Hawk SwingArm

[AZHawk]

Hello everyone new member my name is Dave and I'm from AZ.

I've owned my Hawk 250 for about a year now and have a little over five thousands miles on it. I commute to work on it whenever possible about 130 miles a week.

I will even take it on the Interstate 65-70 mph for about 13 miles if I'm running late for work, or when I get off and I want to just get home as fast as possible.

But for some reason when I'm on the Interstate and it goes from asphalt to concrete as soon as I hit that concrete I get that speed wobble and freaks out the people around me lol.

Then on my days off and when I have time I rip it on the trails, or some single track, love them forest roads and washes, the suspension is better for that.

Sometimes just a cruise around town, or a fun ride on some twisty roads. I'm probably a good 50/50 rider half on dirt, the other half on pavement.

Last weekend I was tearing up some trails really hard. Hit some jumps I little harder then the Hawk suspension could handle, hit so hard cracked my front fender.

Did think much of it at the time, JB weld my fender the best I could while I wait for a new one to show up in the mail. Didn't really look and inspect my bike after such hard riding. Commuted all week as I normally do with a dirty bike.

Today I went to check my valves, adjust the chain, look things over, wash it.. you know get it ready for tomorrow.

While checking my chain tension, I noticed paint chipping off the swingarm. As I looked closer I realized it was bent and stressed right behind where the gusset is welded on.

Which brings me to my thread, just wanted others to be aware of this and check your bike after riding it hard.

I"ve riden other motorcycle way harder, been riding a long time this spooked me with my Hawk. I knew what I was getting into with a Hawk, but man did not seem to me I rode so hard to bend a swingarm. But it did, and if I did it I'm sure others will too.

[Thumper]

That is a weird place for swingarm stress damage. I can't imagine the flex/load condition that would cause it!

I have a similar swingarm on my Storm. And I have slammed that bike around pretty severely. Me at ~190 pounds too.

If I were you, I would just keep punishing it

Think about it... This is why we buy these bikes. The price of admission is low enough to allow mischief

Just keep kickin' butt!

[Zapkin]

its a trail bike not a dirt bike. hehe. but beat it and see what it can take so that others dont have to.

[bigdano711]

Aren't there some better/beefier swing arms available for the Hawk? Brozz?

[Dusman]

If the Brozz swingarm is still out of stock, you can purchase the CSC TT250 swingarm. Many TT250 riders ride their bikes pretty hard and none of them have reported swingarm failures. This may be because it's probably made of a slightly higher grade steel though it shares the same design as the Hawk. The TT250 swingarm bolts right up into your Hawk without any necessary mods.
https://cscmotorcycles.com/stock-rep...hock-absorber/

[Megadan]

The Brozz swing arm is a slight upgrade. Mainly a better tensioner design, but also likely a bit stronger too. These bikes really weren't meant for the hard stuff in the first place. The suspension is just a bit too cheap and cheerful for the real rough stuff.