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Megadan · 12-01-2017, 10:36 AM

A list of information on upgrading or modifying your Hawk 250.

To start off with, this is a thread of setups on several bikes. A good place to go as a starting point for mods and jetting ideas! http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19036

Sprockets, chains, and gearing - OH MY!
A common upgrade for many Hawk owners is to change the front and/or rear sprockets. The choices and combinations are diverse.

For a stock chain/428 chain setup the most common upgrades are to use:
Front Sprocket: JTF259. in a 16 or 17 tooth count.
Rear Sprocket: JTR269. Available anywere from 56 teeth to 34 teeth.
Chain Links: Stock is 130, but I have found on smaller rear sprockets like the 45 tooth that a 128 links works far better.

For a 520 chain, which is something I personally believe is better for hard use (also the stock chain on a CRF230);
Front Sprocket: JTF328. Available in 12, 13, or 14 teeth counts. 13 is about as big as you will
want to go
Rear Sprocket: JTR279. Available from 30 to 42 teeth counts.
Chain links: Depending on the sprocket combinations it will be anywhere from 100 links to 112 links. I suggest buying at least a 115 link chain, and removing links as needed to get the desired length you need. I bought 120 links just to be safe.

A couple of gearing matches to the 428 chain combinations when using the 520 upgrade sprockets include;
Stock 15f/50r = 12f/40r
The popular 17f/45r = 13f/35r
My personal preference for mainly road use is a 17f/43r = 13f/33r

If you are unsure of what gearing combination is best for you, or what to go with, then you can use this site thanks to JerryHawk to help calculate your gearing changes. https://www.gearingcommander.com/
Simply type 2016 into the filter box at the top right, select filter, and then select "Haosen Hawk 250". Then simply type in your sprockets into the fields to compare.

Exhaust Upgrades.
There are two routes most of us go with this. The easiest way is to buy an ebay CRF230 exhaust, usually found for $120, give or take a little. You could also purchase other CRF230 exhaust systems as they will also bolt on to a Hawk with the same basic modification required - elongating, resizing, or slotting the flange mount holes on the bracket.

The other route is to modify the stock exhaust by removing the catalytic converter and modifying the stock mufflers. Demonstrated in this thread: http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=17913

Cyinder Head Porting
For those of you, like me, who just have to get the most out of your bike, or otherwise need a reason to tinker and modify. The Official Head Thread has links to a few threads and tools for such an operation.
http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=23004

Fork Upgrades.
3 things are for sure with the stock forks for a majority of riders. They are too soft, too flexy, and poorly damapened. If you already flushed and filled your forks with fork oil as mentioned above, then you already helped the dampening side of things, but that leaves two more things to consider/upgrade.

Fork flex. With such long and thin forks, the Hawk is prone to fork flex. A good way to help improve the steering and handling of the bike is to eliminate a lot of that flex. Fellow member Wamey did a fairly cheap and easy fork brace mod to his bike, seen here: http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19349

Rider sag. The Hawk's front springs are soft. This is good for comfort, but not good if you are heavier than about 140lbs. Why? Because as you put your weight on the bike, the suspension compresses and takes up that weight. If it compresses too much, then you lose a lot of compression travel, and will likely bottom out the forks very easily. There is a very easy way to solve this, which is by adding more preload.

The stock forks come with 15mm preload spacers. In my opinion this is nowhere near enough preload. My bike would compress the forks an inch simply standing it up with no other weight on the bike. What you want to aim for is the forks to compress around 2.5-3" with your weight fully on the bike. For me, this took 40mm spacers.

To make your own spacers you need to use 7/8 inch or 22mm outside diameter tubing/pipe. You can use thick wall PVC, aluminum, bronze, or even stack up thick washers with the stock spacers if you want to. An easy way to judge how much sag you have is to put a zip tie around the fork tube right under the lower triple clamp and then put your weight on the bike in a neutral riding position. Then dismount the bike carefully (don't put any more weight on the forks). and measure the distance between the lower triple clamp and the zip tie. Adjust your preload until it ends up at your desired distance.

Damping There are two ways to try and improve the damping of the front forks. The first is to run different fork oil weights until you find one that suits your use/preference. The downside to this is that it affects compression and rebound damping equally.

The other way is to install a set of fork valves. This modification allows you to tune the compression damping with the valve while tuning rebound damping with fork oil weight, giving you the greatest control. Here is my thread on the YSS PD238 valve installation.
http://www.chinariders.net/showthrea...554#post284554

Oil Cooler.
While not a necessary modification, it is something worth doing. Not only for an increase in oil capacity, but for these air cooled engines, they rely quite a bit on the engine oil for cooling. By shedding heat you will extend the life of the oil as well as the clutch and other internal components. There are two types of coolers,

1. Valve cover style, which takes the feed of oil from the valve cover and runs it through a cooler and back to the valve cover. A very simple and effective way to cool the oil going to the head, where it can do the most good. mjstef - has some good pictures of this style with his install. http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=17138

2. Sump style cooler. This essentially replaces the filter screen cap with a plug that routes the whole oil supply through a cooler, and then back to the oil pump. This will cool the oil going to every part of the engine and allows for less complication with removing the valve cover for valve lash checks.
JerryHawk250 has a great thread showcasing this style of cooler. http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19024

Shifter Upgrades The stock shifter isn't very durable and sticks out a fair amount. Myself and many others upgrade to aftermarket shifters.
My personal preference is the steel IMS shifter for the XR400 - https://www.amazon.com/IMS-312223-Fl.../dp/B000UKO37Q
There are also other shifters out there including aluminum units. As long as the shifter you are using is for an 11mm Honda style shifter shaft then it should work as long as it clears the lower frame.

