The Hawk 250 enduro has come a long way, and gained quite the following. Many people mistakenly think that a good street legal dirt bike will break the bank. Well, we’re here to tell you that is simply not the case! Allow us to introduce…
The RPS Hawk 250 – the street legal dirt bike you can buy new for under $1,800. And the vast world of mods available for it…
First, the story behind the $1,800 enduro motorcycle
This bike screams full send. While it might be hard to believe, trust us when we say this is the best bang for your buck when it comes to street legal motorcycles. The manufacturer ships the bike to your door in a big cardboard box. Inside the box, its about 80% assembled. But don’t fret! It comes with a little toolkit with everything you’ll need to put the rest together.
The Hawk 250 from the factory
This factory built dual sport motorcycle is arguably some of the most fun you can have on the street for so little money. Its 4-stroke engine clocks in at 229 cc’s and is backed by a manual five speed transmission. The Hawk tips the scale at around 320 pounds, thanks in part to its steel frame design. Despite its weight, this bike feels light and nimble. It’s easy to toss around and handles well on mild to moderate trails.
Putting down about 14 horsepower in stock trim, the power to weight ratio obviously won’t knock the socks off a seasoned rider, or someone used to riding a KTM or Husqvarna. But honestly, you’ll be having far too much fun to notice the lackluster power.
Plus, there are plenty of cheap mods available to crank up the horsepower and really make these things breathe, but more on that later…
The break-in period on the Hawk 250 tends to be around 400 miles or so. During that time, your bike’s internals are hard at work getting situated into their new settings. Piston rings are seating into the cylinder wall. Your primary gear drive and transmission are getting worn in just like a new leather wallet. After this break-in period, you’ll get a noticeable uptick in performance from the bike. This is typical, and desirable. Just be sure to keep an eye on your valve clearance and change out that old break-in oil from the factory! It’s also a good idea to grease the joints and add a bit of thread-loc to your bolts.
Compared to similar-sized dual sport bikes from the big four Japanese manufacturers, the Hawk stacks up pretty well. There are a few missing bells and whistles, which is to be expected given the massive price difference here. For instance, you’re working with air cooling here, where most of the bikes from the big name competitors will have radiators. The Hawk’s suspension components are a noticeable downgrade from what you might be used to. But, we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves for that in the mods section further down the page…
Quick Hawk 250 rundown: Factory specs
- 229cc four-stroke engine
- Chain drive
- Front and rear disc brakes
- 3.7 gallon fuel capacity
- 5-speed manual transmission
- Air-cooled
- Electric starter + kick start option
- Carbureted
- Detachable kickstand
- 320 pounds
- 14 horsepower
How long will a Hawk 250 last?
Hawk 250 motorcycles can easily reach 20,000 miles or more. The key to making these bikes run beyond the 8,000 mile mark is to keep up with regular maintenance. For example, oil changes are crucial. In fact, this is one of the first things you should do with any new Hawk. Immediately drain the oil that came in it from the factory before you even turn the bike on. Replace it with a high quality blend such as Rotella 20-50. Change the oil again after the first 30 minutes of engine run time. Then, change the oil consistently every 1,000 to 1,500 miles. Keeping this regimen alone will dramatically increase your odds of joining the high-mileage Hawk club!
Hawk 250 Performance Upgrades
One of our absolute favorite things about the Hawk 250 is the variety of cheap and easy to install mods available for it. Pretty much anything you can think of upgrading on a typical dirt bike, there’s something out there for this one. Let’s go ahead and run through some of the most common and beneficial upgrades for this bike. We’ll start with the cheap and easy, and gradually move on to more complex upgrades.
Air Intake
Your bike needs to breathe just as much as you do. Opening up your restrictive factory intake is a great first step in improving power and throttle response. One of the easiest ways to do this on the Hawk 250 is to replace the stock intake with an open foam Uni filter and the improved 30mm shorty intake tube (both shown below).
