Hawk 250 Nuetral & Transmission Problem
 

I just recently bought a Hawk 250 and fixed it up and then when I went to ride it the neutral light was working then it shut off and it still goes into 1st gear but it won't go into 2nd. I can get it up to 25 MPH in 1st then try to shift to 2nd and it won't. Any ideas on what the problem could be? It has less than 500 miles. Thanks

Have a look at the shift lever and sprocket cover. I've had the lower sprocket cover bolt back out and obstruct the shifter.

Can you shift through the gears when its not running? You may just need to adjust the play in the clutch. You want almost no slack in the clutch lever. Only about an 1/8" of play.

When it's not running I can put it into first and second because the bike will be rolling until I put it into gear and it stops, since it's in gear. But when I ride it it doesn't want to go into 2nd. I got it to slip into 2nd once and then it popped back out into neutral. When I get off work I'll try to get a video

As Mudflap said, check and make sure there is no obstructions that are stopping you from upshifting. It could be the lower chain cover bolt or shift lever making contact with the cover. I would also check your clutch adjustment too.

Here's a tutorial on clutch adjustment. http://www.cscmotorcycles.com/Articles.asp?ID=298 If this doesn't work it could be in the shifting mechanism itself.

Thanks again could that also be why it will slip out of first sometimes?

If it's slipping out of 1st gear and there is nothing externally obstructing movement of the shifter then is could be something internal such as a damaged drum stopper plate, Drum stopper arm or shifting forks. But with less than 500 miles it may not be the case. Try all the other suggestions first and report back. Then we can go into it further.

Here's a video to help understand how it all works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EMIdGgsQ68
This is a Yamaha engine. The Hawk is closer to the Honda but works on the same principal.

I got home and my uncle volunteered to try and get it into 2nd. But when he put it into first the bike starts pulling you even with the clutch all the way in which it wasn't doing yesterday. I looked and the neutral light worked for a couple of minutes then stopped working and the bike continued to try to pull away in 1st and then as soon as you'd give it gas it would sputter out and die. When I bought the bike, someone had taken the exhaust off completely and I just recently put a new one on. Could that be the problem?

That screams out clutch adjustment, but I'm also concerned with it not going into 2nd, because you CAN shift without the clutch (I'm not saying it's a good idea LOL). Perhaps you have a bad shift pawl, or drum. Tinker with it some more and let us know!

This is weird I was riding it and from a standstill if I put it in 1st it grinds really bad and won't let me but if I start in 2nd it takes off just like if I was in 1st. But then I'll be slowing down and have to put it into first to keep it from stalling the only thing is that it won't go past 2nd now. Does that make sense?

I hope this is just a clutch adjustment problem, and not that the previous owner dumped the bike hard on the left side. Make sure that the shifting lever is not bent. I would put it up on the center stand, and try shifting the gears by hand. You may have to turn the rear wheel to get it to shift. Make sure that the shift lever is not touching anything, going down to first, then up, up, up, up to high gear. Also watch that the bolt that holds the shifter on is not touching anything during these movements. ANY interferance will cause shifting problems....ARH

Here's a vid
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwnw0RQkALU

1st thing I notice is that the shift lever is hitting the housing. Remove the lever and rotate it counter clockwise 1 groove on the spline. It's not shifting all the way to 2nd gear. The shift lever is bent in to far and really should clear the housing.