LED Headlight bulbs. This is a "take your pick" section. The Hawk uses an H4 bulb. I personally love the fanless LED gen 2 and gen 3 headlamps from SuperbrightLED's
Links: (This is what I have in my bike) https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ens/4444/9994/
This style has a built in driver, so there is no extra box to deal with or mount. https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ens/3930/8566/

This is a video done by a member on here that installed an LED bulb on his bike. Please note that depending on the style of bulb you get you may not have to modify the bulb retainer on the stock headlight like you see being done here. On my bulb this was not necessary. In either case it is a decent little video with better detail than many others have shown.

Steering Stem Bearings.
Another upgrade that isn't entirely necessary, but worth doing if you have the need or gumption, is to upgrade the stock steering stem bearings to tapered roller bearings. These can be purchased through All Balls Racing individually (need 2) as part number: 99-3520-5
Or you can buy them as a kit as part Number: 22-1021

CRF230F Intake manifold: A good way to upgrade to a 40mm spigot mount carburetor. This can include using the stock CRF230 26mm carb or XR250R 30mm carb, or Mikuni VM30 carburetor. Information: http://www.chinariders.net/showpost....&postcount=299

Luggage Rack
Want a luggage rack without having to fabricate something? Member Musictrek installed a TT250 rack to a Hawk - no mods required. http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20298
Rack found here - http://www.cscmotorcycles.com/BLACK-...p/csc-6000.htm

Clutch Spring Upgrade
If you have done any upgrades to your bike, or are just tired of dealing with soft and inconsistent clutch feel and fade, then upgrading the clutch springs is well worth your time.

EBC CSK Clutch Springs for a 79-82 Honda 750 work perfectly.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IUMGEY...Gbp4Rm-fWOvV3c

