Hawk 250 forks

[Rail32]

Way too mushy for my weight of 195 lbs and riding style . Tearing down today and swapping to 10 weight real fork oil . Than exploring shim possiblity . Would like to swap springs , but I have no clue where to start . I will measure length and spring material dia . All I know is 31 mm forks at this point . Any direction advice is appreacated highly . What I did find is list of bikes that had 31mm forks I will share here in a few seconds .

[JerryHawk250]

I just changed mine to mobile 1 atf. I put 210cc and made a big difference. I weigh about 185

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by Rail32

Way too mushy for my weight of 195 lbs and riding style . Tearing down today and swapping to 10 weight real fork oil . Than exploring shim possiblity . Would like to swap springs , but I have no clue where to start . I will measure length and spring material dia . All I know is 31 mm forks at this point . Any direction advice is appreacated highly . What I did find is list of bikes that had 31mm forks I will share here in a few seconds .

Iam about to do the same thing. The info will be very helpful.Thanks

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by Rail32

Way too mushy for my weight of 195 lbs and riding style . Tearing down today and swapping to 10 weight real fork oil . Than exploring shim possiblity . Would like to swap springs , but I have no clue where to start . I will measure length and spring material dia . All I know is 31 mm forks at this point . Any direction advice is appreacated highly . What I did find is list of bikes that had 31mm forks I will share here in a few seconds .

If they're still too spongy after you change the oil, run a couple chunks of 1/2" PVC on tp of each spring, under the fork caps. Start with 1". Adjust more or less from there. Cheap and it works.

[ben2go]

Originally Posted by Rail32

Way too mushy for my weight of 195 lbs and riding style . Tearing down today and swapping to 10 weight real fork oil . Than exploring shim possiblity . Would like to swap springs , but I have no clue where to start . I will measure length and spring material dia . All I know is 31 mm forks at this point . Any direction advice is appreacated highly . What I did find is list of bikes that had 31mm forks I will share here in a few seconds .

Have you measured to OD of those forks? I think they're 41mm.

[Rail32]

Drained out 6oz's from each fork . Pretty grey color for 63miles , but that's normal here in Wi from what I have seen over the years . Added 6oz's of bel ray 10wt . And added 2 nickels as shims . I have den the PVC pipe shims before and metal in my mind is a better option . Took the hawk around the yard grabbed a little air over ditch and she is much nicer . Before I add anymore I want to measure stroke of travel and calculate spring compression to the best if my ability. I have bent forks in the past from over shimming them . These are the smallest springs I ever seen . Fork tubes are beefy enough , but finding replacement springs is gonna be a challenge . If I need them that is . For some reason I can only load 1pix at a time , bare with me

[Rail32]

Nice round 2 foot length . But tightly wound small dia .

[Rail32]

I measure and check everything , curse of being a machinist for years .

[Rail32]

2 nickels is .120 shim and seems way better already .

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by Rail32

Nice round 2 foot length . But tightly wound small dia .

Progressive Springs probably have springs for those forks. Progressive usually winds springs with (surprise!) progressive rate springs. Usually softer in the middle and stiffer at the ends.

[Rail32]

Originally Posted by Ariel Red Hunter

Progressive Springs probably have springs for those forks. Progressive usually winds springs with (surprise!) progressive rate springs. Usually softer in the middle and stiffer at the ends.

I normally run race tech in everything . They already told me it s gonna take some R&D first
I will try Progessive next .

[Rail32]

Too much snow here to prove anything out . But after a few sliding hot laps in snow with soft lawn underneath , I believe I made a difference . How much is to be determined later .

[Rail32]

My other China Girl . Ok not really Chinese, but she's Asain . She is our Japanese Akita Inu
BTW she hates the hawk and chases it all over the yard when I am outside .

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by Rail32

I normally run race tech in everything . They already told me it s gonna take some R&D first
I will try Progessive next .

Let us know what you find. Iam sure lots of us could and would use new springs in our forks. For me I if I just touch my front brake my forks dip like crazy and that's if I just touch the brake. Thanks for the info.

[Rail32]

Originally Posted by Merlin

Let us know what you find. Iam sure lots of us could and would use new springs in our forks. For me I if I just touch my front brake my forks dip like crazy and that's if I just touch the brake. Thanks for the info.

I took my little China girl out today after work and 10 wt fork oil and 2 nickels for shims works suprisingly well. I also made a call into Progessive and I got a dudes voice mail . We'll see if he gets back to me . The problem I see is the small dia of the springs . Most 31 mm forks use a larger dia spring .
Back in my younger cobbling days I have bought hardware store springs and stacked them up to get what I wanted . Sounds crazy , but with enough pateints of trail and error it works . Next step is measuring rear shock eye to eye . That should be an easy find for replacement . BTW I never leave anything alone . It's just my nature