Exhaust
An upgraded exhaust system goes hand-in-hand with the intake upgrade when it comes to improving airflow and power on your Hawk 250 enduro bike. All of that new air coming in needs someplace to go afterwards, right? You’d be doing yourself a great disservice by not addressing the stock exhaust. The bike’s airflow is restricted at various points from the factory. (Be sure to keep your local noise and emissions laws in mind here.) Now, you have a couple of options here:
- Option 1: Modify the factory exhaust. If you’re a decent welder, you can avoid the cost of an aftermarket exhaust system by cutting open your mid-pipe, removing the cat, and welding it back together. Smooth the rough edges down and coat it with some black, hi-temp paint. Then, remove the silencer and screen that cover the exhaust tip, and voila…you have yourself a high-flow exhaust system!
- Option 2: Just buy an aftermarket exhaust. This is obviously the path of least resistance, but there are a couple great alternatives out there for those who don’t have the time to cut and weld. The following two are your best aftermarket exhaust options. (They’re manufactured for CRF dirt bikes, but will bolt up just fine to your Hawk. You’ll just need to open up the holes on the exhaust port flange a little bit – super easy.)
Hawk 250 Carb Jetting
Carburetor jetting is one of those mods that if you’ve never done it before, can seem a little daunting. But, fear not. It’s actually a pretty simple upgrade. If you’re not familiar with them, carb jets are little metal tubes located inside the carburetor. They come in various sizes and are essentially just tubes engineered to allow a specific amount of fuel into the combustion chamber. Think of this as the piece that ties it all together after your intake and exhaust upgrades are done. You want to match all of that additional airflow with extra fuel by “jetting up”. The 115 main jet is your best bet with an upgraded intake and exhaust setup. The Wingsmoto kit below comes with TEN jets, including the 115. That way, you know you’ll have the proper jet setup to swap out in case you make future changes on your bike.
Hawk 250 Appearance Upgrades
Appearance upgrades can be some of the most rewarding mods you can do. There’s nothing better than taking a bike that looks like 100 others on the road and changing it up to be unmistakably yours. If you have the funds, a full custom paint job is a great way to make your bike stand out from the crowd, but let’s take a look at a couple of cheaper appearance mods you can do in the meantime.
Hawk 250 Digital Cluster
If you didn’t know about this before, allow us to change your world. The digital cluster upgrade for the Hawk 250 is one of the best upgrades available for the bike. Not only does it look ten times better, it also provides improved visibility, especially at night. As you can see, it replaces the 1980’s looking factory cluster with a digital readout allowing you to easily monitor speed, fuel, odometer, and gas level in a clear and highly visible digital screen.
LED Headlight
Similar to the digital dash upgrade, this mod is a big advance in both style and functionality. Many people are making the switch from the old halogen style bulbs to more modern and efficient LED bulbs. This modification is very cheap and easy to install. An LED bulb produces a much brighter, and more visually appealing light from the Hawk 250 and is a godsend while riding at night.
Spoke Covers
Of all the mods we’ll cover here, these are by far the easiest to install. Spoke covers (also called skins or sleeves) are just tubular pieces of plastic designed to slip over top of your spokes. This is an easy way to change up the color of your wheels on the fly. Simply press a sleeve onto a spoke, and it will hug the spoke and stay in place. Repeat the process for all spokes on the wheel. You can even mix and match!
Hawk 250 Suspension Upgrades
Motorcycle suspensions are a vital, but often overlooked piece of the performance upgrade puzzle. The quality and overall setup plays a huge role in ride quality and how well your bike handles. From the factory, the Hawk 250 suspension setup is adequate, especially considering the price. However, most riders will desire a bit more from the bike when it comes to performance and the ability to customize settings to the specific rider’s size, weight, and riding style.
Front Fork Upgrades
The factory front suspension on the Hawk 250 is noticeably smaller than what you’re used to seeing on bikes from the big four Japanese manufacturers. Thus, the fork springs will likely be a bit too soft for many adult riders. One of the best ways to stiffen up that front suspension is to drain the factory fork oil, and replace it with a high quality 15wt fluid like the one below.
Rear Spring Upgrades
Similar to the front forks, the Hawk’s rear spring may leave a bit to be desired. Aggressive off-road riders will likely find themselves bottoming out over some bumps with the factory rear spring. There are plenty of alternatives out there that allow for rebound and preload adjustments, allowing you to fine tune the bike to your size and riding style. The primary thing to keep in mind when shopping for an aftermarket rear spring is that the factory unit on the Hawk 250 is 320mm in length. You’ll likely want to choose a replacement that is the same size; otherwise, you will be changing the bike’s ride height. Here are a few of our favorites:
