Ok,

So my wife and I have a couple Hawkeye's... These things rock. I love them, I love them, I love them...

However, one thing we hate about them are the tires....

Rim Dings! I hate them! Imagine driving and hitting a rock hard enough that it dings your rim and jars your handlebars a bit. A buddy of mine has the Sportsman 450 and there's not a single rim ding on his quad....

Long story short, I want bigger tires to prevent this from happening.

My tire sizes are:
Front Tires 22x7-12
Rear Tires 22x10-12

I imagine that the "22" is measured in inches as the total diameter of the tires? I have read that some people put 25 inch mudlites on their Hawkeye. How do they act for you?

Can you guys answer a few questions?

1. If 22 is the total diameter of the tire, what do the other numbers mean?

2. Can I use the stock rim that came with my Hawkeyes if I were to upgrade to 25 inch mudlites? If so, which would I pick from the dropdown list on this website? http://www.4atvtires.com/atvTires/sh...=4521&cat_id=2

3. If I were to put larger tires on my Hawkeye, it would inevitably screw up my speedometer, is there a way to re-calculate it so gives proper readings with larger tires?

4. What is your favorite after market tire for mud?

5. How much loss of power would I experience if I were to upgrade from a 22inch tire to a 25 inch tire on my little 300cc Hawkeye? Would I still be able to accelerate at a good rate?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

Your tire size of 22x7-12 would mean that it is 22' in diameter, 7' wide, & fits on a 12" diameter rim. You can use the stock rims as they are the same a the larger Sportsmans rim just a diferent center design but the bolt patern is the same. I don't know how you can calibrate the speedo. If I was doing it I would go to the 23"s. I have trided 26" on mine and it really changes the braking of tha ATV in a bad way. It did how ever run faster but took away from the low end power to much. I switched it back to the 22' but will up grade to the 23" when the wife worn these out. My $0.02 worth!

P.S.
I also think you have to trim the fenders with the 25's or larger. I had to with the 26's

 

I have 25" mudlites on mine with the stock wheels and I did NOT have to trim anything. The ride is MUCH better than with the 22" tires. Can't recal the speedo, but you will be roughly 10% off, so at a reading of 36 MPH on the speedo, you are at about 40. No big deal really. Power loss was minimal as low end is where these things are best anyway.

I like mudlites as they are decent in mud and fairly light also. Acceleration isn't my hawk's strong point by any means, but i noticed very little difference with the larger tires.

 

If I had to do it again, I would put 23" Swamp Fox's on instead of 24". The Swamp Fox's are large for their size and it seems the 24" is as large as 25" Terracross.

HERE are pics of the Swamp Fox's on my wife's Hawkeye. It can go great in mud and sand now, whereas with the stock tires it would get stuck all the time.