup: