HAWK Backroad Development

[JerryHawk250]

Good idea on the intake setup.

[China Rider 27]

Recognize good effort whenever you come across it on the forum and a "thank you" or "appreciate it" when somebody has provided you with needed information or advice will reward the effort someone has put in to meet your need! CG strong, ride hard!

[China Rider 27]

A picture of the bird in its natural habitat! the backroad! The Princess, can you see that big smile on her face? She really had a good go of it today and no cat could have purred any smoother.

[China Rider 27]

About 6 or 7 miles in we were pulling into a place to eat lunch when my riding partner’s Hellcat started losing gas from the overflow. Breakdowns on the backroad mean some stress. In this game you have to prepare mentally for the challenges. The key is “prepare.” That tow strap came rising to my mind, then I said “I’m gonna eat lunch before I get gas all over my hands” and I did.

The carburetor on that Hellcat was new and installed two weeks ago and had been working with no issues. First off, I noticed that next time I need to bring some plastic or something on which to disassemble a carburetor. Carburetor looked good, no dirt under the needle, and the float operated the needle okay. Put it back together and it started right up no leaks and worked fine the rest of the day. Must have been the pot holes and rough road jarred it stuck open.

The point: You will deal much better with situations like this if you prepare mentally and have the right equipment. One of the outstanding and most valuable aspects of owning a China bike, and the China bike build, modification, wrenching experience, is that it has prepared you in the best possible way for this situation.

[China Rider 27]

Went out to do some tuning on the Hellcat Saturday, opened the gas and flowed freely out the overflow….hmmm. The problem from two weeks ago has returned. Funny, this bike was out last weekend two days running hard. This VM carburetor was brand new four weeks ago and looked clean when I jetted it. New carburetors generally have no dirt, I am always tempted to jet them and put them on the bike without cleaning, but I did disassemble it, and flush it out with carburetor cleaner and compressed air.

I took it apart carefully yesterday so as not to disturb it and noticed the needle seemed tight in the seat and would not just drop away. Pulling the needle I notice nothing but black peering into the hole. With a 10mm I took the seat off and found the following!

The only thing I did not take off that carburetor when I cleaned it was the needle seat. Normally, you can shoot a shot of carb cleaner through it and it is good and I used compressed air too! This particular carburetor has a casting cavity between the brass inlet and the needle seat that trapped this small piece of gasket material.

Take away: Do a thorough and complete job the first time or you will be working on it on the backroad, maybe more than once.

[Magician16]

I've got a pod filter in the air box of my Magician as well. After 90 something miles in the dirt last week, it was spotless.

[China Rider 27]

When I came up with the idea to fabricate my own tail rack, inspired by Megadan’s Hawk 250 tail rack (I like to give credit where it is due), I thought it was a luxury item I would get to one day. As I got more in to backroad development, I realized a good tail rack is the first critical piece at the center of the Load Bearing Equipment (LBE) for a backroad bike. It got moved up on the priority list and this is how it came out.

Materials:
12” X 12” 1/8 “ aluminum sheet $21
Nylon spacers 20 mm $12
M6 X 1.0 X 35mm button head allen bolts $12 (pack of 50)
8 hours fabrication time estimate over several weekends

While it looks easy, there is a lot of time in fabricating a template to get it right and lined up and a lot of drilling cutting and chamfering sharp edges. I could have ported a head in the time it took to make but for this bike a rack is more important.

Thoughts: The backroad requires considerable equipment, that needs to be supported by not just good but excellent Load Bearing Equipment. This rack will support my tools. I used to think buying a rack for some $100 was extravagant but today, considering it's value, it seems like a better buy.

[Megadan]

That was a lot of work, but wow you did a great job!

[stewbrash]

Very NICE!!! Now I want one!! (Also, this is the thread where I saw the USB charger that I also installed...so, thanks for that too!)

[China Rider 27]

Thanks! Not quite up to the skill level of Xlsior but good enough! I would have put some more larger holes in it, but I got tired of chamfering them! HaHa

[China Rider 27]

I took the HAWK out on the backroad a few days ago. Camped at 2600 feet with the goal to reach a ridge top at 6200 feet. These forest roads are straight up and straight down no flat spots. The temperature 93 degrees.

The bike specs are:

2019 HAWK 250
CAT removed
PZ30B tuning
Stock 40 pilot 1.5 turns mixture
Main Jet 115
Tuned elevation 200 ft.
Sprocket Front 11T Rear 35T
Ratio 3.18

Riding two up at about 360 lbs Princess climbed well in second gear about 10 to 15 mph on loose gravel and loose rock with some ruts and a few pot holes. Likes to move around on what I would call square sided ball bearings. The road got progressively rough toward the top until two up was no longer an option. Picture cobblestone brick pavement instead laid with 6, 8, to 10 inch pointed rock behind each one a corresponding 6, 8 to 10 inch holes between. The bike died at idle several times and you could smell gas. I kept the rpms up and banged over it almost losing it a few times 1/3 mile to the top!

Thoughts: The HAWK stock suspension with 15W fork oil got my respect, I did not think it that capable. No place for deflated tires. Not once did the HAWK bottom out with the weight or on the rocks. Normally I could climb such hills in 3rd gear riding alone. Not much PZ30b punch at 360 lbs and a definite hit on the power but the CG torque carried the day. I think the gear ratio about right. I thought I had all the power I needed for the backroad, but I no longer believe that to be true and to get the most out of the bike’s capability it should have a ported head. The other day I ran a PZ30 at 104 degrees and there didn’t seem to be any difference due to temperature. This day at 93 degrees there were no noticeable changes at 2600 ft with the PZ30B but at 6200 ft you could definitely tell it was running rich.


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[Megadan]

The standard front forks are incredibly capable once you get the sag dialed in and the right weight and level of fork oil. Their only "weakness" is flex, and even that isn't entirely true as the ability of the forks to flex while on rough terrain can be advantageous to a small degree. They also generally have more travel than the USD forks that so many think are superior.

[China Rider 27]

I was glad to have the travel for sure. Pretty much rock climbing. I do believe it is time to change the stock tubes! CG strong, ride hard!

[China Rider 27]

The tail rack I recently put on the bike I really like, however, some shortcomings for this method of transporting equipment have come to light. I use it to carry tools, a bunch of fairly heavy tools and gear. The bags I have used are a designed tail bag and a cheap small duffle. The cheap duffle I noticed it is slowly being torn apart by the forces of riding the tail of a Back Road HAWK! Several weeks ago, I was riding some rough rocks that pounded the suspension and the attached bag of tools to the point that one of the nylon straps retaining the bag rubbed a scar into the aluminum of the rack. The bag would slowly work itself loose and move forward requiring it be re-tightened. I was using two straps across the side and finally went to four side and front to back which holds much better, but it did bring me to think about a better solution.

I made a new rack to support an Apache 3800 protective case you can get at Harbor Freight which is waterproof and dustproof and lockable. It should be easier to maintain and easier to utilize. I don’t care a lot for the looks and prefer the look of the tail rack but this is not about looks. The forces on that tail end, especially over rough terrain, are considerable, so we will see how it holds up. The rack alone is great on a Dual Sport but the box should be better for a dedicated Back Road Bike. It did cross my mind to make the box detachable so I could remove it and I think that easily done and a good idea for a Dual Sport but not necessary for the backroad.

[Megadan]

Function over form always wins out, especially when building something for heavier duty.