New Hawk on the way! Prep and Mod ?'s

Skyd · 03-15-2021, 12:26 PM

Hey guys,

So I ordered myself a Hawk the other night....Red, unless they're out and then it'll be Black. I don't have shipping confirmation yet so not sure exactly when it'll be here but I'm sure it'll be a week or two. So in the meantime I'm wanting to have a good game plan so I can be ready to ride once the weather finally turns here in Northern NH.

Assembly is straight forward, I'm not too concerned about that and I'm gonna get some Blue loctite and go over this thing as thoroughly as possible. Is there a list of known problem areas here? Or just be vigilant and methodical?

So that brings me to Mods and/or upgrades before I even hit the starter button.

These are the things I KNOW I'm going to do:

1. Change the fork oil for some 15W 210ml per tube.
2. Drain the crap oil and put in some Rotella T4 15w40 (same thing I ran in my Suzuki GS850G with great luck...they love the extra zinc I hear.
3. Flush the brake fluid with new synthetic DOT4 fluid
4. Airbox mod

Ok now, here's where I start to have questions. I want to re-gear right out of the gate because I know I'll need to. I think probably I should do both sprockets and the chain all at once. I want good off road performance while still being able to cruise at 50mph for a 5 mile stretch without redlining. Mostly I'll be on trails and secondary road riding under 45mph, but I'd like to ride to work and that's 50-55 for like 6 or 7 miles.

SO - I was thinking 16/45t sprockets with a 130 link chain? I'll probably stick with a standard chain this time and maybe upgrade to O-ring or X-ring down the line...trying to keep the budget under control here.

So thoughts on the gearing and what's a decent budget chain, I don't want junk but don't need a $100 Renthal either.

I'm planning to have jets on hand for the stock carb as well and expect to have to change the main jet. That being said.....we come to another question. The exhaust. Is this worth doing right off the bat? I see another post with a $100 bolt on exhaust available on Amazon and that's tempting. I could decat, but that requires cutting and welding right? I don't weld, and if I replace the header pipe I'm more than half way to the whole dang thing anyway.

Ok, I dont' wanna make this too long...I tend to get wordy. So I'll save any further questions for another post.

SO - in closing....if you were in my shoes what would be your must do items before twisting the grip??

PS - for reference I'm 6'4" 220lbs, so suspension is for sure a possible issue.

03-15-2021, 12:26 PM	#1
Skyd Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 242	New Hawk on the way! Prep and Mod ?'s Hey guys, So I ordered myself a Hawk the other night....Red, unless they're out and then it'll be Black. I don't have shipping confirmation yet so not sure exactly when it'll be here but I'm sure it'll be a week or two. So in the meantime I'm wanting to have a good game plan so I can be ready to ride once the weather finally turns here in Northern NH. Assembly is straight forward, I'm not too concerned about that and I'm gonna get some Blue loctite and go over this thing as thoroughly as possible. Is there a list of known problem areas here? Or just be vigilant and methodical? So that brings me to Mods and/or upgrades before I even hit the starter button. These are the things I KNOW I'm going to do: 1. Change the fork oil for some 15W 210ml per tube. 2. Drain the crap oil and put in some Rotella T4 15w40 (same thing I ran in my Suzuki GS850G with great luck...they love the extra zinc I hear. 3. Flush the brake fluid with new synthetic DOT4 fluid 4. Airbox mod Ok now, here's where I start to have questions. I want to re-gear right out of the gate because I know I'll need to. I think probably I should do both sprockets and the chain all at once. I want good off road performance while still being able to cruise at 50mph for a 5 mile stretch without redlining. Mostly I'll be on trails and secondary road riding under 45mph, but I'd like to ride to work and that's 50-55 for like 6 or 7 miles. SO - I was thinking 16/45t sprockets with a 130 link chain? I'll probably stick with a standard chain this time and maybe upgrade to O-ring or X-ring down the line...trying to keep the budget under control here. So thoughts on the gearing and what's a decent budget chain, I don't want junk but don't need a $100 Renthal either. I'm planning to have jets on hand for the stock carb as well and expect to have to change the main jet. That being said.....we come to another question. The exhaust. Is this worth doing right off the bat? I see another post with a $100 bolt on exhaust available on Amazon and that's tempting. I could decat, but that requires cutting and welding right? I don't weld, and if I replace the header pipe I'm more than half way to the whole dang thing anyway. Ok, I dont' wanna make this too long...I tend to get wordy. So I'll save any further questions for another post. SO - in closing....if you were in my shoes what would be your must do items before twisting the grip?? PS - for reference I'm 6'4" 220lbs, so suspension is for sure a possible issue.
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