Toughest frame/suspension/seat for fat dues

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by roadKill

I kept going back and forth between the Hawk and various Bashan products to the point I was ready to go to the local honda dealer and let them suck out my blood. It's less than ideal to make a decision on products you can't personally inspect before buying, but I'm sure I am preaching to the choir here. Anywho, I got sick of overthinking this and ordered the standard Hawk. $1371 from powersportsmax with discounts for military (retired) and paying by cashier's check. Waiting for my bank to mail the check will probably slow things down a few days, but I'm not in a hurry.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and I will let you know how it goes once it arrives.

Welcome to the Hawk brotherhood my man. I think you will enjoy the journey.

[Tractor Tom]

I'm in the same boat weight-wise as some of the posters - 6' 1" 240Lbs. I would like to fabricate preload spacers. Megadan previously mentioned 7/8" OD but what length would you guys recommend? (250 Hawk). Thx!

[China Rider 27]

Good price on that buy! Comes with a free $500 dollar value motorcycle mechanic training course (invaluable). To the HB!

[roadKill]

Correction... It's $1391. Found out this morning powersportsmax won't allow you to have both the cashier's check discount and military discount. The mil discount is a whopping $20. It
Cost me $10 to have another check cut to make up the difference. This bike hasn't even left china yet and it's already costing me money!

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Tractor Tom

I'm in the same boat weight-wise as some of the posters - 6' 1" 240Lbs. I would like to fabricate preload spacers. Megadan previously mentioned 7/8" OD but what length would you guys recommend? (250 Hawk). Thx!

I can give rough length ideas, but it still helps do test until you find the correct length for you. I would say 40-45mm spacers will get you close.

Originally Posted by roadKill

Correction... It's $1391. Found out this morning powersportsmax won't allow you to have both the cashier's check discount and military discount. The mil discount is a whopping $20. It
Cost me $10 to have another check cut to make up the difference. This bike hasn't even left china yet and it's already costing me money!

The dealer costing you money because somebody didn't have the foresight to prevent them from giving out more than one discount. The proper thing to do would have been to take the $20 loss and then take steps to prevent it from happening the next time. Alas, customer service is the one real issue with all of the places that sell these bikes. That is one reason why CSC prices are worth paying.

[roadKill]

I hear you on the customer service. I decided to order from Powersportsmax because
1. The prices were good.
2. They responded to a couple of emails and at least tried to answer my questions.
I was planning to order from TXPowersports, but they just ignored my emailed questions. I figure if you do business on the internet and you list an email address as a contact option, you should probably answer when customers email you. If they don't have time for me before they have my money, they sure as hell won't have time for me after they have my money. I will let you guys know how this transaction goes, and if Powersportsmax was a good choice or not.

[Bruces]

Originally Posted by roadKill

I hear you on the customer service. I decided to order from Powersportsmax because
1. The prices were good.
2. They responded to a couple of emails and at least tried to answer my questions.
I was planning to order from TXPowersports, but they just ignored my emailed questions. I figure if you do business on the internet and you list an email address as a contact option, you should probably answer when customers email you. If they don't have time for me before they have my money, they sure as hell won't have time for me after they have my money. I will let you guys know how this transaction goes, and if Powersportsmax was a good choice or not.

Do yourself a favour and google powersportsmax and check out their customers reviews ,but before doing that cancel your order ! .Txpowersports is a lot lizard as well .Keep looking for a descent dealer .

[idle_purr]

Originally Posted by roadKill

I kept going back and forth between the Hawk and various Bashan products to the point I was ready to go to the local honda dealer and let them suck out my blood. It's less than ideal to make a decision on products you can't personally inspect before buying, but I'm sure I am preaching to the choir here. Anywho, I got sick of overthinking this and ordered the standard Hawk. $1371 from powersportsmax with discounts for military (retired) and paying by cashier's check. Waiting for my bank to mail the check will probably slow things down a few days, but I'm not in a hurry.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and I will let you know how it goes once it arrives.

Congrats on your decision brother, my grandfather just got a standard hawk I am helping him with, so far I am super impressed. I have a Brozz, and I can honestly say I'd be happy with either bike.

[roadKill]

Originally Posted by Bruces

Do yourself a favour and google powersportsmax and check out their customers reviews ,but before doing that cancel your order ! .Txpowersports is a lot lizard as well .Keep looking for a descent dealer .

I appreciate your words of caution, and I did read plenty of reviews. There only seems to be a few types of china bike dealers out there. There's dealers people hate, dealers nobody's heard of, and dealers that are actually TXPowersports with a different name. I think it's probably the nature of this business. It's hard enough satisfying the public when you're selling something that's perfect out of the box.

I already sent the check, so I'm along for the ride. Keep your fingers crossed for me and we will see how it goes.

[RedCrowRides]

In all honesty if it isnt CSC, Belmont , Peace or Venom and sometimes Orion,then the Dealer you choose is a total random chance crap shoot., and you are pretty much on your own after the purchase.That is sort of part of the China Bike experience and you need to realize that and be prepared from square one. There are literally 25 crap, zero support haha i got your money Dealers selling Chinese Bikes for every 1 that makes even a half hearted attempt at Customer Service and Warranty Claims.It is what it is .

[roadKill]

What do you guys think of the Hawk stock tires? Are they worth riding on? I am not a fan of chinese rubber products so I'm thinking about chaniging the tires and tubes before I put the wheels on the first time. Not a fan of their bearings either, so I have some Japanese wheel bearings on the way. Thanks Megadan for posting the bearing numbers!

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by roadKill

What do you guys think of the Hawk stock tires? Are they worth riding on? I am not a fan of chinese rubber products so I'm thinking about chaniging the tires and tubes before I put the wheels on the first time. Not a fan of their bearings either, so I have some Japanese wheel bearings on the way. Thanks Megadan for posting the bearing numbers!

The stock tires aren't all that bad really. Obviously there are better ones out there, but I ran on my stock tires with my first hawk for a couple thousand miles before I swapped to the Shinko 705's. I rode in pretty much every weather condition with them and found them about as competent as most 90% off road tires would be. Being a fairly aggressive knobby tire made of somewhat soft rubber, they don't have much of a lifespan to them if you ride them on pavement. I probably ate through half of the rear tires center lugs in that couple thousand miles. If you are lucky you could maybe squeeze 5k miles out of the rear on pavement.... maybe.

Many big name tires are produced in China too. The key difference is with the standards that the material and manufacturing are held to.

As far as the bearings go, the original ones are a bit hit or miss, but as a whole mine have been good thus far. I took a page out of JerryHawk's book and popped the seals off and added my own grease, which I am glad I did because there was hardly any in there (much like the head stock bearings *cough*). The only issue I have ever had was the rear ones were installed poorly by the assembler and the cages were damaged on both of my Hawks too, so they had to be replaced.

That said, good quality bearings are easy to get and not that expensive, so I don't blame anybody for swapping them. Plus, with yourself as the installer, you know they weren't mucked up.

[DrunkDaveyJones]

I’m 6 foot 290 and just bought the BSR Raven fits me well and rides just fine

[zero_dgz]

Another data point, my nephew is like 280 (?) lbs and I bought the Bashan Enforcer ostensibly for him. (He's an adult. Quit lookin' at me like that.) It has standard forks, not USD's. It handles his girth just fine, although his off road riding style is pretty tame. We've done absolutely nothing to the suspension thus far. This year we might change out the fork oil. We have not seen any need to add preload spacers or anything yet.

[roadKill]

Powersportsmax called me yesterday to let me know they received my check. Going that route appears to have slowed things down about a week. I guess that's what I get for being cheap. 🙄