12-01-2017, 10:36 AM	#3
Megadan Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 7,963	Upgrades and Modifications. A list of information on upgrading or modifying your Hawk 250. To start off with, this is a thread of setups on several bikes. A good place to go as a starting point for mods and jetting ideas! http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19036 Sprockets, chains, and gearing - OH MY! A common upgrade for many Hawk owners is to change the front and/or rear sprockets. The choices and combinations are diverse. For a stock chain/428 chain setup the most common upgrades are to use: Front Sprocket: JTF259. in a 16 or 17 tooth count. Rear Sprocket: JTR269. Available anywere from 56 teeth to 34 teeth. Chain Links: Stock is 130, but I have found on smaller rear sprockets like the 45 tooth that a 128 links works far better. For a 520 chain, which is something I personally believe is better for hard use (also the stock chain on a CRF230); Front Sprocket: JTF328. Available in 12, 13, or 14 teeth counts. 13 is about as big as you will want to go Rear Sprocket: JTR279. Available from 30 to 42 teeth counts. Chain links: Depending on the sprocket combinations it will be anywhere from 100 links to 112 links. I suggest buying at least a 115 link chain, and removing links as needed to get the desired length you need. I bought 120 links just to be safe. A couple of gearing matches to the 428 chain combinations when using the 520 upgrade sprockets include; Stock 15f/50r = 12f/40r The popular 17f/45r = 13f/35r My personal preference for mainly road use is a 17f/43r = 13f/33r If you are unsure of what gearing combination is best for you, or what to go with, then you can use this site thanks to JerryHawk to help calculate your gearing changes. https://www.gearingcommander.com/ Simply type 2016 into the filter box at the top right, select filter, and then select "Haosen Hawk 250". Then simply type in your sprockets into the fields to compare. Exhaust Upgrades. There are two routes most of us go with this. The easiest way is to buy an ebay CRF230 exhaust, usually found for $120, give or take a little. You could also purchase other CRF230 exhaust systems as they will also bolt on to a Hawk with the same basic modification required - elongating, resizing, or slotting the flange mount holes on the bracket. The other route is to modify the stock exhaust by removing the catalytic converter and modifying the stock mufflers. Demonstrated in this thread: http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=17913 Cyinder Head Porting For those of you, like me, who just have to get the most out of your bike, or otherwise need a reason to tinker and modify. The Official Head Thread has links to a few threads and tools for such an operation. http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=23004 Fork Upgrades. 3 things are for sure with the stock forks for a majority of riders. They are too soft, too flexy, and poorly damapened. If you already flushed and filled your forks with fork oil as mentioned above, then you already helped the dampening side of things, but that leaves two more things to consider/upgrade. Fork flex. With such long and thin forks, the Hawk is prone to fork flex. A good way to help improve the steering and handling of the bike is to eliminate a lot of that flex. Fellow member Wamey did a fairly cheap and easy fork brace mod to his bike, seen here: http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19349 Rider sag. The Hawk's front springs are soft. This is good for comfort, but not good if you are heavier than about 140lbs. Why? Because as you put your weight on the bike, the suspension compresses and takes up that weight. If it compresses too much, then you lose a lot of compression travel, and will likely bottom out the forks very easily. There is a very easy way to solve this, which is by adding more preload. The stock forks come with 15mm preload spacers. In my opinion this is nowhere near enough preload. My bike would compress the forks an inch simply standing it up with no other weight on the bike. What you want to aim for is the forks to compress around 2.5-3" with your weight fully on the bike. For me, this took 40mm spacers. To make your own spacers you need to use 7/8 inch or 22mm outside diameter tubing/pipe. You can use thick wall PVC, aluminum, bronze, or even stack up thick washers with the stock spacers if you want to. An easy way to judge how much sag you have is to put a zip tie around the fork tube right under the lower triple clamp and then put your weight on the bike in a neutral riding position. Then dismount the bike carefully (don't put any more weight on the forks). and measure the distance between the lower triple clamp and the zip tie. Adjust your preload until it ends up at your desired distance. Damping There are two ways to try and improve the damping of the front forks. The first is to run different fork oil weights until you find one that suits your use/preference. The downside to this is that it affects compression and rebound damping equally. The other way is to install a set of fork valves. This modification allows you to tune the compression damping with the valve while tuning rebound damping with fork oil weight, giving you the greatest control. Here is my thread on the YSS PD238 valve installation. http://www.chinariders.net/showthrea...554#post284554 Oil Cooler. While not a necessary modification, it is something worth doing. Not only for an increase in oil capacity, but for these air cooled engines, they rely quite a bit on the engine oil for cooling. By shedding heat you will extend the life of the oil as well as the clutch and other internal components. There are two types of coolers, 1. Valve cover style, which takes the feed of oil from the valve cover and runs it through a cooler and back to the valve cover. A very simple and effective way to cool the oil going to the head, where it can do the most good. mjstef - has some good pictures of this style with his install. http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=17138 2. Sump style cooler. This essentially replaces the filter screen cap with a plug that routes the whole oil supply through a cooler, and then back to the oil pump. This will cool the oil going to every part of the engine and allows for less complication with removing the valve cover for valve lash checks. JerryHawk250 has a great thread showcasing this style of cooler. http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19024 Shifter Upgrades The stock shifter isn't very durable and sticks out a fair amount. Myself and many others upgrade to aftermarket shifters. My personal preference is the steel IMS shifter for the XR400 - https://www.amazon.com/IMS-312223-Fl.../dp/B000UKO37Q There are also other shifters out there including aluminum units. As long as the shifter you are using is for an 11mm Honda style shifter shaft then it should work as long as it clears the lower frame. LED Headlight bulbs. This is a "take your pick" section. The Hawk uses an H4 bulb. I personally love the fanless LED gen 2 and gen 3 headlamps from SuperbrightLED's Links: (This is what I have in my bike) https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ens/4444/9994/ This style has a built in driver, so there is no extra box to deal with or mount. https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ens/3930/8566/ This is a video done by a member on here that installed an LED bulb on his bike. Please note that depending on the style of bulb you get you may not have to modify the bulb retainer on the stock headlight like you see being done here. On my bulb this was not necessary. In either case it is a decent little video with better detail than many others have shown. Steering Stem Bearings. Another upgrade that isn't entirely necessary, but worth doing if you have the need or gumption, is to upgrade the stock steering stem bearings to tapered roller bearings. These can be purchased through All Balls Racing individually (need 2) as part number: 99-3520-5 Or you can buy them as a kit as part Number: 22-1021 CRF230F Intake manifold: A good way to upgrade to a 40mm spigot mount carburetor. This can include using the stock CRF230 26mm carb or XR250R 30mm carb, or Mikuni VM30 carburetor. Information: http://www.chinariders.net/showpost....&postcount=299 Luggage Rack Want a luggage rack without having to fabricate something? Member Musictrek installed a TT250 rack to a Hawk - no mods required. http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20298 Rack found here - http://www.cscmotorcycles.com/BLACK-...p/csc-6000.htm Clutch Spring Upgrade If you have done any upgrades to your bike, or are just tired of dealing with soft and inconsistent clutch feel and fade, then upgrading the clutch springs is well worth your time. EBC CSK Clutch Springs for a 79-82 Honda 750 work perfectly. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IUMGEY...Gbp4Rm-fWOvV3c __________________ Hawk Information and Resource guide: http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20331 2018 Hawk 250 - Full Mod list here. http://www.chinariders.net/showpost....62&postcount=1 2024 Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 https://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=34124 Last edited by Megadan; 06-19-2022 at 09:25 AM.
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