Hawk 250 suspension for fat dudes

[Johnetattoo]

The Hawk suspension leaves a lot to be desired for a 5'9" 280lb fella such as myself. I've ordered a ZXTDR 11.6" 295mm 1200LBS Rear Shock Absorber from Amazon for the rear. I've also ordered 15w fork oil and some aluminum tubing to create preload spacers.

Any experience with the rear shock I've mentioned?

Thinking of adding extra fork oil and spacers to stiffen up the front forks. I'm not sure how long the spacers should be. There is a larger guy on Youtube talking about adding 10" spacers and DAMN that seems like a lot. I've also heard that 9oz of fork oil is ok....even though I think it comes with around 5????

The bike is carrying me at 60mph now with no problems after installing the fake Mikuni and 115 main jet last night. The new carb along with a 17/45 sprocket combo really woke this bike up.

[JerryHawk250]

I don't have any info on the rear shock as I still have the stock rear shock. But I'm only 180. Front shock I used 1" long PVC spacer and ATF. It firmed the front up perfect for me.

[Johnetattoo]

The stock rear isn't terrible but will bottom out on me. The front forks though are horribly soft. I may start out with 2" spacers and see what happens.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Johnetattoo

The stock rear isn't terrible but will bottom out on me. The front forks though are horribly soft. I may start out with 2" spacers and see what happens.

2 inch spacers up front will definitely help. You may also want to try playing with the fork oil level a little bit.

The rear shock spring rate will definitely make a difference as well, even a 1000lb spring rate with the right preload adjustment would work ok.

As my name implies, I am a fellow large person, though lately I have been losing that weight. At my heaviest I was at the maximum weight rating for the bike, and some extra.

[Johnetattoo]

Well, I'm not really sure what everyone sees in the old white Ebay/Amazon 1200lb rear shock. With enough preload, a lot, it performs good enough but is very "bouncy" either way. I personally don't see too much advantage over stock. The stock shock on my 2021 works decently but has bottomed out on a huge pothole or two. I'm going to add even more preload and Time will tell.

The 295mm rear shock did slightly lower the rear and get my feet a little more solid on the ground...so that is a plus for me.

Now on to the front forks.....that's my main problem. They are very soft.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Johnetattoo

Well, I'm not really sure what everyone sees in the old white Ebay/Amazon 1200lb rear shock. With enough preload, a lot, it performs good enough but is very "bouncy" either way. I personally don't see too much advantage over stock. The stock shock on my 2021 works decently but has bottomed out on a huge pothole or two. I'm going to add even more preload and Time will tell.

The 295mm rear shock did slightly lower the rear and get my feet a little more solid on the ground...so that is a plus for me.

Now on to the front forks.....that's my main problem. They are very soft.

I didn't order my white one from ebay. I ordered from one of the more "reputable" sellers on aliexpress. It wasn't bouncy at all. One that did help with it's damping was to actually pressurize the shock more than how it came shipped.. If yours came with an air fitting you can buy a Roxshock high pressure pump (or similar) and add pressure to the shock. https://www.amazon.com/RockShox-High...02651880&psc=1 IIRC it was only at about 36-40psi, I pumped it up to about 100.

I currently run a 280mm Fast Ace shock with a 1000lb rate with a Brozz Swingarm (requires a shorter shock than the Hawk) and I absolutely love it.

[Johnetattoo]

I will definitely try adding some pressure to it.
Thanks for the info

[Johnetattoo]

8oz of 15w fork oil added to each fork....after draining out the old stuff of course...and 2" preload spacers from 22mm OD aluminum pipe did the trick. I'm happy with the suspension now for strictly paved road riding. I added a little air pressure as suggested by by MegaDan and the rear is pretty darn good now. Thanks!

REAR SHOCK
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WTB3P5B...roduct_details

ALUMINUM PIPE
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083S64QCD...t_details&th=1

[Johnetattoo]

If anyone read the post above earlier today.....I had 4" spacers written down like an idiot. It's 2" per side

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Johnetattoo

8oz of 15w fork oil added to each fork....after draining out the old stuff of course...and 2" preload spacers from 22mm OD aluminum pipe did the trick. I'm happy with the suspension now for strictly paved road riding. I added a little air pressure as suggested by by MegaDan and the rear is pretty darn good now. Thanks!

I spent a lot of time making my Hawk work for my own heavy self, so I have learned what works well and what doesn't lol. I rode around on a similar setup to yours for a long time and was never disappointed. Honestly, if they would just fit a better rear shock from the factory, a pair of spacers in the forks and proper fork oil levels/weights is all the Hawk would really need to be a decent bike.

Also, 15/16" (23.8mm) diameter material can also work well for spacers if needed, depending on what one might have access too. The internal diameter of the tubes is 24mm, so anything under that works well.

Now, if you want to take the handling to a new level, a fork brace is REALLY hard to beat.

[wally]

I'm 6'4" 235 so not pushing the bike as hard as my weightier brethren. I just stacked up washers for my fork spacer, my 2020 actually had a pretty large spacer to begin with so I just added about an inch of washers on top of it.



Fork brace made a huge difference, the bike is far more stable. I think that with the extra preload and slightly heavier fork oil this is the most I can get out of it without major modification like valves, different forks, etc.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by wally

I'm 6'4" 235 so not pushing the bike as hard as my weightier brethren. I just stacked up washers for my fork spacer, my 2020 actually had a pretty large spacer to begin with so I just added about an inch of washers on top of it.



Fork brace made a huge difference, the bike is far more stable. I think that with the extra preload and slightly heavier fork oil this is the most I can get out of it without major modification like valves, different forks, etc.

The washer method is a great way to help figure out what length preload spacer to use as well. The main reason I don't like stacking washers is that installing or removing the cap can be a small pain in the butt once you get enough washers together. Funny enough, my original Hawk spacers were 15mm. If you have 1" of washers stacked up, that would give you 40mm of preload, which would be just about right given your weight.

I did the valves just because I could. I rode my first Hawk around for thousands of miles with just proper preload spacers and 15W fork oil. The valves make a good difference, but I was never unhappy with the standard setup either.

[Johnetattoo]

What fork brace to you recommend MegaDan?

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Johnetattoo

What fork brace to you recommend MegaDan?

what most of us do is use a Harley Wide Glide aftermarket fork brace and then drill new holes for the Hawk forks. This is the original thread https://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19349

This is one website that sells them either chromed or raw finish so you can paint them.
http://store.wpsracing.com/ulfobrrawkok.html

Just understand that while these are a very very close fit, they do sometimes need a little tweaking, usually a bit of a squeeze together to make them just a teeny bit narrower. Otherwise they will push out on the forks and can cause stiction issues (front end travel binds up).

[2t2t250]

Originally Posted by Megadan

2 inch spacers up front will definitely help. You may also want to try playing with the fork oil level a little bit.

The rear shock spring rate will definitely make a difference as well, even a 1000lb spring rate with the right preload adjustment would work ok.

As my name implies, I am a fellow large person, though lately I have been losing that weight. At my heaviest I was at the maximum weight rating for the bike, and some extra.

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LOL! Color me dense!! I thought Megadon was some sort of Jurassic reference. Ity didn't occur to me that Don was mega!! Good one!