I've driven the new Hawk about 15 miles as of today; so far I think it was a good buy. Pros: Price is cheap for a new bike, incredible exhaust sound (Loud, but not too loud, and mine crackles in a good way when I downshift), easy to assemble (I have some mechanical skills, also watching YouTube assem
bly videos helps), another reviewer said they got theirs a week early (Mine was as well!), there is basically no sound when you change gears (My Ninja 650R makes a "chunk" sound between gears, especially shifting from neutral to 1st, I'm told this is common for Ninjas), the title and Bill Of Sale were successfully delivered after the bike came (Paperwork came ~3 days after the bike I believe) Cons: The only damage I found was the plastic cover on the right side (see pictures), there is a slight rattling sound when riding that I need to investigate, I ran into issues at the DMV because my Bill Of Sale was under my funny Amazon name "Harry Buttkiss" (Had it been under my real name it may have been free for plates/ registration. It was purchased through California which has a higher sales tax than Minnesota. I paid $140 at the DMV because of my silly Amazon name), you need 2 people for one step of the assembly (1 to lift the rear up while another person installs the axle bolt for the center shock, you may need 2 people to install the front wheel, what I did was carefully lay the bike on its side AFTER I drained the shipping oil so I could install the front wheel myself), it's sort of awkward to get the bike into neutral (it's easiest to shift down to 1st, then up one, on my Ninja I can find neutral from 2nd gear no problem, maybe I'm just used to how my Ninja 650R shifts, but my Hawk has some play in the shifter), listen to what other reviewers say because you really do need Loctite for these bolts (I was riding and I heard something metal on the ground, I went back and found a bolt, it was 1 of the 2 bolts holding my front brake caliper on. Buy the Loctite that allows you to remove the bolts/screws later, I believe the stuff I bought is called Loctite 242), the bike sits pretty high (I'm 6'4" and I can barely put my feet flat when on the bike, I think the height is adjustable though, if you're 6 feet tall or below you should look into this), the left mirror likes to move around due to the vibrations (The mirror itself that you can tilt is on a ball joint, maybe over time it will stiffen up) That's all I can think of at the moment, if you want to ask me questions you can comment on one of my YouTube videos, my channel is "Mike from Winona". I'll be posting a video on the Hawk soon.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2021 by Michael Michael
